Is a website’s content really that important? If you want to rank well on search engines, yes. Search engines are all about content. When searchers type in a query on a search engine, it produces search results that show the most relevant content in its repository based on the keywords in the query.

Quality website content is king. Google handles about 34 000 searches per second. Think about livepage.apple.com that for a minute – that is 2,040,000 searches per minute and 122,400,000 searches per hour. Consumers are looking for information and they want relevant, informative content.

In order for your website to appear on search engines’ result pages your website content has to be well optimized. That’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) fits into a digital strategy. SEO comprises a number of factors, but your content and keyword strategy play an integral part in your overall natural search campaign. The goals you want to achieve through your SEO campaign (e.g. increase sales or offer informative content) will also have an influence on your website’s content strategy.

Many website owners make the mistake of writing content for search engines by stuffing keywords into the copy. This results in the website copy being difficult to read for human users – a sure way of losing website visitors. First and foremost always write for your human traffic, then go back to the content to see where you can fit in relevant keywords without breaking the flow of the copy. Internet users are more likely to scan online copy, so content needs to flow easily and logically. To make it easier for visitors to scan your web copy, bold the keywords and key-phrases you want them to pay attention to.

An analytics package will tell you how visitors engage with your website and which pages have the highest exit rates. A high exit rate on a certain page could indicate that visitors are not finding what they are looking for on that page. There is no excuse for not making use of an analytics package, especially since there are numerous free options available (like Google Analytics).

Courtesy of Articlesbase, Alter Sage, SC #2608285

Marena Studios a excited to announce a strategic partnership with Urban Edge. We gave this company, who shares space with us at 12 West 23rd Street, a fresh look for their website urbanedgeny.com, and devised an advertising campaign to connect with the target market of renters and buyers. This is an all no-fee real estate listings site with all the listings coming direct from the owners. For anyone who has searched for a home in New York, a site full of no-fee listings that cuts out the hassle and expense of a broker isn’t a tough sell to begin with!

Marena Studios creative approach for the site’s model was simple. Communicate to the user and owner that “No fee=No Brainer”. On the home page the USP’s of going direct is portrayed through a series of lighthearted banners. The overall design of the site is clean and contemporary with a focus on longevity and ease of use.

The studio is also designing all the supporting collateral materials to help launch the site, so be on the lookout for Urban Edge branding in your neighborhood!

Check it out, tell your friends, find a new NO FEE Apartment, save some bucks!

Site is live but still in Pre-Launch phase    http://www.urbanedgeny.com

Another year under our belt! The 2010 Dressed to Kilt show is this evening…yeah! After a month of creating all the show graphics and website for this gala event, we finally get to go and enjoy ourselves.

Cheers! The Marena Studios Team

http://dressedtokilt.com

Coremetrics’ most recent Benchmark study shows an air of optimism among U.K. online shoppers with a significant rise in online spending this Christmas and the number of items per transaction on the increase, too.

During last year’s recession-riddled Christmas season, the average online order value dropped by 20% compared to 2007. However, this year has seen a surge with average order values increasing 94% compared with the same period last year.
The number of items that are purchased per transaction has also increased over the last couple of years, from 2.7 in 2007 to 3.7 in 2009.
“What is interesting about this year’s benchmark data is how U.K. consumers are clearly feeling much more optimistic about the economy than last year, with the average value of an order up 94% in just twelve months,” said Coremetrics’ Richard Shepard, VP for Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
“The recession has had a huge impact on online sales, but the Benchmark figures demonstrate that more shoppers than ever are going online in search of great deals.”
A recent study by PayPal U.K. discovered that even Brits who live in the country’s large cities, close to high street stores and shopping malls, are shopping online in increasing numbers.

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Display Advertising Services (also called Out-of-Home). The following are the predicted Top 5 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

The ad industry is expected to recover in 2010 and the out-of-home segment should continue to grow.
Consumer groups continue to fight billboard placement and are pressing government officials to more strictly regulate the industry.
Digital out-of-home networks are often locally owned and operated but as the industry matures, consolidation is expected.
Retail, airport and entertainment districts are growth venues.
More out-of-home operators may allow users to stream user-generated content in the future, a move which could increase the appeal of this media format.
The Industry Marketing Insights report for Display Advertising Services is available on Ad-ology.com (Research Store) for $295 USD with local market data for any U.S. market.

[Source: Ad-ology Research, December 18, 2009]

US online advertising spending is set to drop in 2009 for the first time since 2002. eMarketer estimates online ad spending will be down 4.6%. However, the slowly recovering economy, combined with basic structural changes in how marketers and the public use media, will lead to Internet ad spending growth in early 2010.

“The economic cycle has reached bottom—at least for the online ad industry,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “US Ad Spending.” “While spending in the first three quarters of 2009 fell by 5.3%, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, eMarketer’s estimates indicate a smaller loss during Q4, of 2.5%.”

The various components of online advertising react differently to cyclical and structural changes. While one format might show relatively healthy growth in the recession, another suffers due to the same economic climate. For example, paid search will grow by 2.2% in 2009, while classified ad spending will decline by 30.2%. Even during 2010 and 2011, eMarketer projects search will continue to grow at mid-single-digit rates, while classified spending will decrease again both years.

Video ad spending growth will far outpace any other online format, running in the 34% to 45% range from 2009 through 2014. These extremely high growth rates are the result of video ads moving from the sidelines to center stage, becoming the main form of brand advertising in the digital space.

