YPM, Inc.

Google’s April Updates: Bigger & Tiered Index, Document Ranking, Sitelink Changes & More

YPM Digital — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:59:14 +0000

If it’s the first Friday of the month, it must be time for Google to share its latest list of search quality updates. And, like clockwork, Google didn’t disappoint today — the company has posted a list of 53 changes that affect search results.

This list is particularly interesting because of all the upheaval happening this month, what with Panda updates 3.5 and 3.6 occurring in an eight-day span, along with the Penguin update and a Google screwup related to parked domains. Yeah, April was a crazy month for SEO folks.

Mobile Devices Gain As Shopping Tools

YPM Digital — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:54:10 +0000

More than three quarters (79%) of U.S. smartphone and tablet owners have used their devices for shopping-related activities, according to a first-quarter survey by Nielsen. The study showed smartphones are used more often than tablets for “on-the-go” activities.

The difference was most pronounced when it came to locating a store, with 73% using phones compared to 42% on tablets. Handsets were also preferred for using a shopping list, while shopping, (42% versus 16%) and redeeming a mobile coupon (36% to 11%). However, tablet owners are more likely to use their devices for making purchases, at 42% versus 29% of smartphone users.

Study: 72% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations

YPM Digital — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:51:07 +0000

The findings of this year’s Local Consumer Review Survey (2012) show a positive shift in consumer trust and appreciation of online reviews.

Approximately 72% of consumers surveyed said that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, while 52% said that positive online reviews make them more likely to use a local business.

comScore Releases March 2012 U.S. Search Engine Rankings

YPM Digital — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:47:51 +0000

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in March with 66.4 percent of search queries conducted.

Searching to Expand Your Email List?

YPM Digital — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:01:08 +0000

Email marketers and search advertisers unite! It appears email sign ups have made their way into Google’s sponsored ads.

In the perpetual quest to improve the value of paid search real estate (for both user and advertiser), Google is testing the inclusion of a “Sign-up” box within search results. When performing a branded search, users may discover a sign-up form enabling them to “Get Offers” from the advertiser by providing their email address.

At first it appeared this would only be displayed for users logged into their Gmail account which would then populate the Gmail address, thus making it one click away from collecting an email address:

A click on “Privacy Policy” advises the user what will happen when they hit “Submit”:

Although this was originally thought to be limited to users logged into their Google account, it appears the form is displayed even if you are not logged in:

…and will still allow you to complete a submission:

Further, the test does not seem to have found its way yet to the small screen:

As with all things Google, this raises several questions for advertisers and users alike:

Will this feature be limited to branded search terms as it appears to be in the test? If so will this somehow force advertisers who abandoned bidding on their brand names to return to the practice?
How will this impact CTR and bid rates? Will advertisers bid differently for an email address compared to a click?
When the form is submitted to the advertiser, what is Google doing with the information, particularly if this is offered to users not logged into Gmail? The Privacy statement advises the user the name and email have been sent to the advertiser, has it been also collected by Google?

The overall economics of search could be turned on its ear bringing new advertisers into the mix who may or may not have any interest in driving traffic to their website but rather simply be looking to collect email addresses…an angle one would bet Google is counting on.

When the Sum is Greater than the Equal of Its Parts

YPM Digital — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:10:45 +0000

As part of YPM’s annual Kick Off meeting, the entire company convenes to join forces with skill, strategy and precision, working towards an ultimate goal…much like the daily commitment of the YPM team itself.

With a singular focus on performance, crews are formed and the race to the Finish Line begins. The task: working in unison, bring together pieces which by themselves do little, but structured properly may be a winning formula for success.

Each team has the same parts, the same restrictions and the same opportunity to build for its success on the track. So why would it seem that one would outperform another? All the pieces are the same, the track is the same and there would be no apparent advantage of one over the other, right?

There is no guarantee of making it down the track much less crossing the Finish Line in this race. For it is not in the pieces themselves which are awarded in this race, but rather how the pieces are constructed, how they fit together and how working in concert with one another, they achieve one goal…together. Make no mistake there is plenty of trial and error, test runs, and going back to the drawing board to calculate the odds of success against the competition.

Whether it is brand building, team building, or even Tinker Toy car racing the same rings true, one strategy, one person, one piece, will have limited success by itself. A singular media channel will capture only one audience, a single person can only do so much and a lone wheel will propel the car only so far. For it is only through strategic coordination, careful planning and results measurement that true synergies are realized for the ultimate winning combination.

Search + Social…Just a Matter of Time

YPM Digital — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:21:01 +0000

It’s been clear for some time that Google’s greatest rival was never going to be Yahoo, Bing or the combination thereof. Instead, the explosion of consumer generated content where the user IS the product is the greatest threat to even a behemoth such as Google. Enter Facebook.

Google’s social facelift from Buzz to Google+ in June 2011 was its latest attempt at getting social right in the hopes of turning billions of searches into a social network, thus locking users onto Google instead of straying elsewhere.

In fact, Google has been trying to get ‘personal’ since June 2005 when based on personal behavior and interests, results would be given a boost. By February 2007, personalized results were expanded and repackaged and by December 2009 by default, Google would show you personalized results whether you opted in or were signed in, or not. Social search results entered onto the scene in October 2009 which were not only personalized but were based on people you know, rather than the searcher’s own behavior.

