3 Ways Search Marketing Can Influence Ecommerce

Nigeria is seeing a lot of growth in the ecommerce sector.  Most shop owners are bringing their store online while some are creating online stores from scratch.  The right search marketing strategy can bring you to the first page of Google and top 5 positions.

A great chunk of marketing budget is being spent on search engine optimization and the goal is to obtain the highest possible ranking.  

However, sites can be removed quickly from the first page of Google if there is a change in algorithm.  In maintaining search traffic, suggested keywords, personalized search results, and local results are very important.

A local business would have great leverage with local listings which will require being active on Google + and other local platforms.

Search Marketing can influence ecommerce through;

1.  Product Listing Advertising

2.  Pay-Per-Click Advertising

3.  Social Platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram)

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Is Google Shutting down YouTube or is it April Fool?

YouTube announced in a three - minute video clip today that since the site launched in 2005, it had just been nothing but a worldwide competition to find the best video in the world.  According to the YouTube blog, it is closing the competition eight years later, no more submissions after midnight on Tuesday April 2, 2013 and best video nominees will be announced at 9:00am on the 9th of April, 2013.

Watch the video here :


Well guess what?  Today happens to be April 1st   and Google loves April Fools' Day.

YouTube is not closing anytime soon.

Happy April Fools Day.

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Why Brands need Social Media

Why Brands need Social Media Marketers

The video shows social media statistics and gives great insights into the power of Social Media Marketing.  If your brand is not yet harnessing the power of Social Media,  its best to jump on the bandwagon and not get left behind.  Watch the video and get informed.

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How Heineken decided to hire an intern

How Heineken decided to hire an intern

This video showcases a fun way to fill positions in your company.  Heineken decided to use a different approach in hiring an intern.  The HR team must have been bored and wanted to think outside the box.  

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Yahoo and Google Strike a Global Ad Deal

Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. have signed a global non-exclusive contextual advertising deal that will generate impressive revenue growth in the future.  Yahoo shares rose more than 1.5% as a result of the news.

How Will This Work

Google ads will start appearing on different Yahoo sites and some co-branded sites using Google Adsense for content and AdMob services.

Google retains part of the revenues generated from the ads displayed on partner sites.  Exact ratio wasn't disclosed, however, website owners who display ads covered in the agreement will get up to 68% of the ad revenue.  Well let's see what happens.

Who Will Benefit

Both Yahoo and Google will benefit from the deal.  

Yahoo Inc. has seen an increase in search revenues from the last quarter as a result of improvements in the quality of ads.  On the other hand, Yahoo Inc. has failed to deliver repeatedly, let's see if the deal will have any positive impact on Yahoo and help generate additional advertising dollars.

Google Inc. will also benefit by getting additional space to run its ads and increase advertising revenues.   

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Smartphone for Africa

Demand for smartphones in Africa has prompted two big players within the technology market to join forces and launch a new phone specifically designed for the continent.

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has teamed with Microsoft to launch a bespoke Windows-run smartphone exclusively available in Africa.

The phone, called the Huawei 4Afrika, is the first in a series of smart devices being custom developed for the continent and released as part of Microsoft’s sweeping new 4Afrika Initiative.

It is hoped the 4Afrika initiative will make tens of millions of smart devices available across the continent in the next couple of years.

Designed specifically as an affordable option for students, small businesses, developers, and first-time smartphone owners, the Huawei 4Afrika with Windows Phone 8 will make its debut later this month in seven countries: Angola, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa.

The phone will be marketed according to the retail market within those individual nations.

The new phone is a variant of the Ascend W1 launched at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show. Features include a four-inch 480 x 800 display, dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor and 4GB of internal storage as well as front and rear-facing cameras.

It also comes with pre-loaded, custom-built apps created by African developers for African consumers and includes a market-specific store within the larger Windows Phone Store for downloading locally-relevant apps and content.

Jean-Philippe Courtois, President of Microsoft International, said:  “We believe there has never been a better time to invest in Africa and that access to technology—particularly cloud services and smart devices—can and will serve as a great accelerator for African competitiveness.”

Windows Phone already has a strong presence in Africa with devices from HTC, Samsung, and Nokia. In fact, another part of this broad 4Afrika initiative is a joint Nokia and Microsoft customer training program in Kenya and Nigeria to help accelerate adoption of Nokia Lumia 510 and 620 phones.

