The Google Bomb!

Just when you were about to count them out

Google launches a whole array of news updates changes and hold on to your hat kind of stuff that either pisses you off, or you are excited about all the new features. I believe everyone was a bit thrown off unless you are a search junkie or work in the field. Here is a great post from Search Engine Watch about some of the changes and how Google is completely in control and will be giving Facebook a nice challenge.

There is only one way to the top

From me: Searching on Google is now better than ever, it may be ruffling lot’s of feathers from business owners to SEO companies and individuals. The truth is it’s getting social. Google knows what you are searching for just by the phrases you use in the search, and people are getting more and more savvy when it comes to searching as well. Like using the correct terms and adding a location to their search. These were things that the SEO Community relied on that the user searching was going to use common phrases and therefore going after a set of keywords that would result in the desired destination. A little confusing yes I hope I didn’t ruin the moment..

Well it is perfectly clear what Google has been up to for the last year or so. Getting everyone excited about the their Google places page was no accident. That was preparation for the now Google Local and Google + business pages. Everyone’s Places page is now a Google+ Page and much to the likeness of a facebook page with some even better feature’s. I don’t want to go on about what changes have been made and what’s better than what. What I will say is you better have your Google stuff in order and get ready to spread the word. Your Google + Page is now indexed as well so any content you share there will also have an impact on your results. I can’t encourage you enough to use and get used to using Google+ for business.

They also rolled out a cool mobile app feature for your business where you can create a deal for customers if you have a brick and mortar location. I see a whole lot more of mobile coming from Google and I just want you to be aware of what’s going on around us in the search world.

Here is some great info from Yelp.com stating that 85% of Consumers use the internet to find local businesses. I couldn’t agree more with this article. The Original article from Search Engine Land also states that 72% of Consumers Trust Online Reviews as much as personal recommendations. Reviews are the next best thing to Paid advertisement even better in fact. If you can maintain and get your customers talking about your business you are going to have the upper hand over your competitors.

Flipit4u Marketing is always digging into what’s going on in search to help me manage my clients, this is a good thing for you as well because I always love to share info I think would help you out. Like my last post about the Google 7 Pack, I noticed a change in April and wrote about it. Local Search Marketing is where the consumers are headed, lot’s of them are already here and it just keeps getting better every day! What song is that? Wow Just noticed there’s two music references in this post what was the first one?

Please leave a comment below I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Global Mobile Industry is Now The Fastest Growing Market in The World

From: Mobile Marketing Watch.com

Just another reason to let Flipit4u Marketing get your business into the mobile industry! Enjoy the read.

Major Mobile Trends Show Global Mobile Industry is Now The Fastest Growing Market in The World

Posted: 07 Jul 2011 07:24 AM PDT

According to the newest data issued by Chetan Sharma Consulting on Thursday, the global mobile industry is now the most “vibrant” and “fastest growing industry” on the planet.

“We expect the total revenue in the industry to touch approximately $1.3 Trillion in 2011 with mobile data representing 24% of the mix,” the consultancy revealed today. “Global Mobile Data revenues are expected to eclipse $300 Billion for the first time in 2011. It is also the first year in which non-messaging data revenues will make up the majority of the overall global data revenues at 53%.”

Where there are dollars, of course, there is data – and lots of it. And with Chetan Sharma saying that data is now on pace to make up 95% of global mobile traffic by 2015, current industry growth and revenue streams may drastically pale in comparison to what we will see in the coming years.

And don’t think smartphones won’t play a major role in the anticipated growth.

In Q1 2011 alone, for example, the US became the first major market to exceed the 50% mark in smartphone sales, Chetan Sharma says. The global figure stands at approximately 26%. Some operators expect 90% of their devices sales to be smartphones by the end of the year.

“In terms of the actual smartphone penetration, we expect the US market to eclipse the 50% mark in 2012,” the report reads.

Additionally, the number of mobile operators with more than $1B in data revenues will increase to 47 in 2011. This number was only at 13 in 2005.

Other mobile trends for 2011 include:

Total Global Subscriptions to hit 6 Billion
Total Global Mobile Revenues to represent almost 2% of Global GDP
Mobile Devices are now exceeding traditional computers in unit sales + revenue
Majority of the device sales in the US are now smartphones. Device Replacement is shrinking
Mobile Broadband (4G) is being deployed at a faster rate than previous generations
Global Mobile Apps revenue has shifted to off-deck
All major markets are consolidating with the top 3 players at 85% of the market
Connected device segment is growing at the fastest pace
Several multi-billion dollar opportunity segments are emerging
The value chains will keep disrupting every 12-24 months by the new players and business models
Intellectual Property has become a key component of long-term product strategy

The gathering strength of social commerce

A report finds that consumers are ready and willing to shop via Facebook and Twitter.

