It is with great pleasure and excitement that I announce a new Search Engine Marketing project for eMarketing 101. In the next few months, I will be working on the Search Engine Marketing plan for You-First.com, a Financial Services consultants firm in Vancouver (BC).

And now, here is why you should contact You-First for your financial needs. I have long been a client of You-First and I trust them. As far as I know, trust is the first and foremost element to consider when it comes to working with people that manage your finances. This is the main reason why I heartfully recommend them. They are organized, knowledgeable and they make financial management & planning look easy. I love it. Oh, and they help you make money too! They are always smiling and happy to see you. Everyone who works and wants to save some money in order to achieve their goals should get in touch with them. 

As a result, I am twice as happy that they agreed to work with me as I also have a lot of admiration for their work. The whole team is fantastic. Get in touch with them today and you will thank me for it: Odette Morin, Financial Planner, You-First Vancouver Financial Planning Services. Phone: 604-878-0702

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I was intrigued today when I saw this title: 21 Reasons Why You Do NOT Need Web Analytics. I read this from Manoj Jasra’s blog on Web Analytics which is the reference on the subject. Here is what he had to say:

If you believe Web Analytics is overrated and your business could succeed without Web Analytics, then you’re absolutely correct. Below are 21 reasons why you don’t Web Analytics integrated into your online campaign.

* You don’t want to know where your visitors are coming from.

* You don’t care how much time visitors spend on your website.

* Most popular products? Who cares, you already know what your customers want.

* Tracking hits is perfectly sufficient.

* Dead Content? There can’t be any dead content on your site.

* Site overlay is overrated because you can pretty much guess which links visitors find appealing.

* Bounce rate sounds like a make believe metric.

* Your time is better spent elsewhere rather than crunching data in order to measure the performance of our website.

* You love the plateau in your website’s traffic because concentrating on branded keywords is good enough.

* Podcasts are the hippest thing, if you record they will come, so why measure the number of downloads.

* Your development team should be adding enhancements not implementing web analytics.

* Top Exit pages is a non-issue for your website, once visitors arrive they are going to purchase.

* Who cares what paths visitors take or the length of their paths, as I said earlier, once they arrive, they are going to purchase.

* Everyone understands English so it doesn’t matter what country your visitors originate from.

* 3 words: Log File Analyzer.

* If you leave a form up long enough someones bound to fill it out eventually.

* Your site’s probably not going to have repeat visitors anyways because they’ll find everything they need the first time around.

* You know that a PPC campaign’s success is completely based upon click-throughs and impressions.

* Internal Search? That’s just there for show.

* If you take $50,000 that you would need for an analyst and spend it on PPC you’re probably going to get better return.

* You don’t need to track newsletter registrants because bulk email lists are very inexpensive.

He was being ironic, of course.

If you do not have a Web Analytics software in place for your site and have a hard time understanding the results, you should get in touch with me in no time and I will hook you up with Google Analytics, free of charge. 

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One of the things I have always hated about advertising (online and offline) is the amount of speculation it produces in order to replace/justify any common sense data. I received an article today about online advertising which clearly points out how messed up the industry is and how the lack of clear measurement is fueling misunderstanding, that ignorant advertisers are still being tricked into.

My friend James Sherrett from Work Industries has always said, “Marketing is an exercise of faith, not reason” and I completely agree. People justify anything as long at it represents their beliefs and values, with or without data to back it up, online or offline. It does not matter. This becomes especially interesting when a decision is made which lacks arguments that actually support a point of view. Sometimes, you can see how bluntly some people can contradict themselves in front of your eyes. I tend to believe that since job security is such a very strong driver for a lot of people’s actions, their decisions are often biased the minute their job security is at stake. We all have examples. 

I personally have been avoiding any form of speculation when it comes to advertising decision making and I am only interested in simple sentences such as: this campaign cost $10,000 and lead to $100,000 in sales. Therefore, the cost of sales is 10%. Period. Who says advertising has to be complicated. Keep it Simple Stupid. That’s what I sell. The right intent, with the right user, at the right time, at the right place, at the right price and yes, that IS relevancy 101. Search is where you can do this. Anything else is less relevant from the simple fact that the users are not looking for it in the first place. Check your stats, it will prove it. Speculation RIP. No wonder I became a strong search marketing advocate, measuring every I do, down the smallest detail. Damn, it is so simple, what is it that you don’t get?

