Despite all the press hype, Wolfram Alpha⁸ isn’t a traditional search engine. You can’t use it to find any type of web content online, but instead it can be used whenever you might be looking for a direct answer to a question. Stephen Wolfram has said that the site’s brain is built on content sites like the CIA World Factbook, US Census reports, Wikipedia, and “about nine-tenths of what you’d see on the main shelves of a reference library.”

The Home Page of the site provides example searches that can be done on Wolfram Alpha, plus there is further page of examples⁹ to give users the idea of its strengths. The team behind this search service have done well to collate all the data that it draws upon, but it’s only a small fraction of what’s available on the whole of the web and it may prove to be initially confusing or disappointing to people who are now so used to Google to find information online.

Wolfram Alpha’s main target audience will be mathematicians, engineers, and scientists – as well as students or journalists - because it’s based on Wolfram Mathematica, a software package that can do complex calculations. And being a “computational knowledge engine”, rather than a pure search engine, there are 5 main things that it can do better than traditional search engines, namely performing complex queries; localisation; precision; calculation and comparisons.

This is its main advantage, in that is can make calculations on the fly and present results based on the requested search. It can solve difficult equations and makes decent graphs for lots of specialised enquiries. This can also be its ‘Achilles heel’ however, as it encourages specialised search queries and it takes a bit of practice learning how to phrase queries so the engine understands the input.

Although it’s still early days and will surely improve, it’s currently too picky about syntax and not intuitive to work with. For example, if you enter a query it doesn’t understand, it just returns the text “Wolfram Alpha doesn’t know what to do with your input.”

Therefore despite exhibiting some interesting new technology, Wolfram Alpha isn’t intended to revolutionise search engines. Instead, it aims to add a useful new layer to them, not by trying to beat Google at its own game, but by complementing the traditional search engines and providing an alternative, specialised service to try bridging the gap between search engines and reference libraries.

If you’d like to know more about this new search engine, please contact us for further information.

The new search options panel has been launched with limited fanfare and has probably been missed by most Google searchers. It can be accessed by clicking on the “show options” link on the top left hand side of the standard search results and reflects the type of filter options seen in Google News.

The main search tool options now allow users to break the results down into smaller categories of videos, forums or reviews. Other options include looking at results by recency, using a number of different date ranges, or by looking at the images from pages of results. There are also several more in-depth features such as related search, the “timeline” and intriguingly named “wonder wheel”.

The related search option displays other possible search phrases that the user might want to consider and extends the range beyond those now usually displayed at the bottom of a search results page. This function can also be used to check possible search terms for SEO or PPC campaigns, at a very basic level.

The timeline search option enables the selection of a time frame for results so that the chronological order and numbers of documents relating to the search can be viewed. This would be useful to examine the timeline and size of a news article, or how events have proceeded on a particular story. The wonder wheel is an excellent visual map for exploring related topics. It’s also possible to view topics related to the original search not by a visual representation, but by related searches by clicking on the link on the left hand side.

These changes appear well timed by Google to provide more search options in the face of new search engines from Wolfram Alpha (below) and the imminent launch of the new Microsoft search engine - Bing - which we will review next month. It also gives searches new functions to improve the range of results being displayed, although Google should probably do more to raise awareness of this new function. They have apparently put considerable resources into researching eye-tracking and usability studies about how people understand the options in the panel and interact with it, so it is a well-researched, user-friendly method of searching which aims to benefit the user by allowing a much greater level of depth into search results than was previously attainable.

To find out more about the Search Options Panel and how it can help to increase the marketing opportunities for your website on Google’s search results, please contact us now for more information.

There are three types of keyword matching available to AdWords advertisers: broad, phrase and exact matching. Broad matching is the default setting for all keywords included in an AdGroup list of search terms, unless otherwise specified by the advertiser. With this type of match, the sponsored link advert will appear when a searcher types in the targeted keywords anywhere within their search query. With a phrase match, the advert will appear if the searcher types in the keyword phrase in the same order, even if they include additional words before or after it. With an exact match, the searcher must enter the same word or phrase appearing in the keyword list, with no additional words before or after it.