Google’s integration of social and regular search results came February 2011. It expanded to include not just content created by those you know but also content shared by them through a variety of social networks.

Henceforth, the intersection of private, public, personal and social was born…

While Google+ is still in its infancy, it’s wasting no time being integrated with other Google experiences. In January 2012, Search plus Your World emerged, which finds both content that’s been shared with you privately along with matches from the public web, all mixed into a single set of listings. You’ll know it when you see it as a Google will alert you with a message like this above your search results:

While this convergence is underway there is no shortage of questions and user privacy concerns bubbling to the top not unlike those which surfaced surrounding the Facebook Timeline. Time will tell how this plays out.

In the meantime, the prominence Google is placing on Google+ and Search plus Your World is giving rise to a new way marketers must look at their Search + Social strategy. Here are a few ways to take advantage of the emerging space as excerpted from Search Engine Land:

•

Create a Google+ business page. It’s simple, free, and a no-brainer.

•

Incorporate your business’s Google+ page into its online presence – including its website, blog and other social media channels – as well as its advertising and offline materials.

•

Similar to your business’s approach with other social media channels like Facebook and Twitter, encourage customers to follow your Google+ page for special announcements and deals.

•

Update your business’s Google+ page constantly with new information, whether its links to articles relevant to your business or photos of new products, not only to keep your page relevant with customers but also to increase the number of keywords that users can search and reach you through.

Online Shoppers 2011

YPM Digital — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:46:37 +0000

The Internet has emerged as a new marketplace and a primary medium for reaching and influencing consumers. Consumers are increasing the number of purchases they make directly through the Internet. Which consumers use the Internet to make online purchases? This paper reviews data from Simmons (Spring 2011) to identify the key demographic characteristics of those most likely to make purchases online.

Download the article here – Online Shoppers 2011

Reviews: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

YPM Digital — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:16:03 +0000

Consumer generated content has long since been a digital Pandora’s Box, the veritable soap box for testimonials, reviews, customer service outreach and even rants. When the message is positive and supportive, good news can travel fast, when it’s negative, bad news will travel even faster.

And while brand transparency is good for consumerism, how does a century old company who painstakingly has built its reputation with one to one personal connections insulate itself from the potential single unsatisfied customer from tarnishing its good name online?

First, a reality check – every single business has had more than one unsatisfied customer. Period. Consumers by and large recognize that no company—large or small, public or private—can satisfy everyone, all of the time. The difference however lies between reality and what a potential customer perceives, and reads.

Review websites such as Yelp, CityGrid, Insider Pages and Merchant Circle, as well as the growing list of service directories which compile consumer ratings of local service companies such as Consumer Reports and Angie’s List, all thrive on peer to peer referrals and reviews.

“New Cone research reveals 80% consumers have changed their minds about purchasing a recommended product or service based solely on negative information they found online. This is up from just 67% of consumers who said the same in 2010. Online information, a trustworthy source for 89% of consumers, has the power to make or break a product recommendation, concludes the report.

Positive information has a similar effect on decision making, with 87% of consumers agreeing a favorable review has confirmed their decision to purchase. But, negative information is gaining traction and is now just as powerful in tipping the scales against a recommended purchase.”

While most brands have attended to the business of promoting themselves online, many are left exposed and unaware of what is being said about them across review websites, blogs and throughout social networks. With 64% of consumers seeking out user reviews before deciding to purchase, knowing the sentiment about a brand is vital, remember what they say about one bad apple.

Before Deciding To Purchase (% of Respondents)
*Go Online To:*	*2010*	*2011*
Research product/service information	61%	69%
Search for consumer or user reviews	55	64
Search for the product/service on ratings websites (e.g., Consumer Reports, Angie’s List, Yelp!)	43	50
Search for opinions from product/service experts	38	43
Read articles or blog posts about the product/service	28	42
Solicit opinions from their social network(s)	10	12
Source: Cone Trend Tracker, August 2011

If the best defense is a good offense, here are a few ways to get in the game:

Embrace the fact consumer generated digital content is here to stay, in one form or another.

Monitor what is being said about your company through tools such as Google Alerts or Social Mention.

Secure your brand name across social media networks.

Invite your customers to provide you feedback. When a customer raves about your service enlist them to write a review on Google Places, Yelp, CityGrid, etc. Never fake reviews!

Respond to customer reviews. If positive, thank them for the review and possibly offer an incentive to return (coupon, discount code, etc.). If negative reach out to them privately in a timely manner. Ask what you could have done or could still do to make their experience more positive.

Actively syndicate positive content about your company across channels.

Finally, give outrageously great customer service, in the end isn’t that what this is all about?

Telmetrics Introduces Call Tracking Without Tracking Numbers

YPM Digital — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:10:00 +0000

Call tracking has long been criticized by Local SEOs and others as violating the sanctity of what Localeze’s Gib Olander has called the “NAP” (name, address and phone number) — the central currency of all local business listings. The concern was and is that the rented tracking numbers (metered phone numbers) would be crawled or otherwise distributed out across the internet and pollute the key listings data.