The Value of CRT Positioning

Companies undertand the importance of  refining their CRT (click-through rates). This is because as the rates are improved with higher ranked keywords, the companies’ income can also greatly improve. Essentially, to determine the CTR, ‘number of visits’ is divided by ‘number of searches.’

In previous research, summarised by Chris Soames, an analysis of CRTs from Optify showed the importance of Page 1 and, in particular the top 3 positions.

Below are comparisons of Google click-through rates by position.

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Paul’s presentation in Sao Paulo

Defining an Online Marketing Strategy and Roadmap

Check out our latest video developed to assist Internet Marketers in developing an integrated and cohesive digital marketing strategy.

Please let us know you’re feedback, we’re launching a series of theses and would love to hear what you think.

Tips For Targeting Latinos Online: New at #SESNY

Day 2 at #SESNY kicked off with a groundbreaking keynote. But wait. Let’s rewind. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Paul Lima of Lima Consulting on the topic of Digital Marketing To Latino Users. The Q&A was an eye-opening peek at the opportunity represented by the growing online Hispanic market, and a serious appeteaser to the inaugural launch of the Focus Latino track at Search Engine Strategies New York.

The keynote was introduced & moderated by Mike Grehan, Chair SES Advisory Board, Global VP Content, SES/Search Engine Watch/ClickZ, Carlos Vassallo, CEO, LatinVision Media Inc., Carlos Manzano, Executive Director, Latin Media & Entertainment Commission, City of NY, and Paul Lima himself. Mark López , Head of U.S. Hispanic Audience, Google, took the stage for the main event, which was jam-packed with awesome stats about Latino users. Oodles of them live below the fold, in addition to a hearty helping of takeaways from the follow-up session, Reaching Latinos through SEO, presented by Rafael E. Hernandez, Sales Manager, AudienceScience and Matias Perel, Founder and CEO, Latin3. aimClear live-tweeted both of these fascinating sessions. Read on for the goodies.

Mind-Blowing Stats, Brian-Nuggets  & Best Practices
Mike, Carlos V. & Carlos M, Paul, and Mark took turns sharing a slew of stats & targeting tips regarding the Hispanic Market. (Rad full write up in Bruce Clay Blog.) Here’s a sample platter of the main attractions:

• The U.S. Hispanic market is a $1 trillion market! That cannot be ignored.
• New York City has the most diverse Hispanic population than any other city in the U.S.
• By 2040, it’s predicted that 100% of the U.S. Hispanic market will be online. Searching, socializing, etc.
• There is no real divide between online & offline engagement. Online engagement, video & mobile usage is on par with the overall market.
• 53% of Hispanics use the Internet for shopping (searching to learn more about brands, find products,purchase products, etc.)
• Search prompts action, meaning search generates distinct offline action for U.S. Hispanic advertisers
• TV is an effective trigger for search – 78% of Hispanics have used search engine to find more info about something they saw on TV.
• U.S. Hispanics are Googlers! 93% of Hispanics use Google as their primary search engine.
• Mobile search drives store traffic. 1 in 3 mobile search queries have local intent.
• 15% of iPhone apps are local-based
• 24% iPhone users are Hispanic (they rely on mobile to stay connected with friends & family)
• Mobile is already an important component in the purchase funnel. 40% of Hispanics compare prices & find retailers via smartphones.
• Search dominates smartphone usage.70% of Hispanics use smartphones to search– in other words, search engines are most popular sites they visit.
• 8% of queries entered in Google today are in Spanish. This opens a huge pot of inventory that many companies haven’t tapped into yet.
• Regarding Spanish keywords vs. English keywords — there’s a substantial discount for Spanish KWs.
• 80% of Spanish KW queries are done in the English Interface of Google. This suggests bilingual users, who can be targeted by both Spanish & English KWs. #Winning

Mark Lopez, Head of US Hispanic Audience for Google presents with Mike Grehan, Head of Content Development for Incisive Media, the SES conference organizers, and Paul Lima, CEO of Lima Consulting Group and Carlos Vassallo, CEO of LatinVision Media

Best practices:

• Develop search capabilities for this market. You have to test your creative across languages. Keywords, images, copy– what you serve to English-speaking users may not resonate with Spanish-speaking users.
• Have an “Always On” strategy for search. Your target audience is searching 24/7.
• Make your offline marketing strategy a digital one. Ensure you are present as users search for their favorite offline content (such as TV shows).
• Extend to mobile search. It’s there, & it’s growing! Hispanics rely more heavily on their mobile devices.

Reaching Latinos through SEO
The following session focused more on SEO, and ways to optimize your site for Hispanic searchers. Rafael was up first, reiterating that Google has 72% of search traffic in Latin America. If Latinos are a part of your target audience, Google should factor into your SEO tactics.

Another significant tactic Rafael touched upon the importance of understanding how your audiences describes you; your business, brand, products, services, etc. What are the keywords they use to find you? Those are the keywords you should use to advise your SEO strategy. And, newsflash– they might not be the words you use to describe yourself.

Where to find keyword ideas:

• Your own content
• Your Analytics (high quality terms driving small traffic? low-hanging fruit!)
• Your competitors’ pages
• Your PPC data

Discover what’s working, and use it!

Matias took the stage next, set to dig deeper into Reaching Latinos through SEO.

