This is great news for all Google users because this feature has 3 big benefits:

1. Faster Searches
2. Smarter Predictions
3. Instant Results

Faster Searches

According to Google, with Instant Search users can save up to five second per search because while you type your query the search engine will generate instant results that can be already relevant.

Smarter Predictions

The new feature will guide users through searching, so even if you are not sure what you are looking for you will have suggestions and results as soon as you start typing.

Instant Results

Start typing and get instant results without even finishing the word or the phrase you have in mind!

I found some articles of SEO experts wondering about how all this will change Search Engine Optimization. In my opinion it will not effect at all SEO. This feature will improve user experience but results generated are always the same – calculated on page relevancy and trust of the site.

As a user I’m very happy about this new invention made in Google. As a Search Marketing Expert I’m not concerned at all. SEO will always be the same, content quality and trust will remain the king.

Video on the Google Instant Search

How to switch off Google Instant Search?

You can toggle it on or off to the right of the search box. Very easy! You can also switch off this feature from the Google Search settings.

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Said this, it’s important to understand that there are some elements of a plan that are fundamental and mandatory, and there are many things to consider in an internet marketing plan.

In this article I will try to outline the fundamental things that are needed in an Annual Internet Marketing Plan. This is my 6 step list:

1) Vision and Mission statement of the year of your business: Is it the same as last year or do we need to update it? This is probably already in the General Marketing Plan, but you should always have it there… including in your Internet Marketing Plan.

2) Define your niche market online, the products and services, and your competitors. Internet is a rapidly evolving environment, so if this is not the first Internet Marketing plan remember to analyse everything again and don’t relay on old data. Remember to create your detailed SWOT.

3) Create SMART objectives. (SMART= Specific, Measurable, Achievable,  Realist, Time Spicific).

4) Develop and plan the strategy considering all Internet channels.

5) Develop an Internet Marketing Calendar with a month by month schedule of Internet Marketing activities. (I sometimes use to develop this calendar quarterly and not annually)

6) Outline a “Control” Strategy. Learn how to measure your Internet Marketing efforts. Define your Key Performance Indicators in every channel used in your strategy.

Hope this will be useful.

Simone

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I have a client that has the authorization to use a trademark name inn any advertising media and he was quite annoyed that he couldn’t use it in Google Adwords. Google since a few years blocks completely all trademark names in both keywords and ads. It’s hard to have this unblocked even if there is a written authorization by the trademark owner.

The benefit in using a well known brand sometimes can become fundamental, and some companies are keen to use trademarks in Adwords.

If you have a representative in Google you should have no problem, all you have to do is ask him to open a trademark authorization request and send him all the paper work that proves the trademark use authorization. That was simple and fast for me.

But as I said before, only big advertisers and some SEM / Digital Marketing Agency have this privilege of a representative to talk with in Google. I had to become a qualified agency to have a a Google Man that helps me with my clients.

So for those that needs to solve this issue without help – there is a way! All you have to do is fill up an online form (was impossible to find it without someone telling me – but maybe I was just not good enough in searching): https://services.google.com/inquiry/aw_tmauth

The form is quite long, but this is the only way to have a “pretty” fast reply.

Google has provided also an e-mail address for trademarks problems.

If you would prefer to submit your authorization by mail, you have to provide the same information asked in the form linked above via email: ads-trademarks@google.com

Hope this helps! But if you need advice on Google Adword feel free to contact me at http://www.studiowebluciani.com/en/contact-seo.html

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Once I started my article with this introduction, this post should not go further, you would say. Anyway I want to try to be useful and give you some tips, only 5, but fundamental.

Tip number 1 – Remember the perfect Vademecum

Test, test, test. Doesn’t that sound so simple? Well it is, but Search Marketers to often forgets this simple “best practice rule”.

AdI have been working to often with colleagues that presumes to run PPC campaigns with almost standard ads, ore just one ad for each ad group. They usually spend hours on expanding keywords – nothing to say on this – but forgetting the ad bit. Remember, you should never have only one Ad in a group. Always test 2 or 3 of them. More ad you test, the better is.

As David Rodnitzky says on his article on Search Marketing Standard: “Ad copy is the bridge between a search engine and your website.” Doesn’t this already say all? So why do search marketing experts neglect to spend more time on Ads?

The first step is to seek for competitor’s ads. Be careful, I didn’t say copy your competitor’s ads. Use them just to understand where to start. Once you got some ideas start writing down two or three ads and test them.

Tip number 2 – You target to people, stimulate their emotions

This is the basic of copy writing and it’s nothing new that Search Marketing is inventing here. In advertising, it’s important to stimulate those that are the four hot emotions in marketing: fear, desire, vanity and exclusivity. Years of study have proved that stimulating those emotions in the mass works.

Let’s say we need to create four ads for a campaign targeting fancy umbrellas. The four ads playing with the four above emotions can be:

Fear:

Scared of getting wet?

Get a new fancy umbrella.

It can save your dress. Order Now!

Desire:

Fancy umbrellas of your dreams

Don’t get whet any more.

