Several months ago I wrote a post called “The Listening Campaign: Getting Your Voice Heard Above The Crowd.”
The post receives a fair amount of traffic yet I was surprised to see it appear on a Google related searches results list for my name.
Tim Cohn The Listening Campaign
I guess searchers listen too.
Today while logged into one of my Google accounts, I was searching for a keyword phrase and noticed my own blog (gleaned from another Google account) appearing in the search results.
Google Social Circle Search Results
I then ran several other searches for subjects I had written about recently.
Although I couldn’t find any more of my own posts, I was able to find results for Barry Schwartz’s Twitter account from within a search page as well.
Google Social Search Results Twitter Bing
Each search result from within a Google Social Circle experiment begins with the link: “Results from people within your social circle for…” and is preceded by a nondescript silhouette.
Each of my Google account’s have avatars available, so I am not sure why silhouettes are generated in lieu of avatars.
It remains to be seen whether this Google trial will be adopted much further than beyond the borders of the search engine marketing community.
The Google social circle search product reminds to some degree of the previous Google product: “subscribed links”.
Although they take different approaches to providing Google search account holders trusted content, I believe both provide the same outcome – results links embedded within search pages from known and thus trusted sources.
Today I saw an ad in my local newspaper for a new product they have launched called the Business Resource Center.
Business Resource Center
The new service appears similar to Google’s Local Business Center and looks like it provides all of the same features found in the Local Business Center.
The Business Resource Center touts the benefits of having a small business found under local searches and states:
Anything that you’d traditionally look for in the print yellow pages has become a “local search” on the Internet. For these queries, 75 percent of the top 100 keywords are non-branded, indicating that a majority of consumers have not decided on a specific brick and mortar store to do business with.
Local Search Business
The site claims “to stay on top of the internet so you don’t have to” and plans to provide the latest in local search, social networking, search engine marketing and social media optimization to its advertisers.
Local Business Resource Center
The newspaper’s local business resource center will provide advertisers with statistics like Google’s Local Business Center has begun providing in the US.
Local Business Resource Center Statistics
Like Google, the paper’s local Business Resource Center also lets advertisers “create and manage coupons and special offers to drive traffic and build customer loyalty”.
Local Business Center Coupons
Similar to other directory and listing services, the newspaper’s business resource center alerts advertisers immediately when individuals rate or review their services, and allows them to reply directly to concerns or praise, giving businesses the ability to create stronger relationships with their customers.
Local Business Center Communications
The Beta version of their User Interface is clean and user friendly.
The site offers what appears to be primarily display advertising under keyword or category searches and claims to provide the largest local search audience reach.
Overall the newspaper’s launch of a Local Business Center is quite an accomplishment for any newspaper in this day and age.
Google Web Alerts appears to now be reporting Twitter posts via its Google Alerts product.
Twitter Google Web Alert
I received the Google Alert above today for data gathered yesterday May 21, 2009.
This is the first Google Alert I have seen which included Twitter posts within Google Web Alerts.
What implications will this have on Search Engine Results Pages for search engine marketers and search engine optimizers – if any?
TwitterJobSearch.com is a UK based Twitter based job search engine.
TwitterJobSearch.com
From TwitterJobSearch.com about their search technology:
Until now, search engines for social media sites merely looked for words. We’re looking at context.
We use semantic tools to look at what was said.
We then look at what they’ve said before.
We then look at who was saying it.
If we do this right, we can figure out why they’re saying anything at all.
Although the service is based in the UK and still in Beta, a search for “Search Engine Marketing” yielded 5,831 results.
Search Engine Marketing
The same search also produced a Marketing Manager ad from Amazon.com for its Kindle product.
Amazon Kindle Marketing Manager
Further proof even innovative new products just don’t sell themselves.
Microsoft adCenter conducted a survey of 400 small businesses with 250 employees or less to gauge small business sentiment toward search marketing and advertising.
Among the participants’ chief concerns, most cited the common misconceptions of cost, time and complexity as major hurdles to conducting search marketing campaigns for their businesses.
Key small business concerns regarding search engine marketing from the Microsoft adCenter study:
The most surprising finding from Microsoft’s adCenter Study? 7 in 10 small-business owners who participated revealed that they would rather try to do their own taxes than start a paid search marketing campaign!
The Microsoft study also revealed that 59 percent of small businesses with Web sites don’t currently use paid search marketing, and of those, 90 percent have never even attempted it.
Will search engine advertising providers like Microsoft ever overcome the general small business perception that search engine advertising is too costly, time consuming and complex?
Not until the small business advertiser has been convinced and shown otherwise that search engine marketing is inexpensive, quick and easy.
Washington D.C. now has Street View images available via Google Maps.
National landmarks including the Washington Monument, the Lincoln National Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial and even the White House are now visible from Google Maps Street View – albeit from afar.
To see your favorite national landmark, search for the landmark or its address in Google Maps and click street view.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington DC
Panning the camera angle will get the image and perspective you are looking for.
The White House
National security interests prevent vehicles equipped with cameras from getting to close to the White House, so this Google Street View from several blocks away will have to do.
However, pedestrians can still have their photo taken in front of the White House.
I was able to get this up close picture of the White House when I was in Washington D.C. earlier this year to give a search engine marketing presentation.
The White House Washington D.C.