“US Ad Spending,” conducted by eMarketer, December 11, 2009. Website: www.emarketer.com.

A couple of weeks ago, I highlighted the general move by small businesses into search marketing. WebVisible’s survey indicated that the typical small business spent $1,658 on search marketing in Q3 2009. Another detail that came to light in that survey is the increase in the number of keywords used by small businesses.

WebVisible analysts note that the typical small business used 55 keywords in their search campaigns in Q3 2009. This compares to the 43 keywords the typical small business used in Q3 2008. Analysts expect the number of keywords and general complexity in small business search campaigns to grow though they have a way to go to reach the thousands of keywords employed by large advertisers.

The WebVisible survey also revealed significant differences between small business types when it comes to search marketing and the number of key words used. Here’s a list of businesses, their amount as a percentage of total advertisers using search, and the average number of keywords used:

Attorneys/Legal Services 7.68% (105 keywords)
Dentists 4.97% (74 keywords)
Air Conditioning Services 2.63% (55 words)
Physicians & Surgeons 2.03% (57 words)
Insurance 1.97% (69 keywords)
And what are businesses getting in exchange for this activity? Once a small business spends over $100 in a quarter on a search marketing campaign with good keywords, the click through rate (CTR) is 1% or higher. CTR leads to conversion action on the marketer’s Web site of 32%. Conversion actions range from submitting an e-mail to bookmarking the page to viewing a video. With results like this, it’s easy to see why so many small businesses expect to increase their spending on search marketing in 2010.

[Source: State of Small Business Online Advertising Q3, WebVisible, Fall 2009]

Last week I highlighted WebVisible’s report on the increased use of search marketing by small businesses. Another research concern, VerticalResponse also reported that search engine marketing will be a key 2010 expenditure for smaller operators. And according to VerticalResponse, small business owners are planning a number of budget cuts to traditional media formats next year.

About half of small businesses, 56.6% of those with fewer than 11 staff members and 48.2% of those with between 11 and 100 staff members, will not use online banner advertising in 2010. The VerticalResponse report also indicates that small business owners are relying less on media formats such as TV and radio. Nearly 80% of survey respondents say they do not plan to use TV next year and 72.7% do not plan to use radio advertising.

As small business operators take actions similar to those employed by larger firms, VerticalResponse CEO and founder Janine Popick believes “marketers need to help small businesses to see the value of integrating search engine marketing such as Google, Yahoo and Bing into their campaigns.”

The shift from traditional to newer forms of marketing will result in some cost savings for small marketers. For example, social media and email campaigns can cost significantly less than TV and radio. However, paid, integrated search engine marketing can be expensive, especially if the campaigns are not carefully targeted. Marketers who efficiently deploy and manage search engine campaigns stand to gain market share and improve profitability in 2010.

[Source: State of Small Business, VerticalResponse, Fall 2009 release]

Recently two casinos began integration campaigns using Lyris HQ’s platform with social and mobile marketing efforts. Both Reno casinos, the Eldorado Hotel Casino and the Silver Legacy Resort Casino, improved reach and engagement levels as well as customer experience. The two casinos also doubled mobile opt-in lists and conversion rates.
“The high customer acquisition and revenue that we have achieved by integrating email with social and mobile marketing has far exceeded our expectations,” said Chad Hallert, director of e-commerce, Eldorado Hotel Casino and Silver Legacy Resort Casino. “As we continue to build out our marketing efforts, we want to maximize exposure and relevancy, while better understanding which mediums or campaigns are succeeding and which are not. Lyris HQ’s embedded Web analytics enables us to see which campaigns are working so we can architect every customer experience for optimal relevance, timeliness and results.”
The casinos integrated email messages with mobile alerts and social network profile updates to promote hosted events and upcoming shows. Offline ad spaces were also used.
“Realigning marketing strategy to accommodate an increasingly social and mobile customer is critical to success. Eldorado and Silver Legacy have proven that integrating email with other marketing channels fuels sales and increases marketing ROI,” said Blaine Mathieu, CMO, Lyris.
Using a platform such as Lyris HQ, marketers are able to synchronize entire campaigns so that messages, alerts and postings are published or made available in order and at the right time. This helps to improve the consistency and relevancy of the messages. The integration of email and mobile, social or offline methods also reinforces the brand’s message. Rather than a consumer skimming over an email message and forgetting it, the message will be reinforced with Twitter or Facebook updates or even a mobile offer to make a purchase or sign up for more information.

According to iPerceptions’ E-commerce Industry Report Q2 2009, 38.6% of the 360,000 or so visitors to the 160 websites tracked were in the research stage of the buying process while just 17% were at the buying stage.
Delving into the data, iPerceptions was able to establish several reasons why visitors weren’t purchasing. The main reason was that visitors weren’t able to find what they were looking for (34%) while price and navigation/usability issues tied in second place (13%) followed by shipping policies (9%).
With over a quarter (27.1%) of website visitors arriving from search engines, it is imperative that online retailers take steps to ensure that they only appear in search engine results for products they actually sell.
At the same time, checking out site navigation and usability to ensure visitors can easily find product specifications, customer service information, delivery and payment options will help guide and reassure the consumer along the purchase funnel.
“By structuring their sites so that visitors can look for – and find – crucial decision-making information, companies can remove a major hurdle responsible for causing would-be purchasers to eventually abandon the process altogether,” said iPerceptions’ President and CEO, Claude Guay. “This is extraordinarily valuable information for online retailers as we move into the holidays, and something that should really make marketers stand up and take notice.”