Microsoft unleashes Bing… it starts a chain reaction… everyone’s talking… they roll out millions in advertising /marketing funds… embark on mass media campaigns… now everyone’s hearing about Bing… more (and more) people actually begin “checking it out”. Okay, that’s basically where we are now.

As with all other thing that hugely affects our lives, there have been diverse views on Bing, especially amongst the tech/search savvy crowd, and webmasters in general. Sounds like your regular revolution doesn’t it?

Microsoft’s Bing release has however proved to be more than the average revolution, drawing widespread discourse from literally every corner of the globe, with many scrutinizing Bing, and offering (mostly negative) comments about the Search Engine, almost always in comparison to Google.

Only two days after the official release announcement, Bing had already come under intense fire from “search experts”, with many doubting its ability to compete with, much less “steal” market share from Google- often citing the quality of the Search Engine’s results and speed as the two major reasons.

Two weeks down the road, Bing surprised many including the experts, recording an 11.4% rise in searcher penetration. Bing had already attained a 16.7% searcher penetration and a 12.1% share of search results pages among all US workday searches, according to stats from comscore.com.

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Microsoft Sites’ average daily penetration among U.S. searchers reached 16.7 percent during the work week of June 8-12, up 3 percentage points from the May 25-29 work week prior to Bing’s introduction

These results have however not changed the minds of some who still insist the only way Bing can cause a major upset is if it provides much better search results than Google, the basis of the argument being ;

.. the same or “good enough” probably isn’t enough for Bing to convince too many people to switch from using Google

I for one disagree, and I made it clear in an earlier post on this site that I thought Bing would effectively “terminate” Google’s search dominance, and it definitely wasn’t because of the quality of search results (where Google surpasses Bing I must add).  A comment on that post literally really summarizes my entire view of the competition;

…. Bottom line: more comprehensive results does not mean more usage, at least for me.

Let’s face it, the search results generated by both Google and Bing aren’t that far apart, as such several other factors will be key in the determining the future of the competition between them.

Whilst many experts have focused on search results in trying to determine Bing’s fate, most have ignored a very important factor in market development- BUZZ. It’s quite simple really- the more people talk about a product, the more attention is drawn to that product, and more (and more) people are forced to check it out, if for nothing else to see what all the fuss is about.

Microsoft obviously hasn’t forgotten though- and they have clearly shown that with a series of marketing campaigns which have included a “live Bingathon and fast-forwarding commercials on The Daily Show“- Bing has literally been in everyone’s faces, attracting a huge number of “trial searchers”, which according to compete.com “haven’t produced significant enough volume to impact the established market share of the top engines, which account for more than 12 billion queries”.

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The Buzz and the Competition

Instead of trying to take on Google where they are obviously stronger, Microsoft have rather focused on making Bing more robust- offering users a richer experience- thus making the search engine Exciting »» Interactive »» Engaging !!

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The Strategy

Microsoft has put in a lot of effort in ensuring that they present Bing as a “Decision Engine”- which organizes the answers you need so you can make faster, more informed decisions. As shown below, Bing displays search results, not by order of popularity, but rather organizes them into categories such as best matches, similar results, and related searches.
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Bing essentially appeals to the senses of searchers by providing features which aid the searcher in making a decision, paying particular attention to the areas of key interest to most people- Travel, Health, and Shopping.

Shopping

No doubt one of Bing’s strong points- searching for a product on Bing generates price comparisons, images, and actual user reviews, sorted and grouped to display popular features, and even cash back for that particular product from “hundreds of online retailers”.

Health

Bing does really well with regards to this touchy subject. Bing’s health results pull together information from “top medical sources health sources from all over the world” to provide concise, and accurate results. A search for Malaria for instance, generates the following useful information alongside the actual search results;

• Articles
• Treatment
• Medication
• Causes
• Pregnancy
• Test
• Images

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Travel

Apart from the useful content displayed on the Bing home page, Bing also features a special travel page which searches travel sites to find the best ticket options, offers tools to refine search results, and an impressive price predictor tool which tells you when fares will be cheapest.