Some stats:

• 30 mil U.S. Hispanics are online
• 89% search share in Latin America on Google
• 112 million Internet users in Latin America
• 6 million new web users in Brazil last year alone

Factors in SEO & Other Fascinating Takeaways

• Indexing - take note, is every page indexing?
• Contextualization (KEY in Latin America) – what’s the page about?
• Reputation is huge. Influences people to click, or… not.
• Think globally…. who owns your local domain? Use it!
• Sub-domains & sub-folders – separate your Spanish content from your English content. Avoid query string parameters /session variable.
• Language - how does your audience think & search online? How do they expect to find your content?
• Server - not the biggest deal, but having local IPs for your server can help add context to your site.
• Local links are more relevant, a better sign of trust & reputation to Hispanic users.
• The new social factor: social defined relevance. Sharing is the new linking! See how Google understands your social connections.
• As always, CONTENT IS KING. According to Matias, it’s also president & prime minister . The same rules apply. Create unique content worth sharing and linking.
• “Latinos love to share! Latinos love great content!” Leverage cool videos, infographics, thoughtful posts, incredible photos.

“Viva la diferencia!”
The biggest takeaway from this session (and perhaps the track in general)… Be mindful of the different ways Latinos say the same thing. Latinos have a lot in common – but every culture has some slight differences in how they express themselves. The same word (for example, “lightbulb”) can be expressed differently from Argentina, to Mexico, to Colombia. This is huge in terms of KW research and how you go about stemming. There are so many ways to say the same thing… within and between these cultures.

Thanks to all of the moderators & speakers for two terrific back-to-back sessions. These presentations certainly set the bar for future Focus Latino tracks to come. Stay tuned in aimClear Blog for more conference coverage– follow along with @beebow, @Matt_Peterson, @aimClear & @KJalivay for live-tweets straight from the floor.

SES New York 2011 Powerpoint Presentation

Digital Marketing To Latino Users: Paul Lima Interviewed

Search Engine Strategies has been part of the search marketing conference landscape for over a decade. With a powerhouse trifecta of outstanding speakers, crowds in the thousands, and a three-day agenda of sessions ranging from über techtastic to super social-chic, it’s clear to see why this summit is labeled must-attend for many industry pros.

This year, SES has added a brand new track to the conference agenda: Focus Latino. SES New York, the fourth stop on aimClear’s March Conference Road Trip, will host the debut of the LatinVision Media-sponsored track. Paul Lima, of Lima Consulting Group collaborated with Latin Vision to develop the agenda for the five unique sessions that will take place throughout the day, each with a keen focus on Internet marketing to the Latino/Hispanic community. The track will kick off with an Introduction & Opening Keynote that was coordinated by Paul, moving into morning and afternoon sessions Reaching Latinos Through SEO, Search & Social Marketing to Latinos: Roundtable, Analytics for the Latino Markets, and finally, Improved Conversions With Web Site Optimization.

I had the pleasure of sharing an interview with one of the marketers behind the much-anticipated Focus Latino track, Paul Lima (@Paul__Lima). Paul, founder of Lima Consulting Group, will take the stage on several panels throughout Day 2 of SES NY. Read on for the fruits of our Q&A.

| aimClear: Paul, thank you for your time today. When perusing your Search Engine Strategies bio, I was fascinated to learn you were a former commander of the Pentagon’s cyber-warfare unit. That seems quite the leap from interactive marketing—an industry in which you’ve been active for over a decade. Tell us a bit about how that career transition came about.

Paul Lima: Each side of my career has helped the other, like an upward spiral you could say. The opportunity to serve in such a specialized unit and with such talented soldiers afforded tactical and operational insights into the underpinnings of the telecommunications infrastructure that all Internet marketers rely on. My role there was no different than my role today as the owner of a digital strategy consulting firm; that is, to find appropriate clients and recruit the best people. But I have to admit, there was something very, very special about working with the institution that funded the Internet, and as one of the Generals I worked for said, innovating new ways to fight and win America’s wars.

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IBM, Adobe, and the future of the analytics market

Image from LeadForce1.com

With IBM’s recent acquisition of Unica we have seen the next phase in the entry of large players in the analytics market.  It was only two weeks ago that they bought Coremetrics.

IBM follows Adobe’s lead in the acquisition of analytics solutions.  Adobe threw its hat into the ring in 2009 with its purchase of Omniture, and has invested significant resources into its continued development.  However what was important to really notice about that deal was that Adobe paid $1.8 billion dollars, an acquisition that were most analysts indicated that Adobe overpaid by a wide margin.

The reason is simple: potential.  The grandfather tech companies have begun to take notice of the booming analytics business and they want to incorporate it within their platforms.  With Unica’s purchase we should expect to see a quiet period as as Adobe and IBM integrate the technology within their platforms.  However we should not expect this to be a 2 player world, there is too much money and influence in the analytics business for other gorillas in the business to ignore.

My prediction of who is next?  Oracle.  The company already offers marketing campaign, CMS, and customer engagement products and solutions.  The only piece they’re missing is analytics.  Not to be biased but I would argue that of all the solutions, analytics is the most important.  So who would they buy?

Predicta: A Brazilian analytics player with a solid management team that is providing tremendous value for its clients through the extension of modules that extend the value of data.

Webtrends: An oldie, but goodie.  They’ve had some bumpy rides over the past five years trying to get bought out in my opinion.  Their technology roadmap has been very thin and we haven’t seen a lot of innovation from this established player, but they have the potential to break out.

It is in many ways the brain food of a sophisticated e-marketing strategy.  Without analytics one can deliver content or run campaigns, but its like shooting in the dark.  You never know if you hit something on target.  Analytics provides the ability to gain consumer insights and provides actionable intelligence so that marketers can improve their Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

Little by little companies around the world are becoming ever more aware of the power of such insight, and the limitations of the analytics mainstay (Google).  We’ll be writing an article soon on why Google analytics is not free.

As this process continues we can only expect for the market to continue to grow, and the gorillas know it.  And they want a piece.  Its a vote of confidence in this industry if it ever needed one.