Blog #3: Websites: The importance of Search Engine Optimization and Display Advertisement

This week we focused our attention in some of the "behind-the-scene" work that businesses and companies have to go through to appear among the first results without spending any money on display or text ads. I am talking about  "search engine optimization (SEO), also called organic or natural optimization. It involves optimizing Web sites to achieve high rankings on the search engines for certain selected key phrases" (Stokes, 2013). Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide says that [s]earch engine optimization is often about making small modificationsto parts of a website. When viewed individually, the changes might seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with other optimizations, they could have a noticeable and more powerful impact on the site's user experience and performance in organic search results (Google, 2010). The textbook describe the SEO practice as technical and brakes it down in five main parts:

1. A search engine-friendly Web site structure.
2. A well-researched list of key phrases.
3. Content optimized to target those key phrases.
4. Link popularity.
5. Emerging Trends.

On the Internet I found a figure that explains the SEO process similar to the way it is explained in the book.

Figure 1: The SEO Process. Source: point b communications.

Both descriptions of the SEO process emphasize how important it is to do research. Key phrases, which are made up of keywords, but you can get away with referring to a key phrase as keywords (Stokes, 2013)," are the very foundation of search. When looking to optimize a website, we have to do "exhaustive keyword research to define the search phrases that provide the largest opportunities for your offering (point b communications, 2012). As you probably realized, I am very interested in how small businesses can take advantage of tools available online. As we know, optimizing a website is the result of finding the right keywords that will lead to high rankings. But, given that not everybody is familiar with this tools, what resources do you think will be more effective to learn about SEO? Google Guides? Forums? Any other creative resource that will not  require high investments?

 A second concept that I learned more about this week was display advertisement.  Just as the SEO process, the goal of the display ads is to attract visitors, increase traffic and revenues. The main difference is that you have to pay for the ads. Display advertising is well-known and a key component on the media mix. "Online advertisements are also much more interactive than offline advertising" (Stokes, 2013). Ads are always helpful because: they build brand awareness, create consumer demand, informe consumers of the advertiser’s ability to satisfy that demand and drive response and sales (Stokes, 2013). I have seen ads when I am searching for things, or when I am watching videos in YouTube, but I didn't know that each of them were called differently, for me they were all "ads." Now I know that the most common are:

• Banners: is a graphic image or animation displayed on a Web site for advertising purposes.
•  Video: encompasses online display advertisements such as MPUs that have video within them. They are more engaging and. can drive strong interaction metrics.
• Rich text: are banner ads that have more interactive like playing videos. Involves more participation from the user.
• Sponsorship online: are similar to sponsorship in real-life. A brand will pay a premium to be able to "own" a web property for a set period of time, usually paid in cost per day (CPD) (Google, 2013).

Given that the book and videos I saw this week said that banner was usually the most common, I wanted to see a comparison between the 4 main formats of ads. I found this graph (figure 2) that shows that banners is by far the one that people choose the most when looking to advertise online. Figure 3 shows how a company can use one or more types of ads to get to their customers. My question is: should everyone use display ads? Why or why not?

Figure 2: Display Advertising in Billion of Dollars. Source: eMarketer.

Figure 3: Display Advertising example. Source: SEO Advisors

As far as skillset, I have a better understanding on Google Analytics (GA) and how it is connected to SEO and ads. I think that every company and business should turn on GA and gather information. Even if they are not going to use it right away, although it would be a mistake. Why? Because with that tool turned on, they can collect a huge and valuable amount of data that can help them make decisions in terms of investment in SEO and ads to increase traffic, awareness, revenues, conversions, etc. Learning how Google Analytics work and the benefits of it allowed me to see a new opportunity to apply what I learn in class, and now my best friend's website is tracking information that she is going to use to optimize her website, and try to appear among the first one when people search for the products and services she offers.
The most challenging part this week has been to fully understand some concepts because I could not hear the person talking in the videos. The recording was not very good, and the speaker had a different accent, to which I am not used to. This let me with some gaps that I tried to eliminate by reading more about the topics I did not understand. I also asked to my classmates to get their opinions. I do think I feel more comfortable with the material, and hope to keep learning practical tools.