Therefore by using exact matches in an AdWords campaign helps to reduce the potential number of advert displays generated by common words and phrases because they cause the advert to be displayed less often than through a broad or phrase match. For example, the use of a broad match for the term ‘jump start’ (used to sell vehicle jump leads), would cause the advert to appear each time someone queries anything with ‘jump’ and ’start’ in their search query, which could have no relevance to what’s being advertised. Searchers would see the advert, but not click on it, thus reducing the clickthrough rate (CTR) of the keyword, which would also reduce the Quality Score⁷ and increase the potential cost per click. So, by enclosing [jump start] in square brackets as an exact match, the advert would only appear if both words are used in the correct order and nothing else was included in the query, thus improving the relevancy of the ad to the searcher and also the chance of achieving a click from a prospective customer.

Phrase matching, by using quotation marks around a search phrase of 2 or more words, would cause the advert to appear only when “jump start” was queried in that order, with other words either before or after it. Therefore ‘jump start my car’, or ‘how to jump start’, would lead to a relevant display of the advert that searchers are more likely to click upon, especially with a fairly specific phrase such as this. It is a good balance to achieve between the number of times an advert is displayed and its relevancy to the search query.

Broad matching is the least targeted method of search term selection and can pull the CTR percentage down quite dramatically if not used carefully with common or general words. If the term ‘jump start’ is used in the keyword list with no brackets or commas surrounding the phrase, then the advert would appear every time the words ‘jump’ and ’start’ appears in any length of search query and in any order. Thus the advertising would be targeting a much wider audience, but with a lower chance of the advert being clicked upon, as the search queries may have nothing to do with starting a car.

Therefore by fine-tuning a keyword list with these types of matching, it helps to improve the targeting of the PPC adverts to particular types of searches and also helps to provide more information on how searchers may be using the search terms in a query. It also allows more flexible bid management around a search phrase to target these different uses and to try to focus on the right intent of the searcher, thereby making substantial cost savings possible and a more effective, targeted campaign.

If you’d like to know more about how keyword matching can be used in your Google AdWords campaign, please contact us now for advice and recommendations.

The recent change that Google has made to the use of the Local Business Listings means that the small map and accompanying business listings for up to 10 companies are now appearing across more search results, rather than ones that specifically include a location within the search phrase. Google is trying to recognise typical search phrases that would have a local search intent (such as ‘plumbers’ or ‘accommodation’), even if the searcher has not included a location term in their search. When this happens, Google will display the business listings below the top 3 ranking results and bases the map and location details on the recognised IP address of a searcher’s ISP (Internet Service Provider).

The intention is clearly to focus the results to meet a searcher’s intended need and although the method of targeting is by no means a perfect solution, this is an important enhancement that may improve clickthroughs for companies listed in the local business listings. Therefore it’s now more important than ever that companies who are targeting a local market ensure that their business is listed on this section of Google and is optimised as effectively as possible to increase the chances of being found.

The second recent change to Google’s rankings concerns the ’sitelinks’ displayed below selected websites in the ranking results. These have been visible for some time for large websites or when a specific business website is searched for, with the intention of giving searchers an idea of what the site includes and also more opportunities to click directly into a prominent section of the site. Previously these were displayed as a short list below the main ranking result and for the first search result only. Google has now introduced an expansion of these sitelinks into a single row of links, which will be displayed even for results that aren’t in the first position. This will help to show searchers some relevant sub-pages within more sites and potential increase the opportunities for people will clickthrough into the ranked website.

Google says that, just like the previous sitelinks, the new one-line sitelinks are generated algorithmically and the decisions on when to show them and which links to display are entirely based on the expected benefit to users. Therefore site owners can’t tell Google which links to include, but they can block some or all of these links if there is any reason they may not want to show them. This can be done through a Google Webmasters account, but removing these links is not recommended in most cases because the inclusion of these additional links will probably increase the visibility of, and traffic to, a website, whilst also improving the experience of users.

To find out more about increasing the marketing opportunities for your website on Google’s search results, please contact us now for more information.

The parameters for comparison can be changed from visits to bounce rate, conversion rate, average time on site and more, so by selecting the ‘trails’ feature, the dots can be joined by a line, which shows the flow between them. The colour of the dots can also be changed to show the chosen parameters, which adds another dimension to the amount of data shown. To add yet more data to the comparison, the size of the dots can also be changed to represent any of these parameters. It’s therefore possible to see visits, bounce rate and average time on site over this period, and any other combination, including conversions and per visit goal conversion, which is a quick way to determine which keywords regularly produce the most revenue for a site.

