Tag Archives: google adwords

What’s New for September 27, 2013 – Organic Search, Mobile Design, Click-To-Call

Posted on by

Google Not Provided Organic Search Queries

Good SEO has just become even more difficult. Google has secured ALL searches in their organic search query referrer data to go completely 100% “not provided.” In other words, Google Analytics can no longer track keyword data. General search term volume data can still be obtained from Google Webmaster Tools and Google Adwords, but the information necessary to “fine tune” and SEO campaign will be more difficult to obtain.

Google is saying that this is to protect the privacy of online users. Many think that this move simply means that Google has more data about the performance of your website than you do. SEO firms will continue to march on.

Organic Search Inquiries

Photo Credit: Guudmorning! via Compfight cc

Mobile Design Colors Matter

A well-designed website and online marketing presence has become a key part of a successful marketing plan for most, if not all, businesses. As the use of smartphones and tablets increases, a mobile presence is becoming more important. Most firms either employ responsive design or design a separate mobile site as a miniature, simplified version of their desktop site. There are some additional considerations when designing a successful mobile web site.

  1. Most companies want their mobile web design to copy their desktop design. It’s important that the sites are similar, but not identical. The mobile site should have its own identity.
  2. The color scheme for a desktop site may be able to get away with a bolder and more varied design than that of a mobile site because desktop computers and monitors have a greater capacity for loading and viewing design elements. Make sure that desktop design elements replicate well to a mobile site and do not create significant load time problems. Also be wary of background images that may impede loading or be visually confusing on a mobile site.

Color choices are becoming more critical because of the demands placed by numerous website viewing environments. Web designers will have to be careful to choose colors and designs that will lend themselves to a website that will create a consistent look and feel across both mobile and desktop environments.

Study: Majority of Mobile Callers are Ready to Buy

A new survey of smartphone users conducted by IPSOS on behalf of Google states that 61% of survey respondents say that “click-to-call is most important in the purchase phase of the shopping process.” And 70 percent of respondents said they had used the “call button” in Google search results. This means companies without click-to-call buttons, or at least listed phone numbers, will lose business to their competitors. Calling is an efficient way to get information from a business, especially from a mobile phone. This is especially critical in the buying phase, as illustrated by the chart below:

Mobile Click to CallMore detailed information on this study can be obtained here.

Bottom Line: Google continues to make Organic SEO more difficult and Adwords more accessible and easy to use. Mobile continues to be increasingly important, both in design and making sure the ease of use is optimized for a mobile website visitor. SEO firms will continue to raise their game to meet the challenges of the new environment.

Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in Zenergy Works, A Santa Rosa, California SEO, Responsive Website Design, and Online Marketing Firm.

What’s New for September 10, 2013 – Google Keyword and Disavow Tools, Email Scanning

Posted on by

Google Keyword Tool is Officially Out to Pasture

An SEO resource has changed, and not everyone is happy about it. The Google Keyword Tool has been replaced with Google’s new Keyword Planner, and the landscape for Keyword Research has changed. Users will be required to log into an AdWords account to use the tool, and will not be able to access match type data for search volume, device targeting data, or global versus local searches.

The bright side of the change is that users are able to retrieve keyword search volume data down to the city level; can upload up to 10,000 keywords to access performance data; and search volumes by ad group, landing page, and many other categories established by the user.

Time and Google slow for no one, and once the grumbling about having to learn a new system is over, users will be able to continue to conduct online advertising business as usual.

Google Keyword Tool

Google Argues For Email Scanning

Google is asking a judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit, filed in May, that says Google “unlawfully opens up, reads, and acquires the content of people’s private email messages” in violation of California’s privacy laws and federal wiretapping statutes. The lawsuit also alleges that Google scans messages sent to active Gmail users from non-Gmail users who never agreed to the company’s terms and conditions.

Google has openly admitted that it targets its advertising based on words that show up in Gmail messages, and defends its actions by stating that no humans read any of the email, and the process is 100% automated. Consumer Groups contend that email has an expectation of privacy that should be preserved.

Another piece in the ongoing saga of privacy versus online advertising efficiency.

Google’s Link Disavow Tool: More Harm Than Good?

Many Webmasters and SEO firms have used Google’s disavow tool that launched almost a year ago to overcome penalties brought on by the Google Penguin. Now Google itself has come out and unequivocally stated that use of this tool may actually harm search rankings.

Google’s Eric Kuan from the search quality team said:

“The disavow backlinks tool should be used with caution since it can potentially harm your site’s performance. However, if you see a considerable number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links point to your site, and you’re confident that the links are causing issues for your site, you can use the disavow tool to disavow those links. In most cases, Google can assess which links to trust without additional guidance, so most normal or typical sites will not need to use this tool.”

Be judicious in how you employ the link disavow tool. You may inadvertently neutralize links that are helping your site to rank and do more harm than good.

Bottom Line: This has definitely been a Google Update. I applaud the fact that the search giant is making an effort to communicate more and help to access information in an orderly and helpful way. The privacy issues will be a source of controversy for years to come. The courts, The Federal Trade Commission, and even foreign governments have gotten involved. The factor that will cause any gigantic online entity to pay attention is decreased traffic or market share. Until that happens, I truly do not believe that significant change will occur in online privacy policies.

Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in Zenergy Works, a Santa Rosa, California based SEO, Online Marketing and Website Design and Development Firm.

Zenergy Works is a Google Engage Agency!

Posted on by

Zenergy Works becomes a Google Engage AgencyBecoming a Google Engage Agency to Support Our Clients

As of this week, Zenergy Works is ecstatic to announce that we’ve become a Google Engage Agency, entering the ranks of companies dedicated to serving their customers with tippy-top-tier extra service. Google Engage is a program that exists to help agencies provide their small and mid-size clients gain even better traction with their paid search engine marketing. The benefits of working with this program are clear: better support, access to Google’s own Pay-Per-Click experts, and great discounts. Not only do they help us, but we get to pass this fantastic coverage and discounting down to our clients.

Best of all, it means even stronger and more targeted paid Google advertising.

If done poorly or incorrectly, AdWords campaigns can quickly become a money-suck. When you’re paying for every click, it’s important to make sure you’re targeting the correct keywords, monitoring for click fraud, and keeping an eye on which ads are pulling their weight. This is an important process that really needs weekly, if not daily, maintenance to ensure everything is operating optimally and not working against you rather than for you.

AdWords is one of those slippery creatures where you can know just enough to be dangerous with it. Before you know it, your costs are climbing but the clicks you’re paying for aren’t converting. There are a number of different tools that can help you achieve better results and control who sees your ads, but they’re not much use unless you know they’re there and know how to use them effectively. If you know what you’re doing, your search engine marketing can be dialed down to posting specific ads at specific times to specific locations. If you’re not sure how to utilize those features, it can be a big headache with no rhyme or reason. It’s not easy, but that’s what we’re here for. Now that we’re operating as a Google Engage Agency, we will rock the socks off your marketing efforts.

We’ve always existed to take the pain out of online marketing for our clients. The murky world of search engines and websites and keywords and display advertising can just get to be too much. We get it, and we’re always happy to take that stress away, as any good marketing agency should. Google Engage will play an integral part in making us even better at our job, and we’re beyond excited to get to put it to use.

Our goal isn’t to be the best gosh darn Google Engage Agency in the Universe or anything. We’ll settle for Planet Earth. Either way, we going to give our clients the very best in Internet and search engine marketing. What have you been hearing about Google Engage?

Translate »