Now, James sent me this article today which basically dissects online advertising into numerous pieces and make an attempt at defining its path for the future. It is contemplating ways to measure its effectiveness and modify significantly the current online advertising system. It is brilliant! That is why I want to share it around. It must be read by everyone in online advertising and especially those who believe in online branding, something online users are ignoring more and more and are being annoyed from more and more, FYI. Things are changing. You have been warned. Read the full article here. 

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It is that time of the month once again. Here are the numbers about the search engines market share for the month of April 2007.

According to a recent Hitwise report, 47 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 1.86 percent of U.S. searches, while Google and Yahoo! captured 86% in April. Google remains very strong with a 65.26% market share. MSN continues its downward spin.

Here is a similar search engines market share study by comScore which clearly shows Google’s progression, month over month.

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You will love this. Read this carefully and it will help you climb the ladder to the top paid search results listings while dropping your cost dramatically. As far as I know, most search marketers fail dramatically at writing great Paid Search Advertising ads (aka. Google Adwords). I was asked a question today by a Client to basically justify the rationale for ad copywriting for a display ad network (ie. non-search). The campaign is basically aimed at people who are about to move and how ACME (fictitious name) can help the move process with all the telecommunication services new arrangements. Here is what I had to say.

First, here is the ad, according to Google Adwords Editorial Guidelines:

Moving? ACME Can Help!
Move Phone & Services in 1 Click.
Save Time on Moving Using ACME
acme.ca/moving

And now, here is the explanation. Apparently, everyone who read this today, including Steve Kellas, online copywriting genius, thought it was pretty bang on so I am glad to share this with you.

Explanation:
In a nutshell, we are using the same kind of copywriting rationale & style as if we were talking to the users through paid search engine results. We first need to establish relevance with the users which is why we use self-selecting expressions such as Moving?. People who are not moving will most likely skip the ad completely which is not a bad thing when we are using a pay per click format that online users are used to deal with.

Once relevance is established, we can then proceed with stating the benefits of ACME’s offer, which is to offer *help* in the moving process. Since we all know how any form of help is appreciated during moving time, we thought this would be the best verb to describe what ACME can do for them. This has also a great branding effect as it conveys a strong and positive emotion. (thanks for helping me out). We can only use the exclamation mark once in the ad. We then decided to put it on the headline as this is where it makes the most sense. We also need to repeat the same word (move, moving) a few times in the ads (4), on each line preferably, as online users may only read the headline or the first line of text or the second and so on. They may also read the ad vertically which is why the strongest word is often at the beginning of each line. Even if you read the ad vertically, you would still understand what the offer is. Clever hey?

We also need to capitalize the first letter of every word as it reads better, in case online users will actually take the time to read the ad completely. On line 1, we use obvious terms such as phone & services since these are the topics we are talking about and the use of the words “in one click” says how quickly we can help solve this problem. On line 2, we decided to actually states the benefit “Save time”, again to reinforce what the offer is and describe what the offer can do for them. The repetition in the ads while using synonyms and playing with images and emotions for each word is a standard practice in online copywriting. Please note that the text ad characters limit is very restrictive which is why we are trying to find words that say a lot in terms of meaning but that are in fact quite short: help, save, time, move, click are good examples. 

Removing www in the display url (acme.ca) is also a great little improvement as it cuts unnecessary elements (www) which does not help understanding the meaning of the ad. Check out how often you see *www* in Google Adwords. Did you know you can take them out? Please do! Nobody says World Wide Web anymore. If you know anyone who still uses this expression, please publish their names in the comment box below.

If you use this methodology for writing your Google text ads, you can be sure your Google text ads will be more relevant to the users. As a result, this will lead to greater qualified visitors and better ROI.

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I really like to find these videos these days that deliver user centric products and services from all the corners of the web. It seems like I could be blogging all day about everything great that is popping up on the radar every single day. Yes, I know, one of these days I will start creating my own. This one will keep you entertained until then. The presentation style is really awesome. 