The Motion Charts feature is a valuable tool for comparing different keywords’ performance on up to three parameters at a time. This enables a quick analysis of which ones are performing best and which are not doing so well, enabling the bids for those to be adjusted accordingly within Google Adwords. Over time, this quick comparison tool could lead to large cost saving within an advertising campaign.

If you’d like to know more about how this particular tool, or how Google Analytics could be used to enhance your website’s performance, please contact us for further information.

The Title tag should be included in the ‘head’ code section of every website page and remains one of the key elements within the SEO factors on a website and page. There are 2 reasons for this - firstly, because a still plays an important role in keyword targeting, and secondly because the text that’s included in the Title tag also forms the hyperlink from the search engine results page. In addition, this text also appears in the browser bar when a user views the page, although the length of the tag is important in both of these cases as the number of characters being displayed will be limited by Internet Explorer and also by Google within the ranking results.

Websites are often built with little attention to the Title tag, which will simply reflect the page name (such as ‘Home Page’ or ‘About Us’) or will use a generic wording throughout the site (such as ‘Welcome to XYZ Company’). This is really missing a great opportunity to improve the ranking potential of a site, whereby the targeted optimisation of different search terms throughout all pages of the site should be driven by the page content and the focused use of 2 or 3 search phrases in the Title tag.

Once these targeted search phrases are included in the Title tag, they should also be reflected in the description tag and the body content of the page, including headlines where appropriate. This will give the website a better opportunity to rank well for relevant terms in its market, although the tag may need to be adapted and tested in different ways to establish the best possible ranking position that can be achieved at the time.

As noted above, consideration also needs to be given to the way the Title tag will be displayed in the search results, so that it encourages searchers to click on the link into the site and, if important, establishes product or brand awareness as well. Google tends to cut off the Title tag content after 55-65 characters, so it’s worth testing this and seeing how the Title tag displays within Google’s results once the updated page has been indexed.

Some websites may see an immediate impact coming from some basic changes to their Title tags, whereas others will need to work harder on getting this optimisation factor to work well with the rest of the site. If you would like more information about how the Title tag could be used better with your website, please contact us now.

The Keyword Positions Report enables advertisers to view the number of visits and conversions (amongst other data) that result from the different positions that a particular keyword’s generated advert appears in the PPC ranking results. For example, an advert displayed in position number 1 for the keyword “product” may have resulted in 80 visits and 3% conversions, whereas it may have resulted in 90 visits and 4% conversions when appearing in position number 4.

An analysis of such data may demonstrate, for many advertisers, that a lower position in the PPC rankings may be more cost-effective for a particular keyword than one higher up. Therefore it can be decided whether it is fruitless to bid for a position on the top left side of the results when it isn’t proven to be as effective over time for that keyword than when it appears in the sponsored links on the right side.

This data gives a value to the keyword and can make it work more effectively for a lower cost by saving advertisers from excessively bidding for a high positions. It can also help to save an advertiser a significant level of spend within a large campaign consisting of numerous keywords and a high budget, by being able to focus on the most cost-effective positions and to adjust their bids accordingly.

This Analytics report isn’t perfect however - for example it can’t differentiate between search terms that are targeted as broad, phrase or exact terms, nor can it give an overview of trends by particular groups of terms. Having said that, the ranking of the ad slots as an average over the campaign can also be viewed by using the new “Advanced Segments” reporting function. This can provide a good comparison of how the left or right-hand side ranking positions produce results over the campaign as a whole.

The Keyword Positions Report can be very effective, especially as it can be used alongside the ‘Position Preference’ function in Google Adwords which allows advertisers to target a particular ranking position or range by automatically adjusting the bid levels.

If you’d like to know more about how this specific report, or how Google Analytics could be used to enhance your website’s performance, please contact us for further information.

This new ‘interest-based’ advertising option is initially being introduced in beta for selected advertisers. Companies will be able to advertise to users based on their previous interactions with them, such as visits to their website. A number of interest categories will be offered, such as “sports enthusiasts,” so that targeting can be improved to drive brand awareness or increase advert responses.

