September 5, 2008
Top rated WebProNews Videos from SES San Jose 2008
Earlier this week, I listed the “Top 10 Videos on YouTube from SES San Jose 2008.” Well, the WebProNews Video Blog has some top-rated videos from last month's SES conference that you won't find on YouTube – at least not yet.
Here are three of them:
SES: The Power of Thumbnails and Images
According to Rebecca Lieb of the ClickZ Network, recent surveys show that video has a greater chance of being clicked if it has a thumbnail or image. These results are evident in the popularity of universal search. Rebecca advises marketers to take these statistics seriously and recommends posting related videos with each new video just as I suggested in my interview with WebProNews, which appears below.
Website Optimizer Activates Pruning, Modifies Reports, and More
As you can tell by the title, Google's Website Optimizer department has been busy. Tom Leung gives WebProNews the scoop on all their new features. First, through experiment pruning, users can disable any page that's not doing as well as was hoped for. They've also enhanced their reports with a new color coded system, made it easier to validate tags on pages, and submitted several new demonstration videos to YouTube.
SES: Improving Conversion Rates
Landing pages can make or break a site, and no one wants that second situation to occur. In this interview with Mike McDonald, Frans Keylard, the director of optimization at Widemile, shares some tips that should help improve conversion rates.
There are a lot more interviews on the WebProNews Video Blog from SES San Jose 2008. That includes the five below with members of the Search Engine Watch staff.
SES San Jose: Kevin Ryan
WebProNews spoke with Kevin Ryan, the VP and Global Content Director of Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch, at SES San Jose 2008!
SES: Focus On Call To Action
After going to all the trouble of getting users to your site, you don't want your landing page to turn them away. According to Tim Ash, a Search Engine Watch Expert Columnist, clutter is the most common problem with landing pages. Tim explains how you have to give users breathing space so they can focus on their main purpose for coming to the site.
SES: The Blessing and Curse of Conversions
Did you ever think of conversions as a blessing and a curse? As Sage Lewis, another Search Engine Watch Expert Columnist, tells WebProNews, everything is trackable online. In most cases, this is a blessing. But for those marketing efforts which do not convert, it can be a curse.
SES: Being Careful With Blogs
Blogs are powerful communication tools, and companies should embrace them. Yet there are things to watch out for, and Search Engine Watch Guest Blogger Amanda Watlington explores some potential pitfalls in this interview with Mike McDonald.
SES: Get on Top of Video Distribution
After listening to a spirited musical intro from a certain Search Engine Watch Blog Correspondent, WebProNews got me to tell my secret to video distribution. I explain how video optimization on your own website was enough in years past, but now in order to succeed you must distribute your optimized videos to sites like YouTube, Yahoo Video, and more.
Okay, taunting Buckeyes from The Ohio State University by having a Wolverine sing the University of Michigan fight song may seem like an odd way to open an interview, but it was payback for the interview below that I conducted earlier this year.
Mike McDonald of WebProNews, Web Video Guru, at SES NY 2008
Mike McDonald talks about the humble beginnings of e-business internet video channel WebProNews and some of its funnier moments of adolescence, like forgetting to hit record. Stay tuned 'til the end to see and hear the University of Kentucky Wildcats cheer!
Get it? Got it? Good.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on September 5, 2008, 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
xRank and the Yahoo Buzz Index
Recently, SEW Expert Erik Qualman examined Google Insights for search trends related to newly announced Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Like Barack Obama, being unknown sends people a-searching on the internet.
Google Trends and Insights gets a lot of attention when it comes to measuring searches, and so does measurement firm comScore.
But the number 2 and 3 search engines also provide insight into hot searches. So, let's take a look at Microsoft's xRank and Yahoo's Buzz Index to see what's hot in their user searches this week too.
Microsoft's xRank sorts hot searches by categories. The current categories are Celebrities, Musicians, Politicians, Blogger and Olympics.
Here's a screenshot of the Politicians page for this week:
The Yahoo Buzz Index has categories, but not one for politics. Here's a general look at the top searches:
What do you think of xRank and Buzz Index? Let us know in the comments.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 5, 2008, 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Incentives Key to Mobile Marketing Success
Incentives can help mobile users overcome their initial negative reactions to mobile advertising, according to survey data released by ABI Research.
“We think that in general, advertisers and operators must tread carefully when delivering marketing messages to a consumer's mobile handset, especially given that many subscribers believe they are paying a significant amount of money for their mobile services,” says research director Michael Wolf. “However, we believe that marketing and advertising messaging that is properly crafted and that utilizes incentives could enjoy more acceptance on the part of the consumer.”
This is in line with recent data we've seen showing that online couponing is on the rise.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 5, 2008, 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google AdWords Separates Content and Search Network Stats - FINALLY!
In the Search Engine Watch forums, user searchengineman (Does he wear a cape? I hope so!) noticed a change to his AdWords statistics. Now, he could check separate statistics for ads on the content network and ads via search.
So how did he feel about it?
In the words of a famous Etta James song, searchengineman wrote, "At last."
Check it for yourself. There's a new Statistics drop down menu, which lets you change your view to see content and search network stats in separate rows.
The AdWords team says, "By separating the statistics by network on your summary pages, you can not only see which campaigns or ad groups need your attention, but you can also identify which network you need to optimize for."
What do you think of the separation? Is this a welcome update? Let us know in the comments - or head over to the forums to join the conversation.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 5, 2008, 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Google Analytics Now Shows When a Visitor Uses Chrome
Want to know when the uber early adopters and drinkers of the Google kool-aid are browsing to your site? Then check your Google Analytics.
GA is now showing Chrome in the browser section of your data. Chrome is the Google-developed browser that was released into, what else, beta this week.
Anyone checked their Analytics for this yet? Got anyone browsing from Chrome? Share in the comments!
Update from Kevin Newcomb: I wanted to share our early Chrome visitor stats for Search Engine Watch. For Wednesday and Thursday combined, we saw 4.4% of visitors using Chrome, compared to 51.7% using IE, 34.4% using Firefox, 4.5% on Safari, and 3.4% using another Mozilla browser.
It's very early to tell, and entirely non-scientific, but it appears that Chrome is taking its share mostly from Firefox, with a small dip into IE. In August, the browser usage of SEW visitors broke down like this: 52.9% IE, 37.1% Firefox, 4.4% Safari, and 3.7% Mozilla.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on September 5, 2008, 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SEW Experts: All That Glitters Is Not Chrome
With the launch of Google's Chrome browser Tuesday, the Google machine moves into another territory. In today's SEM Crossfire column, "All That Glitters Is Not Chrome," Frank Watson and Kevin Newcomb ask if Chrome will grab a decent amount of market share and reignite the browser wars? Does Google even want it to?
Posted by Kevin Newcomb on September 5, 2008, 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