Local Search

Bing provides tools that make it easier and quicker to find relevant local content, such as user reviews from local content sites, hours of operation for local businesses, one-click directions, maps and traffic reports. Each local listing in Bing provides a snapshot of information to help you make decisions, along with tools that help you refine local search results based on a number of factors, including rating, distance, type of cuisine, price, etc.

Additionally, Bing Maps lets you easily find, discover and share location information, providing useful tools such as maps and directions and view high-resolution aerial imagery.

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Google Running Scared?

It is quite clear what Microsoft intended to achieve with Bing, and they may well have succeeded. From all indications, Bing’s unexpectedly rapid growth has Google “threatened”.

Last week, the New York post reported that co-founder Sergey Brin is so rattled by the launch of Microsoft’s rival search engine that he has assembled a team of top engineers to work on urgent upgrades to his Web service.

Brin, according to sources inside the tech behemoth, is himself leading the team of search-engine specialists in an effort to determine how Bing’s crucial search algorithm differs from that used by the company he founded in 1998 with Stanford University classmate Larry Page.

New search engines have come and gone in the past 10 years, but Bing seems to be of particular interest to Sergey,” said one insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity

The move by Brin is unusual, as it is rare these days for the Google founders to have such hands-on involvement in day-to-day operations at the company

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What Really Matters?

Maybe comprehensive search results really don’t translate into usage after all. Microsoft’s strategy has been pretty simple-

1. Create a feature-rich product that makes search a bit more exciting by offering greater usability and interaction.
2. Spend a fortune marketing that product, with the aim of getting people to check it out and experience those rich features
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I guess it’s fair to say the strategy has worked. Bing has since had everyone “lining up” to check it out, including the skeptics, many of whom believed “this Bing thing would be a giant failure”. To be quite honest, after experiencing the features on offer at Bing, you could easily forget about some of the noticeable flaws on the Search Engine.

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The introduction of Bing to the search scene has generated “a lot of buzz” around the web. Actually, that is an understatement because Bing has only been publicly available for just a couple days, yet the ripple effect it’s creating is already assuming seismic proportions.

Everyone seems to be catching the “Bing fever”. I recently stumbled on this site which allows you compare search results from both Google and Bing in real-time. It features two separate frames which display the Google and Bing search pages side by side as shown below;

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There have already been thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of posts discussing the pros and cons of “Microsoft’s new baby”. So far the pros seem to out-weigh the cons.

As for me, I am loving it already, and it’s not just for the value added features (which are quite impressive I must add), but what it ultimately brings to the world of search, especially in relation to Google. I have never hidden my distaste for Google’s Search dominance, and I definitely am not about to start now.

Don’t get me wrong, most of my website’s traffic comes from Google, but I have never been a fan of “monopoly”- which is what Search was slowly becoming before the release of Bing- a release which threatens this dominance outright.

As a matter of fact, there have been suggestions that “perhaps Google’s Search dominance may well be over”, and these speculations might not be far-fetched after all.

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Not everyone agrees though

Google’s Matt Cutts recently took Bing on over the quality of their search results, in this Tweeting session. I’m gonna be borrowing a bit. Hope you don’t mind Chris;

Matt Cutts: Congrats to @bing on the launch! Sad to see this not-so-relevant result at #4 for [matt cutts] though: http://bit.ly/4a8Q1Y

Bing: @mattcutts anytime you want to give feedback to @bing, we’re here. I’m sitting with the devs at present. ^betsy

Bing: @mattcutts I know you are disappointed in ego search stuff tonight w/ @bing, but try ‘mtv movie awards 2009′ and see what you get. ^ba

Matt Cutts: Ouch. The #5 Bing result for [matt cutts] is spammy too: http://bit.ly/B2r5F It’s a YouTube->WordPress autogenerated blog.

