Google has always said it wants to provide the best search experience. Well, that statement may no longer be true. Apparently, it is placing more and more pay per click ads and Google’s own pages on the search results pages. Google is even running an AdWords ad that states: “Forget about SEO. To be visible in Google today, try AdWords.” What about content and credibility? Check out this blog post from Aaron Wall, one of the leaders in SEO. Will you now have to pay in order to be found? Do you need to decide between AdWords or SEO? They have always complimented each other. Will that no longer be the case?
Posts Tagged ‘Google’
AdWords or SEO? Is Google killing off natural search in the name of money?
December 13th, 2011Google SEO Updates as of 12/1/11
December 6th, 2011Last week Google published another round of search improvements. They advised that this was the first of a monthly series where they will be sharing information about their algorithm and feature enhancements. Their new monthly blog posts will be highlighting the approximate 500 search improvements Google makes each year. So you don’t have to add another blog feed to your home page, each month we’ll be summarizing the posts for you.
Here are the Google SEO updates (and feature updates) for December 2011:
Image freshness. A change will not make it easier for Google to find the most recent images for news searches.
Google AdWords Express Replaces Google Boost
July 26th, 2011Google sure is busy. Last May we told you that Google Boost had replaced Google Tags. Well now Google AdWords Express is replacing Google Boost!
According to Google, “AdWords Express is designed to help local businesses that aren’t already AdWords advertisers create effective campaigns.” Adding AdWords Express to your Places listing allows you to advertise on Google and Google Maps, including mobile devices. You set up a monthly budget and create copy for your ad and Google does the rest, including determining what search terms will trigger your ad to be shown and your bidding to have your ad included in the search results. The terms are selected based on your Places listing categories. Google has assigned a cost per click for each search term, which you pay every time someone clicks on your ad.
As we pointed out with Google Boost, if you don’t have the time or the inclination to learn how to create and manage an effective Adwords campaign, or don’t have an Internet Marketing company you can rely on to do so for you, AdWords Express is an option for local advertising. But keep in mind that it has limitations. AdWords provides more options and controls – keyword selection and bid control, local AND national targeting, advanced reporting and different ad formats such as video, display and more – than AdWords Express offers.
What are Boost Ads?
May 6th, 2011The replacement of Google Tags?
Now that Google has officially retired Google Tags, if you were a Tags user have you received a call from a Google representative offering Boost Ads? Some of our clients have and they are asking us, “Just what are boost ads?”
In case you are wondering the same thing, here is a brief overview:
Boost Ads are just that – ads. Similar to Google AdWords, you pay every time someone clicks on your ad. Unfortunately you may not realize this when a Google rep calls you to try to convince you to start a Boost campaign. One of our clients was told it was free and as the rep walked our client through the set up process he then said it was pay per click. When our client questioned the Google rep, he said that pay per click was after he gave the first $100 free. IT IS pay per click.
How do Boost Ads work?
Unlike AdWords, Boost Ads are locally based and work together with your Google Places listing. If you are a former Google Tag user, you already have a Places listing. If you need to create one, visit www.google.com/places.
Adding Google Boost to your Places listing allows you to advertise on Google and Google Maps, including mobile devices. You set up a monthly budget and create copy for your ad and Google does the rest, including determining what search terms will trigger your ad to be shown and your bidding to have your ad included in the search results. The terms are selected based on your Places listing categories. Google has assigned a cost per click for each search term, which you pay every time someone clicks on your ad.
What information is displayed in a Boost Ad?
Google uses information from your Places listing – your business name, address, phone number, a short description of your business, a snippet from your Place Page, and a link to your Place Page.
Where are Boost Ads displayed?
Similar to AdWords, in a google.com search, Boost Ads are displayed either above or to the right of the search results. In a Google Maps search, they appear above the search results. If your business appears in the organic Places listing results, your Boost Ad will appear in the ads section with a red marker and that red marker will appear on the corresponding map. If your business does not appear in the organic Places results, your Boost Ad will still appear in the ads section, but with a blue marker.
Will a Boost Ad help my organic Places listing rankings?
No. Boost Ads appear in the sponsored ads section – they don’t affect what businesses appear in the organic Places listings.
Boost or AdWords?
