I had a great interview with Perry Marshall on Wednesday afternoon. Perry told me 2000 people joined the call apparently! Which is nice...
For those who don't know, Perry Marshall is one of the world's leading authorities on Google's Pay Per Click system - AdWords. His book The Definitive Guide to Google Adwords, a course on how to get more visitors, at minimal cost, by advertising and optimizing Google AdWords is one of the most useful and practical ebooks I own.
Perry has also released a hardback book called The Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords which you can find at Amazon. The pdf definitive guide & the book complement each other but the printed copy really has some interesting insights the pdf guide does not.
The days of throwing thousands of keywords up against the wall and seeing what sticks are long gone now that Google have introduced their quality score algorithms. Perry gives his advice on successful adword techniques post Google slap & I highly recommend his strategies.
In the interview Perry & I cover a broad range of topics including:
Why are keywords important?
How to mine under-rated keyword gems in the hyper-competitive pay per click marketing space.
How Wordtracker generates their keyword data: Where it comes from and how to use it.
How to identify fast-moving opportunities using keyword trends.
What competition indicators like KEI mean - and what they don't mean - when you're researching keywords.
How to measure keyword competition? What do allintitle, allinanchor, intitle and inanchor mean and why should you care?
How to take advantage of the Long Tail.
A brief history of Wordtracker and the early days.
For those who missed the interview, you can listen to it below. The interview runs just over an hour and makes good listening for those with ipods in traffic jams.
To listen, please click the play button on the image below.
The movie and gossip columns today are awash with speculation on the Oscar nominations. Asking who will walk away with the prizes is great fun not only in the US but throughout the world.
But is there anyway to really get an inside track? Could search engine behavior be just such a predictor?
The names that people type into search engines give an indication of their interest in a particular movie or movie star. And if members of the public show a high level of interest in a particular film or star, could it be that members of the academy are likely to show the same interest?
We fed details of the Oscar nominations into their database and came up predictions for searches over the last 24 hours:
Will Smith is streets ahead of everyone else in the nomination for leading actor, with almost 8,800 searches, twice as many as his nearest rival Leonardo DiCaprio.
Eddie Murphy and Mark Wahlberg with 2,670 and 2,659 respectively are neck and neck in the race for Actor in a support role.
The most popular in the nomination for actress in a leading role are Penelope Cruz with 10,359 and Kate Winslet at 9,077. However there is still a strong showing for Helen Mirren at 5,470.
Adriana Barraza, nominated for actress in a support role is the lowest of all the nominees with just 65 searches estimated for the last 24 hours. The leading contender is this category has almost a hundred times as many searches at 6,439.
And among the nominees for best picture, 'Little Miss Sunshine' takes the lead at 3,121 with 'Babel' in second place at 2,587.
Wordtracker Chief Technical Officer Mike Mindel said, "Our figures give a measure of the internet buzz around each nomination. That might well be something that the members of the academy react to, even subconsciously."
"So even if our top scorers don't lift the top prizes, at least they will know that they're top as far as internet searchers go."
I just came across this amusing video on vSocial courtesy of Mike Long, Jessica Hollies and Nancy Andrews. It's all about our new free keyword suggestion tool at http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com.
I'm proud to announce that Wordtracker has now launched UK keywords at the Search Engine Strategies 2007
The new UK service will provide essential keyword research for:
UK websites serving the local market
Businesses wishing to target the UK
Search engine optimization companies and design agencies with UK clients.
Wordtracker has built its reputation on good quality keywords from a reliable source - the metacrawler search engines Dogpile.com and Metacrawler.com.
We have now sourced a number of reliable ISP sources of UK keywords that have passed all our keyword quality tests and we are rapidly building an extensive database of UK keywords.
I am also happy to announce that the number of quality UK keywords is increasing every day.
In fact I'm so happy about this launch I've created a 3 minute skiing video for you to enjoy.