Matt Cutts: @bing okay. First web result was from 2008 instead of 2009, even with 2009 in query: http://bit.ly/SToK1 . Google nails it.

Matt Cutts: @bing but doesn’t it bother you that [mtv movie awards] on Google gives great news results and 2009 url, but w/Bing I only see 2008, 2007, ?

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You can imagine what my “initial” impressions were now, can’t you? Yeah yeah yeah, Matt Cutts is simply trying to make Google look good, after all, as Chris rightly said: “He is practically the posterboy for Google, at least among the search and tech savvy crowd”, but after talking to some other people to get their opinions on this, I got a couple in the affirmative of Matt’s assertions. Here’s just one;

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Admittedly, after playing around with the tool above, I had to succumb to my pal’s views on Bing. That, for now (I think) is Google’s most powerful asset- something Bing would seriously have to work on if they want to “offer users a more refined search experience capable of satisfying queries more quickly than any rival search engine”, and have any chance of achieving this “hostile take-over”.

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Marketing Strategy or Last Ditch Survival Attempt

Google’s recent actions seem to suggest that perhaps even they feel threatened by the “new kid on the block”. Can’t help wondering if this was a perfectly executed marketing strategy aimed at keeping them ahead of the game, or just a last ditch attempt to stuff the wind out of Bing’s sails.

With recent unfolding of events,  I am tempted to incline my thoughts toward the latter. Matt Cutts’ “show-down” with Bing’s Betsy surely hasn’t done much to reduce my supsicion.

Danny Sullivan, however insists Google will stay strong Despite Bing and Yahoo. According to him,

Just because a product — toothpaste, laundry detergent, whatever — calls itself  “new and improved” does not mean consumers will abandon a brand that they already use and like. Microsoft’s new search engine Bing faces this same challenge in taking on Google. Google’s not broken; people like it, and there’s no compelling reason for them to switch to Bing, much less the more established Yahoo.

I beg to differ. Danny is a well known and hugely respected authority on all things search, and much as I hate to disagree with him, I just have to.

Also, if this article is anything to go by, Google’s dominance might indeed be coming to an end. According to this, “One News Page talked to more than 1,000 people, and 55 percent of them supposedly said that they could see themselves replacing Google with Bing as their main search engine”.

90% said they could be using the expression ‘to Bing it’ as a metaphor for conducting an internet search.

People have often registered their displeasure at Google in the past, the most memorable for me being shortly after their latest Page Rank update, which saw many sites (including ours) lose PR.

The fact of the matter in my opinion is that webmasters are just sick and tired of literally having the fates of their sites in the hands of the “almighty” Google.

Truth be told, no one likes to be controlled by the “whims and caprices” of another, a situation brought about by Google’s dominance over the years. Perhaps all that’s about to change? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Okay. I’ve said my bit, now let’s hear what you have to say.

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Microsoft’s Live Search has just gone BING!! The Bing search engine, now publicly available at bing.com, is the latest roll out from Microsoft, and was unveiled by CEO Steve Ballmer at the
D Conference on the 28th of May.

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So what’s with the name Bing anyhow?

Well, it’s all in the branding really.  Microsoft says;

We needed a brand that was as fresh and new as our approach. It needed to be like the product — optimized for the Internet. A name that was memorable, short, easy to spell, and that would function well as a URL around the world.

Apparently, Bing is supposed to be “a new kind of search that goes beyond traditional search engines to help you make faster, more informed decisions”.

“It will do this by combining a great search engine (with powerful new features to improve your results for any query), more organized results, and unique tools to help you make important decisions. We think of Bing as a Decision Engine.”

Okay, so can Bing really take on Google in its own backyard? (which is exactly what the world of search has become really). Even Ballmer concedes;

Search and advertising, we are a small share….It’s all about Google. They have share, we don’t have share.

Hmm… Microsoft is however expected to spend $80 million to $100 million on Bing marketing, and many believe Bing will most likely take market share from Yahoo!

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So what exactly does Bing bring to the “search game” ?