This video is bit special because it is coming from a local Vancouver entrepreneur, Dick Hardt from Sxip.com, where he presents his solution for Identity 2.0 and how to manage your digital identity across numerous sites. His idea is brilliant, saves time and favors the users as opposed to corporations. Check it out:

Why am I doing this? Well, this video was sent to me from Thierry Latremoille and he asks me to comment on. Since I do not know enough about identity 2.0 just yet or sxip.com for that matter, I have to do some homework. Also, because I want to do this properly, please let me know what you think so I can collect as many benefits as possible (and drawbacks) for using Identity 2.0 services such as sxip.com or any other. I would really like to hear. Thanks! 

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I was very surprised and pleased today when I came across a really cool video on this post made by Microsoft to reconnect with its customers. It is called the breakup and presents a couple arguing over their communication issues. In this exchange, the woman, who represents the consumer side, is complaining about the lack of 2-way dialogue with the advertisers. On the other hand, the guy, narcissic at best & representing the advertiser’s point of view, is trying to convince her that he knows what’s best for her. Hilarious! I found it great (although the topic isn’t) since I talk about this kind of behaviors in a previous post about user centricity & the Search Marketing philosophy. I have to admit: I really like to criticize advertisers who do not engage in a 2-way dialogue with their customers and I get especially irritated with those who have a self-centered attitude in the exchange they want to initiate. The video presents just that and I love it! Please pass it around.

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Last week, I was talking with Andrew Spoeth from Enquiro.com who phoned me personally to make sure I am fully aware of the latest B2B research study on purchasing behaviors they recently published. During our conversation, Andrew asked to take a look at Manoj Jasra’s blog on Web Analytics. His blog is great and I strongly suggest to add it to your favorite reader. As I was reading through it, I found something very valuable that you might like. Manoj compiled the ultimate web analytics comparison list along with features on each web analytics tool.

2 weeks ago I met with David Salinas from Google Analytics team out of Boston, and he assured me that with the new interface, Google Analytics is becoming one of the strongest products on the market. As I am a big fan of Omniture SiteCatalyst, I wanted to know which tool between Google Analytics & Omniture SiteCatalyst is the best, regardless of price. Manoj points to Bart Gibby’s site on this comparison and the results he makes clearly points out that the complexity of Omniture SiteCatalyst (and the price) do not work for him and the businesses he represents. Keep in mind that a common yearly price tag for Omniture’s tool is $30,000. As a result, for most companies, even the ones looking for an enterprise solution in web analytics, the product of choice, according to these experts, remain Google Analytics. 

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I know. This has nothing to do with search. But I am so excited, I have to write it down somewhere, just in case someone asks me about my new bike, I can at least send this link.

Look how pretty it is. (and the ride is smooth too!)

Get back to me if you want to go for a ride and we’ll talk search then! alex {at} eMarketing101 {dot} net

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I came across this today from the Twist Image Blog which talks about what Lee Lefever over at Common Craft have done recently to explain the power of RSS and subscribing to content. This video is titled, RSS In Plain English. If you don’t know much about blog & RSS, you have to view this. It is an excellent video.

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Skooiz.com dévoile son étude exclusive sur les habitudes de recherche au Québec ou comment les internautes Québécois cherchent-ils sur le Web via les moteurs de recherche. Cette étude a été réalisée en mars 2007 en collaboration avec notre partenaire Mastodonte Communication, propriétaire d’une des bases de courriels opt-in les plus importantes au Québec; 1272 internautes ont répondu à une vingtaine de questions posées à l’ensemble des membres de la liste d’envoi électronique Mastodonte.

Résultats:
Les résultats montrent que les Québécois ont atteint une certaine maturité dans l’usage d’internet et particulièrement pour la recherche; certaines habitudes semblent même déjà bien ancrées dans les mœurs des internautes.

Les Québécois recherchent très activement sur le Web. Ils sont près de 65% à utiliser un moteur de recherche de 2 à plus de 10 fois par jour.

Google avec 78,1% de part de marché domine outrageusement le palmarès des moteurs de recherche les plus utilisés au Québec.

Dans l’hypothèse ou l’internaute ne trouve pas ce qu’il cherche sur son moteur favori, là encore Google reste le premier choix avec 26,7%, l’écart est cependant moins important vis-à-vis des autres moteurs.

Une majorité écrasante de répondants (85%) se disent satisfaits des résultats affichés. Ils ne sont que 1,6% à être insatisfaits. 8,8% des répondants sondés se disent cependant très insatisfaits.

