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  • May

    30

    2011

     Google Testing Instant Website Previews on Paid Search! Google is testing a new feature which integrates the Instant Previews found on the organic search results, with the paid listings on Google as well. As with the organic search results, this will allow  browsers to view the landing page before actually clicking on the site, so user engagement will be on a top level stance. The result is either reducing cost implications as clients review more relevant content, or reducing the number of conversions as solo advertisers deliver traffic through irrelevant keywords.



    What has changed?

    This brings the paid search results more in line with Google's other inventory, such as organic listings and the recently launched mobile devices offering. As before, in terms of optimizing a paid search campaign, the landing page will play an important part.

    So what does this mean for paid search?

    Creative design of the page will have an impact on CTR:
    * Deep linking will become even more important. Advertisers with landing pages relevant to the search term will benefit
    * Trust in PPC Ads will increase for high quality sites
    * Sites designed in Flash will suffer

    Will this affect my Conversion Rate?

    Unlike organic search, paid search advertisers are paying on a per click basis and conversion is often the key to making this work as a channel. The potential for browsers to evaluate a website, before they click into it, means that the quality of the landing page becomes paramount. If anything some competition will receive a lower conversion rate, as Starfish Internet Solutions always serve only the most relevant of keywords - ensuring they're delivered to the best fitting content on your site.

  • Apr

    08

    2011

     Integrated Search Engine Marketing What are the benefits of integrating search engine optimization and pay per click strategies? Could your existing search campaigns be working harder for your company?

    It is becoming the norm for companies to employ SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC
    (pay per click) campaigns    , as the benefits and rewards are increasingly becoming vital if a site is to be visible on the web.

    While this is a positive step forward, the benefits of integrating elements of search marketing are not so well known, and could offer companies an edge in an increasingly competitive arena.

    Here are a few reasons why you should consider an integrated approach towards your search marketing campaigns.



    1. Increased click through rates

    It may come as no surprise that websites which utilize successful PPC and SEO campaigns can achieve a double hit of first page search visibility, however, this is rarely implemented to its full potential.
    Having an agency manage and devise your PPC and SEO campaigns minimizes interfering factors which can affect the potency and synchronization of your search marketing campaigns.

    2. Reduction in PPC spend

    Web pages that are optimized using SEO techniques and are synchronized alongside PPC keyword targeting can achieve a higher level quality score from Google, which in turn can reduce the average cost per click for paid for keywords.

    3. Focused and consistent communication

    Close communication within an agency's search marketing team can ensure a consistent approach towards optimizing the effectiveness of your website. This is done by ensuring both SEO and PPC campaigns are both targeting the same priority areas and everybody is singing from the same hymn sheet.

    4. Best of both worlds

    PPC can ensure instant search visibility; however SEO efforts are sustainable, and by their very nature they are most effective in the long term. Integrating both approaches means your website could always be visible in search results, with PPC plugging the gap whilst SEO catches up.
    This approach over the long term should see PPC spend fall whilst traffic increases from natural search sources.

    An integrated approach to search engine marketing can reap benefits in more ways than one. We can help innovate, develop and optimize your search marketing campaigns. If you would like to improve your sites search visibility, why not get in touch?

  • Mar

    18

    2011

     Manage Your Own Website Web design is a complex process that carries many thought and work. Still, sometime it carries a mistake that is hard to define and also figure it out, but it cost much to the owner. In this article web developers of Starfish will discuss some common mistakes that generally happen during a web design.

    Fail to design SEO friendly site: The aim of every web designer and developer is to design a SEO friendly site. In trying to give a better look they load the page with heavy files and graphics which is off-course not at all SEO friendly. Rest of the work is done by the content. Due to bad analysis of the website, analyst sometime ends in searching bad keywords. The best keywords are those which have less competition but a good volume of search. An analyst should always target balanced keywords.

    An unreadable text:     An online article is meant for a widespread audience that is hard to target. They have different taste and thought. So, the safest way is to use the best and most common format that is well accepted and easy to read. All web files should consist of titles, subheads, if possible bulleted content where ever necessary, short paragraph and most important inverted pyramid structure.



    Font size:     The articles on a website should have a fixed font style and font size. You can also give reader zoom in and zoom out options, if possible.




    Page Title: Always prefer giving a user and SEO friendly title. What is the need of the article posted on the website if it has not a good volume of search? The page title is the main tool to attract visitors from search listings.