References

Google (2013). Display 101 - Introduction to display. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/partners/#p_content;idtf=rQQAAAAAAACthM;

Google (2010). Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide. Retrieved from https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

Point b communications (2012). Chicago Professional SEO Service | Point B Communications. Retrieved from http://www.pointbcommunications.com/search-engine-optimization/

Sasseen , J., Olmstead, K., & Mitchell, A. (2013). Digital: By The Numbers | State of the Media. Retrieved from http://stateofthemedia.org/2013/digital-as-mobile-grows-rapidly-the-pressures-on-news-intensify/digital-by-the-numbers/

SEO-Advisors.com (n.d.). Display Advertising Some Key Takes. Retrieved from http://seo-advisors.com/display-advertising-some-key-takes/ 
Stokes, R. (2013). eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Online Marketing 1.0 | Flat World Knowledge. Retrieved from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/19?cid=1515571

Blog #2: Web Analytics: The Importance of Goals and Analysis

This week I was amazed of all the work that is behind an online ad. It is not only about choosing the words that for look good, or make sense to you. It is about so much more! You really have to prepare and set your goals. Without goals, you will never really know if your ad was successful or if the campaign helped the business in some way. Usually, the goal is to increase revenues, but the process to achieve the goal can be broken into several steps. "Analyzing each step in the process is called funnel analysis or path analysis and is critical to understanding where problems in the conversion process may lie" (Stokes, 2013). This process is actually the first concept I want to focus on. It helped me realize why websites have to be easy to navigate, they have to have all the information, and why they need to attract customers through ads that have the right information. Let's say 100,000 people visit a Contiki's website looking to buy a tour to Jordan, only a small percentage will actually book the tour. The first shows fewer users at each step, and this is the main reason why "increasing the number of visitors who progress from one step to the next will go a long way to improving the overall conversion rate of the site" (Stokes, 2013). The image on the right caught my attention because it explains a little bit better how visitors make decisions when booking a tour. I do believe these two images reflect how the funnel works and why is it necessary for companies to be present and to really do their homework and prepare themselves with the best strategies so they get as many visitors so they can increase their conversion rates. The one thing I wonder is: how in-depth should a business go to prepare for this? Should goals be purely based on what the company needs, or also what the industry itself is doing?

Source: David Armano

Source: Solimar International

A second concept I found interesting and useful when analyzing web analytics was one of the three prong-approach that has to do with outcome . I think this goes hand-by-hand with the first concept I introduced. This approach focuses on the outcome, on meeting expectations. It is not only about setting your goals, but to look into the results, and analyze what have been done right, and what can be improved to generate more traffic, or to increase sales, etc. It is important because businesses need to know if they are using their resources in the most effective and efficient way possible.Otherwise, all the effort to put a website, an ad and awareness plan in place would be worthless because outcomes are not measured. My concern here is that not everyone know how to analyze information. Businesses and companies with deep pockets can hire people that are 100% sure of what they are doing, of what they are looking at, etc. But, small and medium size businesses might not have this opportunity and they could be loosing business because of this. Do you have any suggestions on how to go over metrics and get the most out of them?

Source: The Great Online, LLC

The most important skillset I have acquired is really understanding the relation between eMarketing, web analysis and conversion optimization. There are so many tools out there to get to the consumer, and it is fantastic to see how technology can help business to grow exponentially. Using AdWords was also a great skill I acquired and it was challenging to really understand how to use it, and I think I still have to learn a lot more. I can definitely see myself asking my company's marketing department to do an analysis of their online strategies and guide them in the process in case they do not use it as much as they should or could.

This session has been very helpful not only for our project, but also for my personal benefit given that my family owns a company that can benefit from all the techniques, strategies, and overall knowledge I get. This week has been overwhelming just because we had to process so much information, but the videos, and extra readings have been useful. I hope I keep learning and understanding all the other uses and importance of eMarkerting.

Sources: 

Armano, D. (n.d.). Logic+Emotion. Retrieved from http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/08/

Salisbury, J. (2012, April 15). What Is Inbound Marketing? Retrieved from http://www.thegreatonline.com/inbound-marketing-blog/bid/81703/What-Is-Inbound-Marketing

Solimar International (2012, November 14). Introducing a Completely New Approach to Travel Marketing. Retrieved from http://info.solimarinternational.com/blog/bid/243145/Introducing-a-Completely-New-Approach-to-Travel-Marketing

Stokes, R. (2013). eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Online Marketing 1.0 | Flat World Knowledge. Retrieved from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/19?cid=1515571