Ils sont 48,9% à formuler une requête de 2 mots et près de 31% utilisent 3 mots; ils ne sont que 9,5% à le faire avec simplement un mot et près de 11% le font avec 4 mots.

Concernant les liens commerciaux (Sponsorisés):

Une forte proportion des internautes disent remarquer l’affichage des liens sponsorisés (60,7%), il y en a quand même près de 40% qui ne les remarquent pas.

40,2% des internautes Québécois sont neutres quant à la pertinence des liens sponsorisés, 17,4% les trouvent pertinents ou très pertinents. Par contre 32,3% les trouvent peu ou très peu pertinents.

Les Québécois suivent la tendance mondiale en matière de comportement visà- vis des liens commerciaux. Ils cliquent rarement sur ces liens pour 47,3% alors que 29,2% ne le font jamais. 23,4% disent cliquer sur les liens payants à l’occasion.

Voir les résultats complet de l’étude en format PDF

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Comme on pouvait s’y attendre, le spectacle de Louis-José Houde de Dimanche dernier au Arts Club Theatre fût un grand succès. L’humoriste nous a fait rire pendant près de 2 heures, sans interruption. Il était d’ailleurs frappé par notre accueil plutôt chaleureuse et par les différences frappantes entre le Québec et la Colombie Britannique, qu’il n’a pas manqué de souligné tout au long du spectacle, au grand plaisir de tous.

Après le spectacle, tout le monde se rassemblait autour de l’artiste où j’ai pu prendre quelques photos:

Louis-José Houde en train de faire un “Strike-a-pose” avec Sonia Fecteau

Louis-José Houde qui prend le temps de parler avec tout le monde après le spectacle.

Les organisateurs Eric Lenger et Martin Talbot m’ont d’ailleurs informé qu’il va y avoir d’autres spectacles d’humoristes francophones à Vancouver bientôt. Je vous en reparlerai aussitôt que j’ai les dates précises. 

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C’est ce samedi 20 Mai 2007, qu’à lieu le spectacle de Louis-José Houde à Vancouver. Le spectacle a lieu au Backstage lounge sur Granville Island et les organisateurs de la soirée, Eric Lenger et Martin Talbot, affirment qu’il reste encore un bon nombre de billets pour cet événement unique.

Louis-José Houde

Vous pouvez vous procurer des billets à la porte. Le spectacle commence à 20h00.

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My SEMPO Canada colleague, Darcy Foster from VKI Studios, made a good post today about his experiment in using the new Google Website Optimizer tool. They came up with a few key insights of using the tool, which you may find interesting:

Notes from running the experiments: Pages that don’t get a lot of traffic can take a very long time to get any results, so you should test fewer variables and fewer versions. Otherwise you might never complete your experiment. Don’t assume because something works on one page that it will work on other or all other similar pages. You’ve got the tool now so test everything.

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Julien Raby, Director Search Marketing from Cossette Media (Montreal) sent me this job posting today. Please feel free to pass it around to whoever might be interested.

Job Title: Director - Search Marketing

Description: Cossette Media (Toronto) is looking for a passionate individual to fill an immediate opening for the Director Search Marketing role within Cossette Media’s Toronto office. The selected candidate will work with Interactive Media Specialists and Traditional Media Planners to ensure clients are making the best use of their search engine presence. The role will cover the creation and implementation of Search strategies for many of Cossette’s clients including Nike, Saturn, Saab and Coca-Cola.

Responsibilities
* Propose, create, implement, track , analyze and optimize search engine presence projects - both Paid and Organic
* Ensure the lowest price is being paid through bidding, landing page and various other optimization techniques
* Manage the ongoing relationships with each of the major suppliers and partners
* Work with Search Marketing Specialists in other Cossette offices to hone the search offering nationally

Job Requirements:
* 4+ years of marketing experience
* 3+ years in an online marketing role with a focus on paid search
* Intimate knowledge of paid search listing providers, tracking tools, bid-management systems and keyword development tools.
* Passion for the industry and a vision as to where it is going
* Experience managing marketing budgets with a focus on ROI
* Direct marketing enthusiast
* Expert in Search Engine Optimization
* Strong leadership skills
* Excellent written and verbal presentation skills
* Solutions-oriented approach
* “Never say never” attitude
* Caring, professional, fun
* Impeccable organizational skills

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