    PDF Files On Website: In general a user hate to download PDF file and read it especially when he is browsing. The reason is that standard browser command doesn't work here. So a sweet suggestion to all web designers Philippines and developers is to avoid using PDF file if it isn't very necessary. It is an undifferentiated blob of content hard to navigate.

    Avoid pop-up, pop-under and out-of-banner ads:  If a user clicks the pop up, it will take the user to the advertiser's website, potentially making him forget about the original content site to begin with. This creates a conflict for some sites that actually want their own information to be read or viewed. So, the increased effectiveness of pop up ads can actually make this type of advertising less desirable for the site.



    Believe in Consistency: It is one of the usability principles so avoid changing the design of the website. Don't mistaken with the text, text should always be updated and proofread but design should not be.

    The more your site will fulfill users' expectations they will feel more in control and the more they will be dedicated to the website. Hence, you will gain popularity.

  • Mar

    16

    2011

     Top 13 Social Media Ranking Factors for SEO Total visibility across all social media shows that your content is important to all people and not just a result of a large special offer for Facebook/Twitter users. How Sociable is a simple way of giving yourself a rating here.

    Depending on who you speak to, search engine optimization (SEO) is either largely influenced or not at all influenced by social media. I’m sure everyone has their own opinions, case studies, and sites that show greater or lesser correlations between their social media engagement levels and their natural search results.

    If you were to carry out an investigation into whether social media was a big influencing factor, which metrics would you want to monitor in order to base your insights on more empirical data?
    Here’s a list of 13 ranking factors below. Feel free to use these and any others you can get your grubby SEO mitts on!

    1. Number of Followers (Twitter)

    Any references to your target keywords in the title of the video will help ensure that any authority passed will be relevant to a specific theme. Keywords should also be in the tags and or transcript where possible.



    You’ll need your own corporate Twitter feed, which brings its own problems around brand protection and also the potential for dealing with customer service enquiries, but the more followers you have, the more authoritative your Twitter persona and the more value will be associated with your URL (assuming you have remembered to link to it).

    2. Quality of Followers (Twitter)

    The best followers are the ones with their own communities of followers. The more high value people who follow you, and retweet your stuff, the better.

    3. Relevance of Followers (Twitter)

    It’s one thing getting followed and retweeted by Stephen Fry with over a million followers, but it’s also important to get the same response from accounts that are more specific to your industry. Someone with “fashion” in their description who retweets your “20 percent off the new spring collection” offer is equally valuable.

    4. Number of Retweets (Twitter)

    Most likely as a ratio of tweets to retweets — the more your content is reproduced by others the more authoritative it is. Obviously the more followers you have, the more likely you are to be retweeted. However, it isn’t just about retweeting other people’s content or dishing out promotions. It’s about engaging in conversation with people in the industry.

    5. Number of Fans (Facebook)

    You’ll need to create your own corporate profile on Facebook, which brings the same potential banana skins as a corporate Twitter feed, only multiplied numerous times due to the sheer level of engagement of people on Facebook. However, if you decide to engage with customers and potential customers on Facebook, the total number of likes your page receives will add value to your URL.



    6. Number of Comments (Facebook)

    A large number of likes, but little engagement, is a sure sign of someone gaming the system. People will tend to like you if you talk to them. Successful Facebook pages include a lot of content written by other people.

    7. Number of Views (YouTube)

    An obvious one, but any content you upload to YouTube should link to your site in the description, and the more times it is viewed, the more value will be attributed to your video.

    8. User Comments (YouTube)

    YouTube is also about engaging with other You Tubers and commenting on popular videos. The more you comment, the more link juice is passed back to your profile.

    9. References from Independent Profiles (YouTube)

    Using YouTube can bring in some really good authority if done brilliantly — if your link from your video passes some value, imagine how much more value would be passed if you could get other people to parody your work and include links to you from their profiles. The prime example remains the Cadbury’s Gorilla, but there are lots of interesting mini-campaigns trying to leverage the above.

    10. Title of Video (YouTube)

    Any references to your target keywords in the title of the video will help ensure that any authority passed will be relevant to a specific theme. Keywords should also be in the tags and or transcript where possible.


    11. Percent of Likes vs. Dislikes (YouTube)

    Easy one. The more liked your content is, the more authoritative it is.

