Yahoo Clues: New Fun Search Keyword Tool

Yahoo Clues: New Fun Search Keyword Tool: "Today, Yahoo announced a new tool named Yahoo Clues. Yahoo Clues basically gives you insight into the types of people searching for specific keyword phrases and shows related terms based on those searches and searchers. The tool allows you to plug in one or two keyword phrases and it then plots the...



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What a feeling! Even better indexing of SWF content

What a feeling! Even better indexing of SWF content: "Webmaster Level: All

We often get questions from webmasters about how we index content designed for Flash Player, so we wanted to take a moment to update you on some of our latest progress.

About two years ago we announced that through a collaboration with Adobe we had significantly improved Google’s capability to index Flash technology based content. Last year we followed up with an announcement that we had added external resource loading to our SWF indexing capabilities. This work has allowed us to index all kinds of textual content in SWF files, from Flash buttons and menus to self-contained Flash technology based websites. Currently almost any text a user can see as they interact with a SWF file on your site can be indexed by Googlebot and used to generate a snippet or match query terms in Google searches. Additionally, Googlebot can also discover URLs in SWF files and follow those links, so if your SWF content contains links to pages inside your website, Google may be able to crawl and index those pages as well.

Last month we expanded our SWF indexing capabilities thanks to our continued collaboration with Adobe and a new library that is more robust and compatible with features supported by Flash Player 10.1. Additionally, thanks to improvements in the way we handle JavaScript, we are also now significantly better at recognizing and indexing sites that use JavaScript to embed SWF content. Finally, we have made improvements in our video indexing technology, resulting in better detection of when a page has a video and better extraction of metadata such as alternate thumbnails from Flash technology based videos. All in all, our SWF indexing technology now allows us to see content from SWF files on hundreds of millions of pages across the web.

While we’ve made great progress indexing SWF content over the past few years, we’re not done yet. We are continuing to work on our ability to index deep linking (content within a Flash technology based application that is linked to from the same application) as well as further improving indexing of SWF files executed through JavaScript. You can help us improve these capabilities by creating unique links for each page that is linked from within a single Flash object and by submitting a Sitemap through Google Webmaster Tools.

We’re excited about the progress we’ve made so far and we look forward to keeping you updated about further progress.

Written by Jifeng Situ and Sverre Sundsdal, Software Engineers

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Rich snippets for shopping sites

Rich snippets for shopping sites: "Webmaster Level: All

In time for the holiday season, we now support rich snippets for shopping (e-commerce) sites! As many of you know, rich snippets are search results that have been enhanced using structured data from your web pages. Our new format shows price, availability, and product reviews on pages offering a product for sale. Here’s a result for [office lava lamp]:

As a webmaster, there are two ways that you can provide the information needed for product rich snippets to show up for your site, both described on the Product rich snippets help page:

Option 1: Provide a Merchant Center feed.

Many sites already provide Merchant Center feeds for use in Google Product Search, which means that most of the work needed for rich snippets is already done. For Google to make use of Merchant Center feeds for rich snippets, you should also use the rel=”canonical” link element on your product pages. By adding rel=”canonical” to your pages, Google can match the URLs in your feed to the pages found by our crawler.

Update on November 4, 2010: In order to have your product review information in your rich snippets, you can submit your product ratings directly in your feed, or you can work with one of our reviews partners to submit this information. If you work with a partner, your reviews information will appear in rich snippets, and shoppers on Google Product Search will be able to see your full-length reviews on relevant product pages, branded with your logo.

Option 2: Add markup to your site.

If prices for your products tend to change only infrequently, then adding markup is an alternative method to provide product data for rich snippets. We’ve updated our product markup format to allow a variety of different types of shopping sites to participate. In addition to the Google format, we support two other standards: the hProduct microformat and GoodRelations. You can use the rich snippets testing tool to test your markup and make sure it’s being parsed correctly.

This feature is currently available to merchants located in the US, but we will be rolling it out in more markets soon. Additionally, there are a number of rich snippets formats that can be used world-wide in various languages—make your snippets compelling and useful! Should you have any questions about the use of rich snippets, check out our FAQs and feel free to post in our Webmaster Help Forum.

Q&A

Which should I provide -- a Merchant Center feed or markup?

For most merchants, providing a Merchant Center feed is the best bet. That way your product prices and availability are updated quickly, and the data can be shown in rich snippets as well as in other applications like Google Shopping and Product Ads. If prices and availability change only infrequently, and you don’t want to set up a feed, then adding markup is also a valid option.

If I add markup to my site, will Google show product rich snippets for my pages?

We can’t guarantee that providing a feed or adding markup will result in rich snippets being shown. Note also that it may take a few weeks after providing data for rich snippets to be shown. If you mark up your pages, we encourage you to make sure that the data is parsed correctly by Google by using the rich snippets testing tool. The testing tool updates are rolling out over the next few days, so in this interim period the testing tool may not show previews for some types of markup.