I've just got back from a relaxing week in Austria and on one day I decided to ski from the top to the bottom of a mountain in 7 minutes. This video shows the best bits.
So sit back, relax and let me show you just how I feel about the addition of UK keywords to Wordtracker.
It has adult filtering on by default. So you can show the tool to your grandma
The keywords are updated twice a week
Total sample size is 300 million metacrawler queries from the last 90 days
You can click on a word and dig down into the long tail
You can click on a word and dig down into the long tail
Think about that for a second. Just think how useful it is to dig down into the long tail.
Let me show you a quick example. Here's a screenshot that shows a search for 'music':
You see where it says 'music videos' in the results? Well you can click on that search and then Wordtracker will drill down and find all those searches with 'music videos' in them:
Cool huh? You can keep doing that till you get to the bottom! Anyone who is a fan of Chris Anderson's long tail concept will get a kick out of this. Think how many useful 2, 3 word terms you can now find for your ad campaigns.
Let me just point out one thing. You only get 100 results, case folded, adult filtered with the free tool. If you want 1000 results, misspellings, case distinction, adult filters, unlimited projects you still need the full version.
So why now?
Have a look at this blog post from DM News entitled 'Ode to the Yahoo (nee Overture) inventory tool'.
Here are a couple of comments that really strike me:
Why is it that we never truly appreciate something's value until it is gone? For years the public Yahoo inventory tool was frequently shot down for its inaccuracy. Today, as it is dying a slow death, the industry realizes just how significant the tool was in shaping our industry.
Danny Sullivan of SearchEngineLand.com ... was not without a heartfelt expression of sorrow: "I'll absolutely miss that little bugger."
Also take a look at John Battelle's excellent post on the Database of Intentions. In particular this quote:
The Database of Intentions is simply this: The aggregate results of every search ever entered, every result list ever tendered, and every path taken as a result. It lives in many places, but three or four places in particular hold a massive amount of this data (ie MSN, Google, and Yahoo). This information represents, in aggregate form, a place holder for the intentions of humankind - a massive database of desires, needs, wants, and likes that can be discovered, supoenaed, archived, tracked, and exploited to all sorts of ends. Such a beast has never before existed in the history of culture, but is almost guaranteed to grow exponentially from this day forward. This artifact can tell us extraordinary things about who we are and what we want as a culture. And it has the potential to be abused in equally extraordinary fashion.
So enough is enough. Everyone should have access to a reliable, basic working keyword tool (database of intentions) that they can use for their pitches, proposals and good ole search engine optimization, adword campaigns etc. One that we pledge to support and continually make sure is reliable, fast and useful.
I hope you like it! Feel free to bookmark it, link to it. But please don't scrape it. If you do, I know where you live. And I will come over and eat you. Yes you. You know who you are.
We're delighted to be launching our new UK Keyword Service at Search Engine Strategies, London, February.
If you're in the UK, why not come along and try out the new service?
Just go to http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sew/london07/ and enter the priority code RIV20 and you'll get a free exhibition pass and/or a 20% discount on the SES London conference courtesy of Wordtracker.
The new UK service will provide essential keyword research for:
UK websites serving the local market
Businesses wishing to target the UK (the world's fifth largest economy)
Search engine optimization companies and design agencies with UK clients.
If you can't make the show, sign up at: http://www.wordtracker.com/uk-keywords.html and you'll be the first to hear news about our new UK service and get a fabulous launch offer on our new service.
Thanks to everyone for sending in your competition entries. The entries were reviewed by three judges, one from Wordtracker, one from search engine workshops and an independent party. The lucky 13 winners are below:
First prize (SEO Mastery Workshop and a one year subscription to Wordtracker)
This goes to Bennie Jean Kuehnle for the following entry:
I would never in this lifetime have expected to find myself praying to win a contest such as this.
