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Archives for 2011

Google Changes Algorithm Making It Even More Important for Brands to Become Publishers

The evolution of social media and content marketing (during their to-date short lifespans) has been telling companies and brands something very specific for years:

Brands need to get social and think like publishers, not marketers.

At first, the reason for this shift in strategy came from the need to interact and engage with people by creating and sharing valuable, useful, and meaningful information. Those needs still hold true, but with a new Google algorithm change, there is another piece that has jumped up to the top of the priority list.

In Google’s new algorithm change, websites with fresh content will be ranked higher than sites with dated content. This has long been a part of the Google algorithm, but now, it’s taking on much greater significance and will affect 35% of Google search results.

What does this mean for brands?

Well, anyone who said blogs are dead over the last few years was very, very wrong. From fresh blog posts to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn updates, brands need to spend time creating amazing, shareworthy content.

It’s not surprising that this day arrived. Paying for links can only get a company so far. Quality content that’s published frequently has long been the best strategy for building long-term, sustainable, organic growth. However, for many companies and brands, it took the mighty Google to make them realize short-term tactics only work in the short-term.

Remember, quality should always be your top priority when it comes to content marketing. By updating your content frequently, Google will reward you, too.

Time to get writing!

Image: Flickr

Find Your Way

Thyssen-Krupp invite student visitors to their corporate careers section to ‘find their way’ by completing a series of questions; depending on the answers, a different set of jobs, events and further information is presented – sorted by relevance.

We like this because:

This is very useful for the visitor, helping them get straight to sections and information likely to be most appropriate to them depending on the stage of their studies, what they have been studying, and what they are looking for.

Do note the ‘sorted by relevance’ feature.

See Thyssen-Krupp career pages.

Invitation to Dig Deeper

DSM have a smart deep-linking technique in their hero space on the home page. While it is fairly common to see a rotator in this space, linking to deeper pages, this one is interactive at the top level, allowing the visitor to engage with the content immediately, includes video as well as text/images at the second level, and uses thumbnails of the other featured items to invite further exploration.

We like this because:

Although the rest of the home page is fairly corporate-standard, this feature is engaging and attractive. The items expand and contract at a comfortable speed, the images are clean and attractive, and the subject-matter interesting.

It’s a clever way of incorporating more content within the ‘hero’ slot.

Do note the right-hand sidebar thumbnails.

See DSM home page

5 Companies Control 64% of Global Digital Ad Spending

Digital marketer Darren Herman published some statistics related to digital ad spending on his blog last week that give an interesting perspective to what’s happening in the world of online advertising these days.

According to his research, five companies controlled 64% of the $64 billion in revenue generated from digital advertising in 2010 (per ZenithOptimedia).

Here is the 2010 advertising revenue breakdown by company according to Darren’s research:

  • Google = $29.3 billion
  • Yahoo! = $6.3 billion
  • Microsoft = $2.1 billion
  • Facebook = $1.9 billion
  • AOL = $1.3 billion

Together, these 5 companies generated $41 billion in advertising revenue in 2010. Of course, Facebook is still fairly new to the digital advertising game, so there is no doubt that this breakdown will look very different when 2011 numbers are available.

However, Google is clearly the leader in the world of digital advertising — by a landslide. That’s not a secret, but sometimes seeing the numbers right in front of you, as they are above, is still amazing. Can one company continue to be so dominant in its industry? How long will Google live the good life? These are the questions that can only be answered by time.

It’s important to note that the figures used in Darren’s analysis might not be perfect, but they can certainly be used to demonstrate Google’s online dominance. Furthermore, Google generates most of its digital advertising revenue from its paid search advertising product. As Pareekh Jain mentions on Business Insider and explains on his blog, this part of Google’s business is dominated by the four BFSI keywords (insurance, loan, mortgage, credit), which generate 59% of its revenue.

Therefore, two things are certain: Google is a force to be reckoned with in the world of search and digital advertising, and there is room for a creative competitor to gain a foothold in the digital advertising space. A single dominant player can only remain at the top for so long.

What do you think about these numbers and the state of the digital advertising industry? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: stock.xchng

Key Google Employee Heads to Twitter but Shares Google Success Insights First

For nine years, Karen Wickre managed the Google blogs product and everything that goes with it as senior media liaison. This month, Wickre announced on her personal blog that she was leaving Google and heading to Twitter where she’ll take on the role of editorial director.

However, before she heads to Twitter, Wickre shared her insights about Google’s culture and success on her blog and it’s a great read (follow the preceding link to read it). For anyone who has wondered what makes Google not only a coveted place to work but also so successful, Wickre’s blog post is a must read. To sum it up, here are the things that Wickre talked about in her post:

  • Wisdom of the crowds. Wickre writes, “There’s also crowd-wisdom to be found in teams, where everyone is free to have thoughts and suggest ideas that get serious consideration. And no small number of these succeed.”
  • Questions are valued. Wickre explains that at weekly Google All-Hands meetings, employees are encouraged to ask questions about anything and everything. She explains, “Questioning product development or strategy (even about what’s already underway) is fair game. The point of asking is to understand better, raise unconsidered angles, improve on something or bring it to light. The assumption is: asking > information > exploration > greater intelligence > better outcome.”
  • Humor is strength. Wickre writes, “There is a humorous sensibility that makes much of the work more pleasurable and improves the output of ~30,000 people.”
  • Creativity is encouraged. Wickre explains that Google encourages its employees to have outside pursuits. She writes, “Many avocations are celebrated with company exhibits, talks and meetups.”
  • Agility is key. Wickre cites Google’s flexibility as one of its most valuable assets. She says, “It would be easy for an unbelievably successful company to start codifying The Playbook and refer to that and that alone for all future roadmaps.”

Wickre’s insights are spot on and show that she truly “gets” the Google environment. Twitter is fortunate to have her joining its team. I’m constantly amazed at how poorly the Twitter blog is maintained with nothing more than product news and updates published. The Twitter brand should have a powerful and distinct brand voice, and hopefully, Wickre will be given the opportunity to develop that voice.

In the meantime, review the five factors of Google’s success listed above. Are they integrated into your company culture? And looking at this story from another angle, does your brand have someone like Wickre leading the charge to build your brand voice? If you don’t you need to get started right now!

Image: Flickr