Bing is not dramatically different from Google, but some people have found its results stronger. There are some visible changes:

• Bing shows a preview of the web pages in the search results when you hover your mouse pointer at the right side of the search results.
• Bing displays fewer results if it is certain that it has understood your intent. The search for “Facebook”, for example, brings up just one result linking to the site itself.
• Some search results are divided into categories. For example, if you search for the popular musician “Justin Timberlake”, you’ll get results in the categories news, songs, movies, biography, wallpaper and downloads. In addition, the search results show images, videos and the popularity of the musician.
• Wikipedia searches can be displayed inline in the search results without leaving the Bing site by clicking the “Enhanced view” link.
• Bing features a different background image every day. The image contains special hidden hotspots that lead you to more information (soon advertising?) about the image.
• Despite the background image, Bing’s homepage loads very quickly in your web browser because the search box and logo load first. You can turn off the background image.
• Bing’s video search lets you watch videos without leaving the search engine.
• Bing offers specific health, shopping and travel search engines, as well as instant answers to travel searches. For instance, the search “Vegas hotels” displays a selection of hotels in Las Vegas, including hotel stars and prices.
• Bing’s search history lets you return to your most recent searches of the last two days. This feature can be turned off to protect your privacy.

An obvious difference however, is Google’s ability to recognize misspellings and offer suggestions,which Bing has a visible lack of. For example, Bing doesn’t seem to recognize misspellings and returns no results in these cases

There have already been suggestions that Bing will be a success for Microsoft, and I must say I agree.

…. Microsoft has plenty of room to grow if they can only offer something that has some minimal value-add beyond what Google offers. Bing already does that. As soon as some search consumers see and experience the contextual sidebar searches in a Bing search, they will see how some searches can save them time on Bing, they will start using it for some of their searches, then defect back over to Google whenever a search fails on Bing.

True! Microsoft’s best bet would be to maximize the additional value Bing offers searchers.

Beyond all that, there’s just something about that name that makes me feel it surely will, even though Steve Ballmer jokes “We should have named it ‘BOOM!’”

Surely would have had a different meaning down here (if you know what I mean).

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I have often pondered over this, as I’m sure many other SEOs out there have too.  According to Google’s Matt Cutts, the short answer is ….. NO!! Well (as he puts it), “at least not right now”. Matt did however point out an obvious fact though-

If a site takes so long to load that Googlebot can’t get a copy of it, then that would have an effect on your site, because your site is essentially timing out.

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Matt’s comments towards the latter part of this video however express an opinion which  I personally share- Whilst focusing on your site’s rankings, it is extremely easy to forget the main reason why you put it up in the first place- The User!

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User Experience

Your site’s visitors should be your topmost priority. I mean, where’s the sense in ranking 1st for all your target Keywords, if a visitor comes to your site, only for them to leave the next second, wishing they never did?

Matt was precise with his latter comments, and I totally agree. I mean,  Google will always be there, but your visitors….. well, you would have to decide whether or not they will.

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Whenever Search Engine Marketing is mentioned, terms which readily come to mind (apart from Google that is) include;  meta tags/page content optimization, Link Building, and Site Submission.

Most people tend to focus more on Link Building. Of course you can’t blame them- as it is a well known fact that Google’s ranking algorithm (Page Rank or PR as it is now widely known as) places a lot of value on the number of inbound links to a site.

The down side to this however is that in the pursuit of PR glory, SEO’s often neglect some other vital and equally important aspects of Search Marketing.

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What am I talking about?

Content, Content, Content!!!

This just CANNOT be overemphasized, and has been debated over and over again by many pundits, some playing down the significance of content vis-à-vis links and PR, but the truth remains that “Content Is Still King”.

“Some webmasters are strong proponents of non-content SEO strategies. These technical experts rely very heavily on meta-title and other HTML or code-based SEO strategies for sites that are less content oriented.”

“Purists on both sides of the argument will say their approach is far superior to the other.”