Google has been looking to add this type of feature for some time, following the user-profile options offered by Microsoft’s adCenter PPC tool in the US. This latter system is supported by Microsoft’s network of user details from Hotmail or Messenger, whereas Google has been lacking that level of targeting data. However, Google is now developing a base of information on user habits and offers searchers the additional relevancy that interest-based ads can provide. Users can visit the new Ads Preferences Manager to see what interest categories Google thinks they might fall into, or they can add and remove categories themselves. This Ads Preferences Manager can be found by clicking on most “Ads by Google” links on ads throughout the web.

The question will be how many web searchers will provide their details or be comfortable with the privacy issues that drive this new service. Clearly more relevant advertising should be of interest to most people, but the ways of serving that up may not be so acceptable. Google’s official blog has also posted an article explaining the new system and outlining how they are making the option transparent to users, in the hope that they will encourage a wider uptake of this service for the benefit of advertisers and web users.

If you’d like to find out more about this new option and how it might benefit your online advertising, please contact us for a discussion.

Called Rich Ads in Search, Yahoo! is hoping that the higher profile and better clickthrough rates shown from the initial tests will attract more advertisers to use this format of advertising, and will also drive more clicks - and therefore revenue - from their search results.

Yahoo!’s traditional strength has been in display advertising, but as the current economic recession has deepened in the US many advertisers have shifted money to search, which gives them direct, measurable results. Yahoo!’s recent fourth-quarter results have reflected this trend, with search revenue showing an 11% growth and display revenue falling by 2%.

Yahoo! has been testing these new adverts in a number of formats which can be seen with brand name searches of yahoo.com. For example, searches for dog-food company Pedigree display a small video for a commercial and the video opens up into a larger format and plays once clicked. Similarly, a search for Staples displays in a similar light-blue box with the company’s logo on the side, which is also a link to the corporate site. Alternatively, retailers can include a search box within the advert panel to enable searchers to enter a ZIP code, which will then take them to the advertiser’s website that lists the nearest stores or branches nearby.

Yahoo! is currently charging a monthly fee for the service, compared to the traditional auction-based pricing of search advertising. It is reportedly only allowing a selected number of large, brand-focused advertisers to test the program at present and, according to Yahoo!, some advertisers in the pilot program have seen an improvement by as much as 25% in click-through rates, although an independent agency reported lower results, around 5-10% higher than the regular text adverts.

Yahoo! clearly hopes that this new type of search advertising will prove attractive to companies who pay high prices to develop their commercials and logos and want to be able to show those wherever they can. It may prove an important development for Yahoo!’s search performance as the company remains under pressure from financial analysts to consider selling its search business to Microsoft, who continue to express an interest in such a deal to grow their share of the search market.

If you’d like to know more about this trial and the different formats available to PPC advertisers, please contact us now for more details.

For example, one way that Site Overlay can be used is to visually show what percentage of visitors clicked through to the main pages linked from the website’s Home Page, or within the main navigation menu. This is a great benefit to website owners as it gives them a clear depiction of which page most of the visitors go to from the initial home page, or the primary landing pages used in a search advertising campaign. Therefore it’s instantly possible to see the most popular paths that visitors follow and the most visited pages. By hovering the mouse over the percentage box in the Site Overlay, another box appears that displays the actual number of clicks to that page and the number of conversions to a particular goal on that page.

If the link is clicked upon, the Site Overlay takes you to that next page and then displays the information according to the links from that page. It’s therefore possible to see which are the best performing links or pages in terms of click density and what the most popular route to a particular goal is, without necessarily having to set up small qualitative research groups. This information can enhance a website’s optimisation by allowing site marketers to experiment with different landing pages, layout, content and navigation routes, leading to a much more effective streamlining of visitors to converting customers.

The Site Overlay tool does have some restricted functionality, however. Currently the results are only displayed on static (as opposed to dynamic) pages that have unique links to content located elsewhere on the website. So if a page has numerous links pointing to another page, the total of clicks for all those links will be displayed in each of those site overlay boxes. Other limitations include the inability to function within frames, with URL redirects, or with Javascript or subdomain links so that in these cases the Site Overlay stats are not displayed.

Overall though, the Site Overlay is a very useful addition to a website’s analytics toolbox, and should be reviewed at least monthly. If you’d like to know more about how Google Analytics could be used to enhance your website’s performance, please contact us.