Zak Stambor

Associate Editor of: http://www.internetretailer.com

Topics: branding, comScore, customer reviews, Facebook, Fiona Swerdlow, m-commerce, mobile commerce, National Retail Federation, online discounts, product recommendations, Shop.org, social commerce, social media, Twitter, YouTube

The best way to market to the masses was through television. Then cable fragmented the TV audience, and then the Internet lured eyeballs away from TV sets. Now social media stands as one of the few places to reach a wide swath of consumers. That new marketing reality runs through the “2011 Social Commerce Study” released today by Shop.org, the online retail division of the National Retail Federation, consultancy Social Shopping Labs and web measurement firm comScore Inc.

The report finds that 77% of online adults use social networks and 54% of those consumers have followed a retailer on Facebook, Twitter or a retailer’s blog. The average consumer that has followed a retailer online tracks 6.3 of them. According to the report, consumers follow brands to find discounts (58%), learn about products (49%), read customer reviews (34%) and share information with other customers (30%).

Shop.org and comScore based the findings on a survey of 1,700 U.S. consumers conducted via e-mail in April.

While many retailers use social media to build their brands, the report suggests merchants can do more to generate sales directly from social networks. 56% of Facebook users say they have clicked through to a retailer’s web site because of a Facebook post, while 67% of Twitter users say a post has spurred them to click through to a web site. Moreover, 35% of shoppers say they would be likely to make a purchase directly from Facebook and 32% say they would do the same via Twitter.

Mobile also is transforming consumers’ social experiences. “Mobile is a driver of social frequency—as smartphone usage grows, consumers increase the frequency with which they use social media,” says the report. The survey results support that idea. 42%of Twitter users access the site on their mobile phone at least once a day, while the same is true for 34% of Facebook users. 32% of consumers view YouTube clips daily from their smartphones.

“Instead of waiting to get back on their desktop computer to watch videos or interact online, Americans are easily accessing social networks when they have even a few moments of down time, whether they’re scanning Facebook news feeds while picking up their kids from school or tweeting about their shopping experience while browsing the mall,” says Fiona Swerdlow, head of research at Shop.org. “The popularity of mobile devices will only boost the power of social commerce, which presents an incredible opportunity for retailers.”

Continue reading →

The importance of Google search results

Flipit4u Marketing

Article from searchenginewatch.com :

SearchDay is a free daily email summarizing the day’s search marketing news.

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Recent Comments
Joris Stigters
Thursday, Apr 21Very interesting! Is there also some data or knowledge available for the SEA and SEO results combine…
Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [...
Joris Stigters
Thursday, Apr 21Very interesting! Is there also some data or knowledge available for the SEA and SEO results combine...
Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [...
Bob Bishop
Thursday, Apr 21Very good...
Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [...
Alyson
Thursday, Apr 21Danny, thank you so much for this report! I'm the SEO Coordinator for an IT services company here i...
Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [...
Alyson
Thursday, Apr 21Danny, thank you so much for this report! I'm the SEO Coordinator for an IT services company here i...
Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [...
« Google Tests Instant Ad Previews | Main

April 21, 2011
Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [Study]
It’s critical for websites to appear on Page 1 of Google, especially in one of the top three organic positions, as these spots receive 58.4 percent of all clicks from users, according to a new study from Optify.
Websites ranked number one received an average click-through rate (CTR) of 36.4 percent; number two had a CTR of 12.5 percent; and number three had a CTR of 9.5 percent. Being number one in Google, according to Optify, is the equivalent of all the traffic going to the sites appearing in the second through fifth positions.

Here’s Optify’s look at CTRs on the top 20 sites:

Basically, Optify concludes that moving up to the top spot in Google from second or third could triple visits to your website.

Optify’s study of U.S. Google search engine results pages, conducted in December 2010, analyzed organic keyword visits for B2B and B2C websites. Optify analyzed data from 250 randomly chosen sites and an initial set of 10,000 keywords.

Here are some of Optify’s other findings.

Importance of Page 1

The average CTR on Page 1 of Google was 8.9 percent, but the average CTR on Page 2 was 1.5 percent. Ranking first on Page 2 had a slight benefit over ranking in the last spot on Page 1 (2.6 percent vs. 2.2 percent CTR).