I don’t belong to either. I am an advocate for both, as I have even
seen a PR 3 site outrank a PR 6 site for relative keywords.

Don’t worry, this isn’t just another “Content Is King” article (so you can wipe that smirk off your face now). Urr Umm!! Where was I? Ah yes! Content;

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So what is it that makes content so special?

What most people often seem to forget is that “Search Engines” as their name implies, were originally designed to help people find what they are searching for on a world wide web containing large volumes of information.

Naturally, any, and indeed all kinds of services are actually meant to solve a problem

Google, Yahoo, AOL, Ask, and the rest exist for the sole purpose of solving the problem of narrowing what would have otherwise been a daunting task of searching through the millions, billions, and possibly trillions of pages which exist on the web.

To effectively do this, these Search Engines maintain huge, categorized databases of World Wide Websites, classified according to the information contained in the pages which make up each of these sites. The job of the site owner, then becomes the (not so) simple and straightfoward task of;

providing as much information as possible about their sites to the Search Engines

This normally begins with optimizing the meta (title, keyword, and description) tags of each web page, all the way through to submitting the site’s pages to the Search Engines for indexing. Then comes the undending process of searching for quality inbound links to build the highly coveted PR, which most webmasters embark on- completey forgetting about their site’s content.

Needless to say this is a completely bad move, as Search Engines, like humans, are highly attracted to “Fresh Content”

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So How do you keep you site content “Fresh”?

The general idea is to keep the Search Engines updated with changes made to your website as much as possible. Most Search Engines allow you submit your site’s content for free, though it sometimes takes forever to have them indexed.

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Your Secret Weapon

Your Site Map, like a physical map, provides information about your website’s content. According to Wikipedia;

“A site map (or sitemap) is a representation of the architecture of a web site. It can be either a document in any form used as a planning tool for web design, or a web page that lists the pages on a web site, typically organized in hierarchical fashion. This helps visitors and search engine bots find pages on the site”.

There are mainly two kinds of SiteMaps, an XHTML Site Map meant for human visitors, and an XML Site Map for Search Engine robots. Most Search Engines, like Google for instance allow you submit an XML Site Map for your website.

Your Site Map, however, isn’t just a tool for providing information about your site, but is also a “Secret Weapon” for keeping your site’s content fresh.

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How So?

A standard XML Site Map has the following format;

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
   <url>
      <loc>http://www.example.com/</loc>
      <lastmod>2005-01-01</lastmod>
      <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
      <priority>0.8</priority>
   </url>
</urlset>

The <urlset> tag encapsulates the file and references the current protocol standard.

The <url>is the parent tag for each URL entry. The remaining tags are children of this tag.

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The other tags basically provide additional information about each individual <url> entry.

The <loc> tag represents the URL of the page. This URL must begin with the protocol (such as http) and end with a trailing slash, if your web server requires it. This value must be less than 2,048 characters.

The <lastmod> represents the date of last modification of the file. This date should be in W3C Datetime format. This format allows you to omit the time portion, if desired, and use YYYY-MM-DD.

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Using a SiteMap, updating the information Google (for instance) has about your website is completely seamless. You simply change the value of the <lastmod> tag whenever a particular page has been modified, and resubmit your SiteMap with Google’s Webmaster Tools. This tells Googlebot that the page was modified on
<lastmod>this date</lastmod>

You would notice that content submitted in this manner are re-indexed
much faster than the regular manual submissions.

This techinque is particularly useful for Site’s such as blogs whose content are updated regularly, as well as sites which broadcast RSS feeds. Google’s Webmaster Tools provides additional options, such as submitting an RSS SiteMap for your Website.

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It has been said time and (time) again that the Sales Copy is a major decider in the outcome of a business’ marketing campaign. The same goes for your website. At a time where millions and billions of websites popup on a daily basis, the terms website, sales copy, marketing and business have never been more synonymous.

