As a very regular user of the BBC news website, and someone who works with website optimisation and usability, I was geekishly excited when I heard that the BBC were in the process of a major redesign. Yet what a disappointment! The preview certainly sounded good: • a fresh, updated design, with more space for the main stories of the … Read More
Official: No average position on Google’s display network. “You do not even need to look at that column.”???
Average position is a reasonably useful indicator within your AdWords account. So how is average position calculated for ads on Google’s Display (content) Network? Ads aren’t always displayed vertically, so what do the numbers actually mean? We contacted Google’s support for clarification, and their answer was a little surprising: “Thank you for your patience in awaiting this email. I understand … Read More
The reality of AdWords SiteLinks
In case you haven’t noticed, Google have recently opened up a somewhat old feature to all AdWords account holders: Ad SiteLinks. In short, it can potentially make your ad stand out from those of your competition. To use it is rather easy. Go to your campaign settings, and under the ad extensions section you will find an item offering to … Read More
How and why most of the world needs Facebook sexual health in their advertising
Research by Dan Zarrella suggests that certain words have a greater impact in social media than others. The Most Facebook-Shareable Words vs. The Least Shareable Words on Facebook. Not exactly a great surprise, but the research also found that “techie and social-media dork favorite topics like Twitter, Google, and the iPhone aren’t very popular with the mainstream Facebook audience“. So … Read More
AdWords ads DO affect your organic rankings. Probably.
There are those who believe that paying for Google AdWords ads will result in their previously invisible website shooting up the ‘regular’ rankings. Sadly that simply isn’t the case. AdWords ads are completely separate from the organic listings. However there is a very real possibility that ads may impact the CTR of organic listings, or, for that matter, vice-versa. An … Read More
Grow up: the web is not another dimension!
The internet has been with us for some time now, so why do the media continue to portray it as something new, dark and fearful? Newspapers and news websites are full of stories like “woman murdered by internet date“, “internet use linked to depression“, “does the internet reinforce prejudices” and more. All of these are actual headlines from the BBC … Read More
Google AdWords Certification Program
Google are in the process of changing their AdWords certification program – and quite rightly so. The old exam was initially quite difficult, but over the years became little more than a memory test. And this affects the very status of the Qualified AdWords Professional. Our company has been approached on a number of occasions by Qualified Professionals looking for … Read More
Do Facebook ads work?
You’ve probably noticed the ads that run down the right hand side of your Facebook pages. In theory they’re specifically targeting you – based on the information taken from your Facebook profile, including your age, interests, connections, education and more. In theory. So if the technology truly works, ads that I see and those that my wife sees should be … Read More
The 1000 most-visited sites on the web
Google have released a list of the top 1,000 websites as measured by Ad Planner. The list categorises each website, and also includes unique visitors, reach, page views and whether or not they have advertising. Interestingly Google are also allowing advertisers to specify that they only want their content network ads to show up on the sites in this list. … Read More
Online product reviews are more important than ever
MarketingProfs have an interesting article on Online Shoppers Value Reviews, Ratings, Search: “Online research is central to consumer shopping behavior: 50% of online shoppers say they conduct research online for at least one-half of their purchases, and 64% consistently read online reviews prior to making product purchase decisions, according to an e-tailing group and PowerReviews study slated for release in … Read More