Optify concludes that, because predicting which position your site will appear in Google is basically impossible, your SEO efforts should first focus on getting on Page 1, and then on investing in working your way up to one of the top three spots. Also, ranking beyond Page 2, while good for tracking trends, has almost no business value, Optify noted.

Head Terms vs. Long Tail

Optify’s study defined head terms as keywords with more than 1,000 monthly Google searches and long tail terms as keywords with less than 100 monthly searches.

Head terms had a higher CTR (32 percent) in the number one position than long tail terms (25 percent). However, long tail terms had a higher overall CTR on Page 1 of Google than head terms (9 percent vs. 4.6 percent).

Optify concluded that you won’t see “huge benefits until you get to the top few positions” with head terms. However, long tail terms can see decent CTR almost anywhere on the first page, though there is less benefit of moving up to higher positions.

Bottom line: let your business goals shape your SEO strategy.

How Much a Top Spot in Google is Worth

Optify looked at organic CTR in the hopes of updating one of the SEO industry’s long-time ROI calculators based on AOL’s leaked search records from August 2006, which Optify calls “old and dated,” due to the evolution of universal search and integration of social search in recent years.

AOL’s data showed websites ranked first received 42.3 percent of traffic; second place got 11.92 percent; and third place had 8.44 percent:

Image via Red Cardinal
AOL’s data was based on 19,434,540 click-throughs, whereas Optify’s was based on 1,224,383. Optify isn’t the first using AOL’s data as a benchmark. Last May, two studies aimed to calculate Google’s organic CTR.

Neil Walker’s study, using Google Webmaster Tools data from 100 clients and 2,710 keywords, found position one gets 46.37 percent of organic click-throughs; position two gets 29.43 percent; and position three gets 19.81 percent:

Chitika’s study, which Jonathan Allen covered in “How Much is a Google Top Spot Worth?” reported that a top spot gets 34.35 percent of impressions; second position gets 16.96 percent; and third gets 11.42 percent. Chitika’s numbers were based on a sample of 8,253,240 impressions across its advertising network.

While the exact figures and data sets vary from study to study, they all confirm that ranking at the top of Page 1 on Google continues to be incredibly valuable. One of Optify’s final pieces of advice is to stay on top of SEO best practices and strategies. That’s something you can do by regularly reading Search Engine Watch’s Search Engine Optimization section.

Related Stories
Improve Your Organic Rankings With Google Places, Part 2
Maximizing Your CTR for SEO in Organic Results
Advertisers Benefit More From Top Ad Spots on Google Than Bing [Study]
The First Steps to High Rankings in Google
Are all Results on Search Engines Equal? A Surprising Journey Within the SERPs
Google’s New SERP: Hit Or Miss?
Posted by Danny Goodwin on April 21, 2011 9:25 AM

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Comments
Danny, thank you so much for this report! I’m the SEO Coordinator for an IT services company here in Houston and I will definitely be utilizing this information in sales pitches and client reviews. Just more proof that SEO is important, worth the investment and here to stay!

Keep up the great writing – All the best, Alyson

Alyson April 21, 2011 10:21 AM

Danny, thank you so much for this report! I’m the SEO Coordinator for an IT services company here in Houston and I will definitely be utilizing this information in sales pitches and client reviews. Just more proof that SEO is important, worth the investment and here to stay!

Keep up the great writing – All the best, Alyson

Alyson April 21, 2011 10:22 AM

Very good

Bob Bishop April 21, 2011 10:23 AM

Very interesting!
Is there also some data or knowledge available for the SEA and SEO results combined?

Joris Stigters April 21, 2011 10:49 AM

Very interesting!
Is there also some data or knowledge available for the SEA and SEO results combined?

Joris Stigters April 21, 2011 10:51 AM

Best Buy to jump on mobile train

Consumer electronics retail giant Best Buy is looking to aggressively expand its mobile store presence.

With the established goal to boost its online presence, reduce the scale of larger stores, and launch more “mobile” retail locations, Best Buy is gunning to regain some of its lost market share from major – and ubiquitous – competitors like Amazon and Wal-Mart.

At present, Best Buy has just north of 1,000 big-box stores across the US. In five years, the company – according to Reuters – would like to have between 600 to 800 Best Buy Mobile stand-alone stores in the United States.

The company expects that cutting U.S. “big box” square footage by 10 percent over the next 3 to 5 years will generate annual savings of $70 million to $80 million.

“I do believe that a lot of their bigger box stores have to be downsized. If there was a disappointment, I was kind of hoping they would be even a little bit more aggressive than what they outlined,” says RBC Capital Markets analyst Scot Ciccarelli.