Until March 29 of 2006 I have been living the dream of a lifetime. At one time in my life I was a
professional model and worked for IBM. I happily gave up that life to become a horsewoman,
cowgirl, kayaker, outdoorswoman, environmentalist, animal rights activist, barrel racer, roper
and general outdoors, hands-on, hadn't used a computer since a left IBM kind of girl. Maybe that
gives an accurate picture of my life before March of this year. I was in a very nasty, near-fatal
accident which put me at the computer desperate to generate a ton of money to keep this ranch
running and my 40 horses and one Rottweiler fed, well heeled and the wolf from my door. Well,
actually wolves are welcome, it's the utility companies that have to be satisfied.
So, here I am. This internet and the amount of information has me totally overwhelmed and
I need help. I am trainable, but need direction. I know how important the basics are. That is
true even in my world. When I work with horses, young or mature, I always start with the basics.
We go back to the ground work until we have the correct response 100% of the time and we have
communication.If you don't have the basics down right from the start, you will always have problems.
This is where people get hurt, good horses get sold, accidents happen and attitudes sour. I know,
because I need the same basics with my computer. This training is what I need.
My plans are to build out a cowboy camp on our ranch for kids. The same will apply here for these
kids to learn the basics by working with horses. Respect, communication, integrity, the rules of the
Buckaroo. It is a good way.
Second Prize (one year subscription to Wordtracker)
This goes to Honey Wesley for the following entry:
Word on the internet says Content is King But without proper keywords, it don't mean a thing.
I made a great website, cute doggies and such, My chance of success without keywords? Not much.
I'm not getting traffic, haven't made my first sale. My page rank is higher on my Google gmail.
I know where to find them, cause I've read all the books, But there's
more to good keywords than just where to look.
Optimize for thousands, focus on a few,
So much conflicting info, I'm left without a clue.
Too few, you won't get noticed, too many, could be spam.
I need to win this contest and find help out of my jam.
KEI is vital, although I'm not sure why,
And trying to figure SEO is enough to make me cry.
I'm hoping to convince you how much help I need
And if I win, I'll sing your praise, in thought and word and deed.
Even though I've learned a lot, there's more to learn, I know.
And understanding keywords will help my business grow.
Content without keywords is like a duck without a quacker.
What tool do keyword experts use? It has to be--Wordtracker.
Runners up each winning a one months subscription to Wordtracker
Thursday 7th 2006 at 11am. I was at SES in Chicago when I received the call. Our house in Kensal Rise was hit by the London Tornado.
It's difficult to take seriously or appreciate the damage when you're so many miles away but after searching the internet I came across my home on the sky news website:
My home was famous, it's the one on the left
I arrived home to chaos, the council were saying one thing, surveyors were saying something else and the police weren't really sure what was happening.
The streets had been cleaned by the time I arrived but the back of the house was a different story:
One chimney stack had fallen to the side of the house and another was balancing on our roof held in place by a veluxe window.
The gardens were flattened and people from all the houses were roaming freely talking about their experiences. I tend to spend far too much time in front of the computer so it was the first time I had actually talked to some of our neighbours, even those just a few doors away.
It was a surreal experience, the neighbours were upset but at the same time in quite high spirits. I don't think the full impact of the tornado and the damage had really sunk in yet:
It's been a busy week, talking to at least four insurance companies in one day is not a pleasant experience and I don't recommend it to anyone.
Thanks to everyone who have offered their help over the last week. Things are rolling now and we should hopefully be back to normal in about 6-8 months.
Our first international exhibition at Web Master World in Las Vegas was a resounding success!
The team arrives in Las Vegas
It’s Vegas baby!
Welcome to Las Vegas Mr. Tracker. We’ll start spreading the news...
It’s a busy show...
There was plenty of interest at the Wordtracker stand.
Hundreds of people played the Wordtracker Keyword Challenge game! What’s the Keyword Challenge? Well. We’re not telling just yet. But you can get a peak below.
Meet the team
That’s me Mike Mindel (CTO), Ross Catto (Sales), and Anne Curtis (Customer Services Manager)
me again,
then Ken McGaffin (our CMO) and ummm me again. There’s actually quite a few more of us but they were far too busy building creative new tools to come and have a fantastic time in Las Vegas.