    12. Positive vs. Negative Brand Mentions (All Social Media)

    Use a tool like Radian6, or a free tool, and ensure that you have significantly more positive brand mentions than negative. It won’t be 100 percent accurate as these things don’t pick up on sarcasm. But Google has already made investment in this area in 2011, so it’s well worth monitoring.

    13. Number of Social Mentions (All Potential Media)

    Total visibility across all social media shows that your content is important to all people and not just a result of a large special offer for Facebook/Twitter users. How Sociable is a simple way of giving yourself a rating here.

  • Feb

    24

    2011

     Starfish Philippines Success in Mobile Search

    Mobile advertising has become a buzz word in the last few years, and is gaining increasing popularity amongst leading advertisers. A substantial rate of growth is forecasted as smart phone prices drop, networks become faster and data packages cheaper. Starfish decided to tap into this new technology with a mobile paid search campaign.

    Mobile advertising campaigns generally have lower traffic volumes, especially when it comes to searches related to technology as it receives the majority of traffic from ring tones, wallpaper, and news and entertainment queries. However after recent site updates, Starfish thought of it as an excellent opportunity to trial a new mobile search offering and raise awareness of their mobile site.

    Google's mobile search is executed in a very similar way to their search network offering: keywords compete in an auction and are bought on a CPC model with a choice of search or content networks. The character restrictions for text ads are considerably smaller with only 2 lines of 18 characters each, creating quite a challenge for brand messaging. As smart phone keyboards are generally small, mobile search queries are mostly 1 or 2 word generic phrases.

    We used a selection of mostly 1 and 2 word mobile searches relating to Starfish's brand and small business solutions: Mobility, Small Business, Network Technology, Routers and Technology. The mobile search activity has been live for 8 weeks with traffic volumes steady but low as expected, however the CPC's were at 29% of the search campaign making it a cost effective way to deliver traffic to Starfish's site. The highest traffic areas were from Brand, Mobility and Network.

    Starfish Internet Solutions will continue to run mobile search activity while improving performance with regular keyword optimizations and the possibility of expanding into new networks and territories to move the account forward. Overall, it has been a cost efficient method of driving traffic and raising awareness of the Starfish mobile site. By embracing mobile search outside of its popular entertainment sector, Starfish is advancing their position as a technological leader.

  • Feb

    17

    2011

     Choosing the Right Web Design Company It's been several years since you had someone design your company web site and now it's outdated. You are losing business to competitors that have quality designed web sites with great layout and navigation. This may be your first company web site and you want to make the most of your money and time.

    How do you choose a quality web design company that will understand your companies' objective for designing or redesigning this web site?

    First, you need to answer a few questions.

    1. What is your budget and time frame for completing the web design or redesign project?
    2. Are you going to be using original content and pictures for building this web site?
    3. If this is a website redesign, are you planning on getting updated images and content for this new look and layout or will you need the web design company to supply them for you?
    4. Does anyone at your company have basic editing skills and will they be able to update the website content or will this be an ongoing job for the web design company you hire?
    5. Are you looking for a local web design company?
    6. Do you already have an idea of your web design colors, layout, and navigation?

    Knowing the answers to these questions, will help you when you locate the right web design company.

    Now it's time to find the right web design company for your needs. Go to Google and search for local web design firms and you will see how many results show. Take "web design manila" for example: Results 7,650,000. Wow, there are a lot of results for "web design manila".



    Don't panic, you will probably find a company that can do the quality web design work you need in the  first page results. Quality web design firms will have a portfolio of work online that will show an example of their custom web design work.

    Start at the first web design result on work your way down. Examine the portfolio to see if there is anything equivalent to the web design layout you are imagining.



     You will be able to tell immediately if this web design firm is right for your company and its look and feel. Find out how long they have been in the web design industry and compare that to how many quality web sites they have designed in that time.

    If this is a redesign, find out how many web site redesigns that have completed and ask to see the web site before and after the redesign. Find out if they have the staff available to work on your entire web design needs and that they know the programming necessary to complete the job in a timely manner. Ask for references, a top end web design firm will be glad to offer up references on the web design work performed. Most web design references will be glad to talk to you about the quality job your potential web design company did on their web site.

    Depending on your web design budget, it may help to several quality web design companies to talk to. You will want to get at least 3 estimates and it never hurts to have more.

    Remember, when it comes to your business and your companies exposure on internet, take your time locating a quality web design company. Your future may depend on it.

    Take a quick browse on Starfish Internet Solutions and find out if it fits your company needs.