This week, Best Buy Chief Executive Brian Dunn told investors that his company is aiming to double its current $2 billion online business within 3 to 5 years.

“The online channel is our greatest growth opportunity,” Dunn said.

Another reason for potentially significant optimism is that online taxation reforms may soon eliminate the remarkable edge that online retailers – like Amazon – continue to exert over Best Buy. If online transactions will be mandated to include sales tax, Best Buy will be able to better compete with its primary rivals in the consumer electronics space.

“We believe it’s just a matter of time before this field is leveled,” Dunn suggested.

From Gaspedal.com Unofficial Voices

“The Money Is In The List“

AWeber proves it to thousands of businesses every day.

Learn how email marketing software
can get you more sales, too.

#828: The “Support the Unofficial Voices” Issue

If only the marketing and PR folks are allowed to reach out and help customers, you’re missing a big opportunity. Check out how a few smart companies are empowering the “unofficial” talkers and ambassadors on their payroll:

1> For personalized service
2> To promote customers
3> With thought leadership
4> Check it out: Find the perfect gadget

1> For personalized service

One of the great advantages social media offers is the ability to scale personalized service. Never before has it been so easy to reach so many individual customers. David Angiulo, for example, works at Nordstrom in Burlington, MA. He connects with local customers on Twitter to share photos of clothes he likes and to let them know if he thinks any of their new arrivals match someone’s specific tastes. It works because David is passionate about clothes, his customers appreciate all the ongoing support, and Nordstrom lets David do what he does best: help customers.

The lesson: You wouldn’t think of taking away phones from your sales and support staff, so why take away social media tools?

Learn more: Web Ink Now

2> To promote customers

Domino’s franchise owner Ramon De Leon has one mission: To be the pizza guy to know in Chicago. That’s a lofty goal in a town known for pizza — but thanks to his hard work and some smart use of social media, he’s well on his way. His secret: He spends 90% of his time putting his customers at the center of attention. He posts videos for individual customers. He retweets what they’re saying. He even prints their feedback on pizza boxes. And as you can guess, these customers quickly turn into fans — the type of fans who order from Ramon instead of any one of the zillion other pizza joints in town.

The lesson: Advertising doesn’t make you the pizza guy. That title is earned through millions of small, genuine conversations with your potential talkers.

Learn more: GasPedal

3> With thought leadership

If you have smart people on your payroll who want to share their business knowledge with customers and prospects, why not let them? At Cisco, they encourage social media participation. They do it with a simple list of plain-English guidelines designed to train employees on safe, ethical social media engagement. And all this encouragement has paid off: Cisco has seen significantly better results from product launches, and all of this social media outreach has raised the company’s profile online.

The lesson: Your biggest fans and potential talkers may already be under your roof — you just need to train and encourage them on proper social media engagement.

Learn more: Scribd

4> Check it out: Find the perfect gadget

Need help to narrow your next gadget purchase? Measy looks promising. Just enter some basic filters, answer a few simple questions, and Measy will give you a list of which items will work best for you.

Check it out: Measy

Why you want to be my client

I would like to explain why you would benefit from being a client of Flipit4u Marketing. The number one reason being you want more business. These are tough times and people are just starting to come out of the shell they have been in for the lasts couple three years.
Why do I want to have you as a client?

If I approach your business it’s because I believe in it. I know that if I believe in your business or company I am going to do a better job than anyone else that is just trying to make payroll or a quick buck. It takes a lot of work to establish your business on line or in the local area. I have lived a good life and have Lot’s of friends. Just that fact alone is going to put us one step further than the competition. I went out to dinner tonight with my family to a place we love to go. I am so impressed with the service and food there I get excited just thinking about it. Now this is the kind of place that I want to represent. I did a quick check while I was having dinner and they don’t even have a facebook page. Not to mention they don’t have an optimized google places page. This place is very small but quaint, the whole time I’m there I’m thinking of ways I could improve his customer out reach. I gave them a card and spoke to the host who is part of the family that owns it. But I just want to express the difference between hiring some company to do your marketing because they have a big name opposed to having someone with the same skills and a close to home relationship with there client.

Flipit4u is very reachable and is more than willing to go the extra mile for your business. Why because I believe in your business too. My goal is to help any small business that may or may not be struggling, reach higher profits and create better business with more new loyal customers or clients and keep the ones you already have to keep coming back.

This is my very first personal blog post and I hope you get something out of it. Feel free to “like” it to spread the word and leave a comment good or bad.

Here’s to our success!