The following are some initial questions I ask potential clients when evaluating the search engine marketing potential of their business.
This multiple-choice Search Engine Marketing Communications Survey takes about two minutes to complete.
Download your copy of the Search Engine Marketing Communications Survey PDF.
What is your primary business?
A. Store-based merchant
B. Catalog
C. Virtual merchant
D. Consumer brand manufacturer
Which type of search engine marketing do you use the most?
A. More pay-per-click than organic
B. More organic than paid
C. Both equally
How does search engine marketing perform compared with your other marketing programs?
A. Better
B. Much better
C. Same
D. Worse
E. Much worse
How large is your keyword inventory?
A. Less than 50 words
B. 51 words to 100 words
C. 101 words to 200 words
D. 251 words to 500 words
E. 501 words to 750 words
F. 751 words to 1,000 words
G. 1,001 words to 5,000 words
H. 5,001 words to 10,000 words
I. More than 10,000 words
What percent of your online sales are attributable to search engine marketing?
A. 5% or less
B. 5.1% to 10%
C. 10.1% to 15%
D. 15.1% to 20%
E. 20.1% to 25%
F. 25.1% to 30%
G. 30.1% to 40%
H. 40.1% to 50%
I. More than 50%
What percent of shoppers who come to your site through your paid search program make a purchase?
A. 0.5% to 1%
B. 1.1% to 2%
C. 2.1% to 3%
D. 3.1% to 4%
E. 4.1% to 5%
F. 5.1% to 6%
G. 6.1% to 7%
H. 7.1% to 8%
I. 8.1% to 9%
J. 9.1% to 10%
K. 10.1% TO 15%
L. More than 15%
In the past year your pay-per-click conversion rate:
A. Went up
B. Went down
C. Stayed the same
By what percent did your pay-per-click conversion rate increase?
A. 2% or less
B. 2.1% to 5%
C. 5.1% to 6%
D. 6.1% to 7%
E. 7.1% to 8%
F. 8.1% to 9%
G. 9.1% to 10%
H. 10.1% to 12%
I. 12.1% to 15%
J. More than 15%
How much do you spend in a typical month on all types of search engine marketing (pay-per-click and search engine optimization)?
A. Less than $1,000
B. $1,001 to $2,000
C. $2,001 to $4,000
D. $4,001 to $6,000
E. $6,001 to $10,000
F. $10,001 to $20,000
G. $20,001 to $30,000
H. $30,001 to $40,000
I. $40,001 to $50,000
J. $50,001 to $60,000
K. $60,001 to $75,000
L. $75,001 to $100,000
M. More than $100,000
What percent of your online marketing budget is spent on search engine marketing?
A. 5% or less
B. 5.1% to 10%
C. 10.1% to 15%
D. 15.1% to 20%
E. 20.1% to 30%
F. 30.1% to 40%
G. 40.1% to 50%
H. 50.1% to 60%
I. 60.1% to 75%
J. More than 75%
What is the average amount you pay per click?
A. 5 cents or less
B. 6 to 10 cents
C. 11 to 15 cents
D. 16 to 20 cents
E. 21 to 25 cents
F. 26 to 40 cents
G. 41 to 50 cents
H. 51 to 75 cents
I. 76 to $1
J. More than $1
Will you increase your amount of pay-per click advertising this year?
A. Yes
B. No.
Do you manage your search engine marketing program in-house?
A. Yes
B. No
Do you plan to outsource your search engine marketing program?
A. Yes, within six months
B. Yes, within one year
C. Yes, within two years
D. No plans
Which search engine produces the best web sales results?
A. Google
B. Yahoo
C. AOL
D. MSN
E. LookSmart
F. Other
Which of the following programs or strategies are you using to improve your paid search program? (Check all that apply)
A. Adding more multiple word phrases to keyword inventory
B. Writing more descriptive ad copy
C. Testing keywords and phrases to land on appropriate home or product pages
D. Monitoring competitors’ use of keywords and phrases
E. Syncing keywords and phrases with product availability
F. Testing keyword inventory effectiveness using cluster analysis, data modeling and other tools
G. Other
Which of the following programs or strategies are you using to improve your organic search engine optimization? (Check all that apply)
A. Rewriting keyword descriptions on the home and product pages
B. Including the actual phrases commonly used by searchers on product pages
C. Including common product keywords in the image file names and in image display captions
D. Designing customized landing pages and creating exclusive merchandising sections
E. Enhancing site navigation
F. Increasing the use of header tags in content on the home page and product pages
G. Better use of web analytics
H. Other
What benchmarks do you use to measure the effectiveness of your search engine marketing program? (Check up to 3)
A. Site traffic
B. Sales
C. Conversions
D. Average order size
E. New customers
F. Click-throughs
G. Cost-per-clicks
H. Rank on main search engine page
I. Other
Did you allow your affiliates or other third-party resellers to bid on your brand name?
A. Yes
B. No
Do you bid on the brand names of your competitors?
A. Yes
B. No
What is the annual sales range of your online retail business?
A. Less than $1 million
B. $1 million to $4.9 million
C. $5 million to $9.9 million
D. $10 million to $24.9 million
E. $25 million to $50 million
F. More than $50 million
Thanks for taking the Search Engine Marketing Communications Survey.
Search Marketing Communications 
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