Ken, Anne & Shilpa (our designer - not present) did a fantastic job creating the Wordtracker stand concept -
Keyword Challenge attracts inanimate fluffy toy
Duh. That one is obviously more popular.
Dude. Did you hear what I said? Just because I can’t move doesn’t mean I’m not right.
My turn dammit. Oi. Where’s my free t-shirt? Do you have like extra, extra, extra small?
Wordtracker is the web's leading keyword research tool. Our business continues to expand both in the UK and globally. To further stimulate this growth we are looking for a gifted Search Engine Marketer to join our team in the UK.
The qualified person will already have achieved success in the SEO industry and will be looking to make a major contribution in the years ahead. They will be able to demonstrate leadership as well as the ability to work as part of a dynamic team.
Responsibilities
The main tasks will be to:
Plan, implement and report on organic search strategies for Wordtracker across a range of important target audiences.
Plan, implement and report on pay-per-click campaigns for Wordtracker.
Contribute to the development of Wordtracker tools by working with both management and developers in planning and delivering a world class service.
Build strong relationships within the SEO community both in the UK and worldwide and where appropriate represent Wordtracker at industry events.
Design and participate in research projects as part of the overall marketing team.
Assist in the development of training packages, publications and other material designed to help customers get the most from Wordtracker tools.
Participate in industry discussions. This will mean writing and commenting on blogs, forums and discussion groups on behalf of Wordtracker.
Experience
The following experience will be required:
At least 2 years experience in both organic and pay-per-click campaigns.
Experience in web analytics, tracking and reporting.
Good knowledge of what SEO firms and their clients want from keyword research.
Detailed knowledge of all aspects of keyword research and selection.
Record of publishing and commenting on industry forums and blogs.
Excellent presentation and writing skills.
If you would like to apply for this job please send your CV to:
Unit 11, Apollo Studios
Charlton Kings Road
Kentish Town
London
NW5 2SB
Search engines get bombarded with automated queries. These come from ranking monitors, popularity analyzers, bid optimizers, keyword density
counters and of course the dreaded spammers who all send huge numbers of queries to the search engines every day.
This deluge of non-human activity distorts keywords counts and if it is not identified and eliminated will
leave you with very poor keywords.
And basing your search engine optimization on poor keywords is as sensible as building a house without foundations,
as valuable as a ton of fools gold and as informative as a television set without an aerial.
In short, poor keywords will cost you money, waste your time and bring you zero return. To succeed online you need
quality keywords - and that's exactly what Wordtracker provides.
Wordtracker invented the keyword research business and we have more experience in making sense out of millions of
search queries made by real people than anyone else on the planet.
"Keyword Creativity" is the process of understanding customer behaviour through keyword research and using the insights gained to drive the creative process.
Is "Keyword Creativity" a contradiction in terms?
Keywords and keyword research would seem to belong to the technical world of search engine optimization,
algorithm engineering and word density analysis. Surely a million miles away from the slick, creative world
of brand image, advertising and design.
But an analysis of the customer base of Wordtracker, the web's leading keyword research tool, shows
that web design agencies, copywriters and traditional advertising, marketing and public relations
companies are among the fastest growing sectors.
The new Keyword Researcher will eventually replace all of the multiple search functions. These have been incorporated into one simple interface and as a result, you'll get:
A greatly improved user interface that will encourage everyone to get more from their keyword research.
You can do everything you used to do in the multiple searches but now it's all in one place.
Slick, fast operation to make keyword research less time-consuming
A doubling of keyword results from 500 to 1,000 so you get more relevant keywords for your money.
The facility to export all your results to Excel.
Unlimited projects so that you can manage as many projects and campaigns as you like.
The multiple searches will be removed in the first week of December.
We will be writing about upcoming changes and feature proposals to give you an insight into where Wordtracker is going. Your comments will influence that course.
