major google changes in september 2010

Major Google Changes

September, 2010

Uncommon Practiceswww.uncommonpractices.com

(800) 940-0185

Google Changes

Uncommon Practices www.uncommonpractices.com 2

Has Made Important Changes in Each of the Following Areas:

• Google Instant Search

• Google Maps

• Google Mobile

We’ll discuss how these Changes affect Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google AdWords (Pay Per Click Advertising) – and the opportunities they present for greater referrals

Google Changes


A. Google Instant - Announced Sept 8th

• Google realized that the slowest part of a search is the user’s typing

• Google Instant lets users type a query and see results without hitting the ENTER key

• Each letter triggers a predictive search until a user clicks on a link he or she find useful – based on the frequency of most common searches

Google Changes


A. Google Instant

• Reduces a typical search from 25 to 8 seconds on average

• Sample search using Google Instant on the next slide

• This is a search for ‘Help with ADHD’

note how the free organic search listings AND the sponsored links change with each letter typed

Google Changes


Google Changes


A. Google Instant and SEO

• The highest frequency search keywords will automatically show up on the page

• Even though people might have a search phrase in mind, many will abandon their phrase when search results begin to appear on the screen

• Rather than reading through an entire page or two of search results, there will be more clicking on the first results on the top of the screen

Google Changes



• Creative, unusual domain names will suffer in search results

A more paranoid, conspiratorial perspective: Google is telling us how to think

• People will be rewarded for typing less

• People will lose focus and get off track more frequently as new, interesting results keep appearing on the page with each letter that they type

Google Changes



• Keywords which were already less frequently used will show up even less

• The speed of a search, from beginning to end, will get faster, which will mean even more importance on being the top 3-5 results on a page

Google Changes



• Newer sites will have a more difficult time showing up in the predictive results; existing sites with a strong Internet presence will have an advantage

• See example on next slide

Google Changes


Google Changes


A. Google Instant and Pay Per Click Advertising (Google

AdWords)

• Bid prices for top keywords will go up as their frequency of clicks increases

• Cheaper, lower frequency “long tail” keywords will get even fewer clicks than before

Google Changes



AdWords)

• Click through rates (CTR) and Quality Scores will be negatively affected, because of

more Impressions occurring instantly

If your ad shows up on the screen for at least three seconds, it counts as an impression

Google Changes



AdWords)

• Eye movement tend to follow movement on the page. More visual attention will go to the center of the page vs. the right column

• Sponsored links update instantly with each letter typed, so headlines become more important than ever – your typical 2-3 second scan now becomes less than ½ second in many cases

Google Changes


A. Google Instant – Important Notes

• Google Instant can be turned off – but so far 75% of users like it

• Many people use Google search through a toolbar in their browser, and so far those searches are not using Google Instant (but they will in the future)

Google Changes


A. Google Instant – Important Notes

• Google Instant is not being used in mobile devices yet (but will in the future)

• Google has 70% of search, but Yahoo and Microsoft are merging and may reduce Google’s influence in the future

• Many other search engines and web services are starting to imitate the “instant” idea

Google Changes


A. Google Instant: What To Do re SEO

• Test out what Google is suggesting for your area of specialization and geographical location – experiment with typing in the first few letters and see what appears automatically

• This along with the Google Keyword tool, will help you find out what people are most likely to see when doing a search for your services

Google Changes



• Once you have those high frequency keywords, apply them as much as you can on your website

• When starting a new website, use domain names with high frequency keywords – or register a new name and redirect it to your existing website

• Be sure your Title and Description tags contain these high frequency keywords in the beginning of the tag

Google Changes



• Be sure to put your high frequency keywords on your Home page text at least three times

• Diversify your online presence and traffic sources, using

video articles pay per click ads mobile search social media

Google Changes


A. Google Instant: What To Do re AdWords

• Track your Key Statistics (Cost Per Click, Avg. Position, Quality Scores and Click Through Rates) Starting September 8th, and compare to your previous results

• Eliminate keywords that have less than 1 click every 300 impressions

Google Changes



• If not on your current keyword list, add keywords that appear in the predictive results for your areas of specialization

• Use other pay per click services such as Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook

• Maintaining the position of the top 3 results on a page is more important than ever

Google Changes



• Split test different headlines – headlines are now more important than before, with shorter scan times

• You may need to increase your Daily Budget to get the same number of clicks as before

Google Changes


B. Google Maps/Places

• Google Maps has become a more important search location than before

• You should create a business listing and verify it with Google – and it’s FREE to do so

• You should put as much information in your listing as possible (photos, videos, office hours, etc.)

• You can also post events on your Google Maps listing

Google Changes



• Google also collects statistics on your Google Maps visits for you, and tells you what actions people took:

Google Changes



• A new feature to help your listing stand out more is a yellow “TAG” on Google Maps

• A Tag can highlight your website, a coupon, a photo or a video

• Tags are free for the first month and then cost $25 per month

Google Changes



• Google realized th

Google Changes



• Google evens tells you how many people click on your Tag

• I found out that my tag inviting people to the website only got 1 click in the first month, so I switched to viewing videos, and got 7 clicks in the first week

• See example on the next slide

Google Changes


Google Changes


C. Google Mobile

• Mobile search on smartphones (iPhone, Android and Blackberry) and tablets (iPad) is growing rapidly – now over 500 million searches per month in North America

• 20% of all cell phones now have search capability on them

• Whereas Google has 70% of desktop search, they get 98% of mobile searches!

Google Changes


C. Google Mobile

• Mobile search will continue to increase as smartphones get more powerful and more tablets enter the market

• People who text frequently are prime users of mobile search

• Even people who don’t like to enter text on a mobile device can now use voice input, which will also grow in use over time

Google Changes


C. Google Mobile

• Google has started a ‘Click to Call’ option for its Pay Per Click advertising campaigns

• When someone searches for help on a mobile device, and your ad shows up, and they click on your ad, instead of taking the searcher to your website, it dials your office phone number

• Obviously a call to the office is much more valuable than a visit to the website – and these clicks are less expensive than other clicks

Google Changes


C. Google Mobile

• To use this feature, view Ad Extensions in AdWords

• Here’s how it looks – with my August statistics:

Google Changes


C. Google Mobile

• What Percentage of Phone Calls do You Convert to a Client? • Probably much more than 10%

• But here’s a 10% example: if you get 10 click to calls a month, and convert just 1, your Lifetime Value of that Referral is between $800-1200 – for a cost of $0.50 to $1.50 per click or $5-15

Google Changes


Summary

• Google is the single most important service in online referrals of any kind

• By staying up to date on how they change their services, you can stay ahead of the curve

• We will continue to incorporate these and future changes in all of our programs and services

major google changes in september 2010

Education