I’ve already done reviews markup for my product offer pages. Should I add product/offer markup as well?

Yes, absolutely. Rich snippets are shown if the information provided accurately represents the main focus of the page. Therefore, for product pages you should add markup using the relevant offer/product fields which can include nested reviews.

Written by Nitin Shetti and Mircea Ciurumelea, Search Quality team

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The Social Assisted Search Conversion – Hard to Track, But Harder to Ignore

The Social Assisted Search Conversion – Hard to Track, But Harder to Ignore: "

First, I’m sure you are wondering where you can find this metric. Let’s start by drilling into Google Analytics to find the report. Access the Goals tab in Google Analytics and then click the Social Assisted Conversion Link. This will take you to the Social module within GA. OK… I just made that up. You can’t actually do this yet, although I wish you could.

Two weeks ago I presented “Understanding the True Return on Investment (ROI) of Social Media Marketing” on behalf of the Princeton Chamber of Commerce. The core point of my presentation was that it’s extremely difficult to run a standard ROI calculation when it comes to Social Media. That’s because Social Media Marketing (SMM) impacts so many other channels and efforts that it would be hard to simply add numbers to a formula.

That said, if you have the right strategy in place, along with the right tracking (both on-site and off-site), you could still make a compelling argument for Social ROI. As part of my presentation, I have a slide dedicated to what I call The Social Assisted Search Conversion. It’s something I’ve seen more and more of recently, and it can be very powerful for businesses (although it’s hard to track). By the way, to see what a potential Social ROI case could look like (if you do the right things and have a strong analytics strategy), you should check out my latest post about Presenting Social ROI in the Boardroom.

Defining The Social Assisted Search Conversion

The trend I’m seeing across clients (and across my own efforts) includes several jumps and communications across channels that ultimately ends up in a conversion. Note, conversion can mean several things depending on your own business, such as a sale, a lead, a form submission, a download, etc.

It starts when a Social connection is made between a company and a prospective customer. That person might end up connecting with a company via Social efforts (blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.) At this point in the process, the company needs to build credibility, engage users, and provide valuable content. As this happens, the company could start forming a stronger connection with the person in question. But, that doesn’t mean the prospective customer will go running to that company when they need a solution. As many of you already know, the knee jerk reaction for many people looking for a solution is to hit a search engine like Google, Yahoo, and Bing (and mostly Google).

When the person starts searching for a solution, she will probably end up on several websites via both organic and paid search. She will compare products, prices, features, read reviews, etc. But, there’s another factor that I’ve seen occur during this stage. This is where the Social Assisted Search Conversion sparks. If this person hits a website and realizes that she is currently connected with the company via Social Media, she might end up reaching out the people managing those accounts before she decides to move forward and convert. She might seek more information, ask for recommendations, etc. Once this “reconnection” occurs via Social, the person might go back and convert (based on the assistance she received from the company’s Social Media Manager or team).

To quickly recap, a person connects with a company via Social Media. The company builds credibility by engaging followers and providing high quality content. At some point in the future, the person ends up searching for a solution and ends up browsing several websites to find a product or service that meets her needs. While browsing each website, the person realizes that she has already connected with a company via Social, and she reaches out to that company via those connections for more information, recommendations, etc. Based on the assistance she received via Social, she ends up going back to the site and converting.

Here’s a Visual Representation of The Social Assisted Search Conversion:

The Full Picture – Tracking Qualitative and Quantitative Data

This behavior is extremely powerful and something that you should be tracking as much as possible. You won’t find this metric in your analytics reporting (yet), but you can track the qualitative data associated with this behavior as much as possible. For example, your Social Media Marketing Manager or team should be tracking correspondence with followers and fans, whether that’s email, tweets, direct messages, blog comments, etc. Then, when you need to walk into the boardroom to present the ROI of your Social efforts (like I explained in my post about presenting Social ROI), you’ll be armed with even more data to help make your case.

And during that presentation, you’ll probably realize very quickly that many executives are data-focused (understatement of the year). They won’t necessarily care about how many tweets or retweets you have. They will care about revenue, cost, and profit, and the Social Assisted Search Conversion impacts revenue, customer base, and the profitability of your efforts. Those are all good things when faced with a skeptical CEO. :)

Although you won’t know the exact number of Social Assisted Search Conversions or the exact amount of revenue, presenting the qualitative data for this “metric” can be extremely powerful. In a nutshell, it shows how your connections with customers and prospective customers manifested itself in a unique relationship between Social and Search, which ended up as a conversion (AKA money).

Sure, it’s not as powerful as direct revenue from Social sites, but as anyone tracking large-scale marketing efforts will tell you, that metric doesn’t necessarily add up or tell the full story. The hard ROI numbers from your Social efforts might only be a fraction of what it really is. And, if you present the ROI of Social in a silo (without taking other factors into account like the Social Assisted Search Conversion), then it could make your case look anemic.