More than 90 percent  of phones sold today in those markets are feature phones, so Microsoft and Nokia are teaming up to provide free in-store training for customers to help them get the most from their new Lumias and manage their new data plans.  

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Keywords Are Dead! Long Live User Intent!

By Grant Simmons

SEO has long relied on keywords to define content development, URL structure, and anchor text tactics.

We won’t dwell on Google’s Penguin and Panda updates as the nails in the coffin for over-optimized content and link profiles, but just know both of these algorithmic animals contributed to considerable change in SEO tactics and strategies over the past 18 months, including how SEO practitioners should be looking at keywords.

Keywords Are Dead!

Back when search engines were young and users less savvy, Google introduced keywords as the search methodology. With the maturing of search algorithms and the growing sophistication of Internet users’ behavior most searchers:

• Know how to “Google” (a verb since 2006).
• Understand where to click in the results.
• Expect relevance after the click.
• Know how to refine a non-relevant search.

The old interpretation of keywords is no longer true; users are not typing simple keywords that yield simple Google results. Users are entering “queries” – phrases that match specific search intent – and Google attempts to match that intent based on search data, click data, and heuristics, and then serves richer (and hopefully more relevant) intent-based results:

• Knowledge graph “instant results” for people, places and things.
• Local results.
• Google Autocomplete.
• Google spelling correction.
• Product listings / shopping for buying signals.
• Dictionary results for “definition-based” queries.

Long Live User Search Intent!

We live in an online world where users know what they’re looking for and search engines are getting much better at satisfying the user intent through their search results. But where does your brand fit into all this?

Your brand’s website and online presence needs to align around targeted customer intent(s) not traditional keywords focused optimization. What does this mean for your 2013 strategy? Focus toward tactics that will play to Google’s more complex side: mapping queries to actions, intent research, and aligned content creation.

Mapping Queries to Value

• List everything your company does and potentially wants to be found for. Look at it as an exercise in topic relevance. Ask yourself, for what kind of topics or queries should you appear? (Products, services, expertise, location etc.)
• Segment these topics by types of intent. List each topic under one of four headings: 
• Navigational.
• Informational.
• Commercial (note: a commercial query is an informational search with future business implications – i.e., comparison searches).
• Transactional. 
• Assign value to each topic in each column to help prioritize efforts and resource allocation. Values can be assigned as either a dollar amount or a simple 1 to 10 value. For example: An informational intent topic search that includes a location would have a greater value than one without.

Intent Research

• Doing traditional keyword search volume type discovery is still necessary, but search marketers must now also understand a user’s intent around a particular keyword or query.
• Look for new sources of query research like social monitoring, owned assets (social profiles), and onsite polls, surveys, or contests.
• Don’t discount research performed on your own site. If you have a search box on your site, are you collecting valuable intent based data? How are users formulating queries? What are they specifically searching for and from which page?
• Move offline with your research with informal meet-ups, focus groups, and peer groups and ask simple questions like “how would you search for product or service x?”

Creating Content That Connects

Now that you have a prioritized list of topics, it's time to figure out what content will satisfy the user intent and brand goals. Let’s go back to our topic categories, and think about what type of media, style of editorial, graphic, data points, message, and / or story would need to be created for each.

• Navigational queries are generally lower in value unless directly targeting your business. Brand searches can typically be deflected to informational content, but it can take time, effort, and valuable resources for low returns.
• Informational queries can be satisfied through articles, images, videos, infographics and other media that offers a good balance between information, entertainment, education, and inspiration.
• Commercial queries can be valuable if you can gain interest and engagement. Any opportunity to add multiple touch points to the relationship can provide future conversion opportunities. A good way to do this is by offering free information through email subscription, polls, surveys, feed subscriptions, or a series of specialized articles.
• Transactional queries are the most valuable, competitive, and the easiest to lose if you don’t provide a simple and easy way to convert. On-site engagement, uncomplicated conversion funnels, and obvious next steps all contribute to intent satisfaction. It also increases the likelihood of evangelism, sharing, liking, or creation of social signals that improve search visibility.

Out With the Old and in With Intent!

By identifying topic relevancy, exploring new query research, understanding user intent, and providing content that connects, savvy search marketers can look forward to more valuable traffic!

This article was first published on Search Engine Watch

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