20% Off only this week

Vanity:

Fancy umbrella for a wet fall

Makes you look elegant

under the rain – order now

Exclusivity:

The best Umbrella out there

Have it yours – limited edition

Order your fancy Umbrella

It’s obvious that in some cases we can’t use all four emotions, but at least some of them can always play an important role. Test which one works better for your campaign.

Tip Number 3 – What do you want them to do? Call it.

In marketing it’s called “call to action”. And indeed it’s important that you use it. You will see that most of the times an Ad with a call to action will be more successful than the one without. But as I said in the introduction of this article, there is no sure rule – in some cases this could be contradicted.

Use phrases like: order now, book now, get your free brochure and so on.

Aggressive ad copy are always a good solution, but as I said always test more strategies.

Tip Number 4 – Bold and Geotargeting

This tip is only for campaigns on search engines. If your ad contains keywords that are used in a search query from the user, that keyword will be bolded by the algorithm. This will help enhance the click through rate. So with this in mind, remember to use keywords in the ad.

To be sure to have most of the times bold in your ad, use very targeted ad groups with set of keyword very relevant.

Another trick to have a bold keyword in your ad is to use the DKI (Dynamic Keyword Insertion). This works by putting the syntax {KeyWord:Alternative phrase} in any line of your ad – better if placed in the first line. This will tell the search engine to add in that line the keyword the user searches. If the keyword is to long or not usable in an ad it will use the alternative phrase you write in the second part after the two points.

The problem with DKI is that most search marketers uses this trick. This way it could happen that all ads are similar, and only who has a unique one will stand alone and win the click. So before using DKI make sure that not to many competitors use it for the keywords you are buying.

Tip number 5 – Use the right KPI’s

All search marketer are aware that the click through rate is the KPI that should have a special attention in a search marketing campaign. But remember that a high CTR doesn’t mean the ad group is successful. The correct KPI is the mix between CTR and conversion rate. It’s relatively simple to achieve a good CTR, but a hard task to achieve a reasonable conversion rate. This is where you distinguish a good marketer against the mediocre marketer.

We all know that business needs revenue – CTR won’t give you any if there is no conversions.

My Conclusion

This article can be briefed in one word: test. Without testing you will never know it the campaign you are running could perform much better.

Simone Luciani

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A website is usually build by more than one professionals: designer, developers, content writers, web master… and all of those figures of the team would design a forum in a different way. The designer wants a cool forum full of fancy stuff, a developer would like to add special functions, and usually the content writer or web master would like to ask many things to the user to have as much data as possible.

The result of all this is a big mess and a form that will make users mad. More than half of them will abandon it before getting to the end and will probably forget the site bookmarking it as nightmare. A disaster.

A form is the most important part of the site. It’s that part that will convert a simple user to a converted user. In other words, the form makes a user a bill of xx dollars.

This is why you should work a lot on the optimization of a form, and if possible test it with at least 10 different users.
Let’s see this into detail.

Planning a form that converts

- Have the goals in mind and be simple

When planning a form on the website you need to have in mind the goal of the form. What are the essential data you need for the business? Do you really need to know how tall is the customer to send him a ticket of the local football match?

Remember that users don’t want to spend to much time on a form. They want to got through it very fast and they get annoyed when things get to long.

When you build a form think first of all at the user, and than what you really need to ask him. Remember that optional and not essential information can be asked in a second moment, after the user has registered and done the main action we want him to do, for instance book a ticket.

Once you thought about the data you need to retrieve think about the technology to use. Keep in mind that users are not all a computer fan. Probably half of them have an old 5 years desktop computer with antique technology and software. Knowing your target market and their behavior will help.

- Guide the user

It’s very important that the form will reassure, communicate and guide the user through. Walk him to each step with an easy look and feel and with informational box where he can click and read why he should compile or answer to a question, or simply help him understand what you are asking.

This will avoid users to leave the form because they don’t know what to answer or why they should do so.

On your form use a step map so that the user will know how many steps he has to go through. This is very important if the form is very long. Dividing the form into steps will help a lot.

- Error messages

It’s also important to optimize the error messages. It’s very common that users fail to fill the form for many reasons. For instance they forget to fill up the birth date and the field is mandatory. Make sure the error message is smooth and simple to understand. Tell them gently where the error is and guide them on how to fix it.

- Use customer service and live chat

If you can afford one, use a live chat on the site, reachable from all form pages. This will reassure the user and it could save from lot’s of abandons.

If you have a customer service put the phone number visible on the form, so that if a user has a problem can phone you to solve it.

- Have a nice thank you page

You did it. That user is now your customer. Thank him with a nice thank you page summarizing all the data you asked him. That customer is really important for your business, make sure he understands that.

As you can see, it’s not easy to build a perfect form. You always have to think how a customer would like it, and then mix their needs with your business needs. Use web analytics to track user behaviour on the form and see the abandonment rate. If you set the analytics software properly, you can retrieve all the information you need to understand if your form is good enaugh or it’s making you lose customer and thus money.

You are always on time to test and make changes.

Simone Luciani

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