A Note About Attribution

In case you are thinking that multi-touch attribution will solve your problem, it probably won’t. The core reason is that the communication between company and consumer during the latter stages of this process cannot be captured by an analytics package (yet). You might see the first touch as Search and the second as Direct or Referring Traffic, but you would be missing valuable, qualitative data. You know, the “Social” part of Social Media. :)

Quick Example

About six months ago, I was looking to buy wine glasses as a gift for my wife. I hit Google and ended up visiting a number of websites via both organic and paid search. As I was reviewing my options across several sites, I noticed that I already had been connected to one company via Twitter. And, I had really enjoyed their updates, the information they were providing, etc. I remembered them, based on their work in Social Media. So, I left the site and jumped on Twitter to message them (via Tweetdeck and not Twitter.com).

I explained that I was searching for wine glasses, that I had just visited their website, and that I needed a few pointers. After the exchange, I ended up going back to the site and converting (just a few minutes later.) Then, after buying the glasses, I messaged them again to let them know that I just placed the order. They thanked me (almost immediately) and proceeded to send along a discount code for my next purchase. That’s awesome and shows the power of combining Social with Search.

Here are some closing tips for what you can do in order have the Social Assisted Search Conversion impact your business:

• Develop a solid Social strategy and continually engage your followers and fans. Build credibility so they remember you.


• Provide value over the long term. Don’t just set up a presence on Social sites. Make sure your Social Media efforts are an important part of your overall online marketing strategy.


• Develop a strong analytics strategy and track both quantitative and qualitative data. Make sure your team is documenting correspondence with users across Social connections (so you can build a case for Social ROI).


• Incorporate The Social Assisted Search Conversion when building your case for Social ROI. Although Search is still one of the most important online marketing channels, that doesn’t mean Social isn’t helping business-wise.

Quick Summary

The key takeaway from this post is that Social may be impacting your business in several ways beyond just visits and revenue from Social websites. It’s not always easy to identify the hard ROI of Social Media by plugging numbers into a formula, which is why tracking both qualitative and quantitative data is critically important. The Social Assisted Search Conversion is one example of how Social Media can impact other channels and end up generating more business for you. You just need to identify the best way to track it for your own company. Remember, it’s hard to track, but harder to ignore. :)

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

The Social Assisted Search Conversion – Hard to Track, But Harder to Ignore

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Facebook Ads vs. Googe PPC (Pay Per Click)

Facebook Ads vs. Googe PPC (Pay Per Click): "

This is a guest post by SmallBox Web Design

These two avenues of the marketing world are just beginning to be tapped. People who are graduating college now with marketing degrees most likely have not been trained in Google PPC or on the efficacy of Facebook Ads. That’s alright. They’ll learn soon enough. To an extent these ad-strategies are intuitive and easily available for use by almost anyone. However, there is an art to both of them.

To some extent, Google PPC and Facebook Ads are yin and yang to one another. Google PPC gives you access to audiences with high commercial intent, and allows you to gauge their moods and attitudes by trial and error. You bid for keyword searches that you think will capture consumers surfing around who might be interested in your product, and their interface gives you the option to bid for different combinations of search terms as frequently as you like.

Say that your selling used cars in Indianapolis. Ideally, you would be able to bid for the search terms: used cars Indianapolis, and win the top slot. A combination of keywords like that is likely to have a high asking price. The price of search terms are dictated by the bidding process. Whoever is willing to pay the most, will win the top slot, and appear at the top of the search in the ‘sponsored links section.’

We refer to users entering search terms like ‘used cars Indianapolis,’ as being pretty, ‘far down the cone.’ That is – from the number of possible people in your audience at the top of the cone, where the cone is widest, to the bottom of the cone where it narrows to where people are actually buying your product–people who are entering search terms to search for your product are probably already thinking about buying it. On the other hand, you are only reaching people who are entering the search terms that you’ve bid for.

Facebook Ads, on the other hand, are the reverse of this. You can choose your demographic with incredible precision–based on their ‘likes’–but you’re not necessarily reaching people who are already in the mood for shopping. That hardly matters, though. The small percentage of people who click on your ad are the only people who matter, and the conversions that you get from that small-percentage can be elaborately fine-tuned as your ad campaign continues.

What is exciting about these marketing tools is the feedback loop of information that advertisers have access to. Instead of researching how you should target and launch your ad-campaign through focus-groups or just raw intuition, and then waiting for results with your fingers crossed, with PPC or Facebook Ads, you know exactly how your market is responding IMMEDIATELY and you have the ability to constantly tweak, recalibrate, respond. Advertising along these lines is an art, for sure–but it’s also a science. If you watch the numbers diligently, you can hardly fail to make an impact. And by ‘impact,’ I mean, ‘sales.’

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