If you don’t have the time or the inclination to learn how to create and manage an effective Adwords campaign, or don’t have an Internet Marketing company you can rely on to do so for you, Boost is an option for local advertising. But keep in mind that it has limitations. AdWords provides more options and controls – keyword selection and bid control, local AND national targeting, advanced reporting and different ad formats such as video, display and more – than Boost offers.
Phone Number for AdWords Help Now Available
April 6th, 2011You asked for it and Google listened. Yesterday Google introduced free phone support for AdWords advertisers. Now when you have a question about your account or campaigns you can call and speak with a live person, rather than rely on waiting for a response to your email or navigating through AdWords forums.
Just call the phone number for AdWords help — 1-866-2-Google — Monday through Friday 9am-8pm Eastern Time and have your customer ID on hand.
If you misplace the number, just log into your AdWords account and click on Help in the upper right hand corner and the following box will appear:
Phone Number for AdWords Help
This Google AdWords helpline is currently only available to advertisers in the United States and Canada. The company said it will be rolling out phone support to other countries in the coming months.
Place Search On Google
October 28th, 2010Will Place Search on Google Affect Your SEO Efforts?
Yesterday Google introduced a new type of local search result. Place Search organizes information around local places to help searchers more easily make comparisons. Previously when you did a local search, you would see the local results from Google Places at the top of the page next to a pushpin map. Now the map is in the right column above the AdWords ads and the results are included in or above the regular organic search results, marked with red pins – which helps your listing jump out from the rest.Place Search results will appear automatically when Google predicts a searcher is looking for local information, i.e., “chinese restaurants new york city”. Google has also made it easy to start a local search – just click on the “Places” icon in the left panel of the search results page. If a local web search doesn’t yield you the results you want, click on places and you just might find what you were looking for.
One very important thing to note, Google does not seem to be consistent with how it is displaying these new results. We did our own test. Some searches yielded one “result” per business, which incorporated a regular result with a Google Places result with links to both the website and the Places listing. This combined result is included in the 10 results per page. The problem with this is you are not being displayed twice, as you may have been in the past. Other searches yielded the old format with a 1 or 2 or 7 pack listing separated from the regular results so that you could appear twice on a page. Not sure how Google is determining what to show and how.
In any event, if you haven’t created a Google Places listing you need to now more than ever! Write On Point is here to help if you need us.
SEO and Google TV
September 13th, 2010Web. TV. Two HUGE marketing platforms that will soon be one thanks to Google.
Approximately 400 million web searches are performed everyday. The average American watches 5 hours of TV on a daily basis. While these two stats may appear unrelated, Google is changing that. Google TV, which seamlessly joins the web and television, will make its debut in the U.S. this fall and world-wide next year. So, if you have been putting off tuning up – or even starting – your search engine optimization and Internet marketing campaigns, you may want to start kicking them into high gear.
What is Google TV?
This brand new service from Google will change how and where people will surf the web. Google TV will project a search bar on top of the television screen allowing viewers to search the Internet in real time as well as live tv listings – all without leaving the couch or sitting up to type on your laptop. The tv serves as the monitor running on Google’s Android operating system. You will even be able to change the channel using Google speech recognition technology and access Google Apps!
Google TV and your SEO and Internet Marketing campaigns
There are over 4 billion tv viewers worldwide and, as we said, about 400 million web searches everyday. Who knows how many more searches will be performed with this new service or how many more opportunities for your site to be found by prospects. Now is the time to optimize your website and get a jump on the competition.
Twitter On Google Search Results Pages
August 31st, 2010If you are not using Twitter for your business yet, here is another reason to start. Last week Google made web search results timelier by launching Google Realtime Search – www.Google.com/Realtime.
Google has created a one-stop shop for Twitter search results
Google Realtime Search, which is separate from Google’s main search engine, is a great place for people to look for current conversations and topics happening online across the globe. It displays messages from Twitter and Google’s own version of Twitter called Google Buzz in the form of a continuously updating news feed. Realtime also shows some results from Facebook and MySpace.
Google Realtime is similar to bing.com/social. Yahoo also offers something similar when users search news results for a specific topic.
With Google showing realtime Tweets, you now have one more way to be found online. Greater content equals greater visibility, which equals greater traffic. What are you waiting for? Just be sure, however, that your Twitter content is keyword rich. Not sure what keywords to use? Your SEO consultant can help.