Incase you don’t know what a sales copy is and you own a business (which I seriously doubt)- it is  that piece of text you find in advertisements, promotional brochures or other public relations outlets. Copywriting, which is the art of writing a sales copy has never been more crucial to a business. Tom Chandler writes;

“Good copywriting and marketing have never been
more important. Or more confusing.“

Probably the reason why most businesses hire professional Copywriters to draft these sales copies for them. So;

Who and What is a Copywriter?

Whenever you hear a radio commercial, or read words in the advertising section of a magazine, a copywriter is responsible. A copywriter creates the text for advertisements, promotional brochures or other public relations outlets. Advertising agencies routinely refer to a written script as copy, thus the name copywriter applies to those who create the scripts.

But what makes a Good Sales copy?

Several answers to this question may exist, but the most important (arguably) of them all would be Readability!! Readability here not just in the sense of the word, but also in terms of attractiveness. The sales copy must, as a matter of necessity, be able to capture and captivate the readers.

A few things you may want to note when writing your sales copy ;

• Keep it Attractive- can’t help but reiterate, your sales copy should, as a matter of importance, be engaging. It must possess qualities that captivate, if not thrill the reader. This holds true for the opening paragraph through to the last.

• Keep It Short- despite what most people may think, length matters. Not everyone enjoys reading (as a matter of fact most people don’t), as such it would be wise to make your sales copy as “straight-to-the-point” as possible.
  
  
• Formatting and Placement- also very important. It is worth noting that 6 out of 10 average readers would only read the first one or two paragraphs and scan through the rest of your sales copy. It is therefore extremely important to pay attention to placement- endeavor to have the most important aspects of your draft as close to the beginning of the copy as possible. It is also a good idea to use bold fonts, and quotation marks where necessary, so as to emphasize an important word, sentence or paragraph. Coloured text are “pleasing” to the eyes, and are encouraged.  Be careful however, that your copy doesn’t end up looking like the face of a clown.

• Keep It Original- try to be as original as possible. Think twice before deciding to “borrow” content from someone else’s copy without their permission. Copy writing requires an enormous amount of talent and creativity, needless to say are intellectual property. Apart from just losing credibility in the eyes of your reader, you can quickly find yourself in an unwanted legal tussle. If you must borrow, you should endeavor to give the author some acknowledgment.

• Mind your language- last, but by no means least, it is advisable to watch your language. In the beginning, it may seem like a good idea to use your copy to show your grammatical proficiency, but you may end up having achieved nothing in the end, if your sales copy is more confusing than it is explanatory. It is thus advisable to use “common”, everyday terms which would have “real” meaning to the reader.

end notes

Finally, as a parting gift, bear in mind that;

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“Marketing is not just about advertising – it’s also about
education and building customer relationships.”

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“Marketing is fundamental to the growth and development of any business, regardless of its size, nature, financial strength, location, or anything else for that matter”
(it’s fast becoming a cliche, but it’s true nonetheless.)

Though the fundamental principles of marketing remain the same, the approach to marketing has and always will be the underlying factor that sets apart the successful business from the unsuccessful ones. True, most businesses understand the need for marketing, and many allocate the required amount of resources to the propagation of their products and services through many channels- some effective, others not as effective, and some, well …….

Internet Marketing for one, has become extremely popular, with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) often topping the agenda in most Internet Marketing campaigns- the rationale behind it being to get into the Golden “top 10” search results of a Search Engine’s SERP. E-mail Marketing is also high on the agenda, I mean, you simply;

1) Prepare your HTML Email template
2) Compile a comprehensive list of Email Addresses you wish to mail to
3) Create your Email or E-Newsletter (Obviously)
4) Feed the Email or E-Newsletter into a Mass Email Software

AND ………… BLAST OFF!!!

Yep! That’s just about it. Or is it?

Whilst it may be easy to go according to structured, laid down marketing principles and methodologies, it is also extremely easy to lose track of the obvious;

Your entire Marketing Campaign was originally targeted at
“Individuals”, not the Search Engines.

Meaning- these individuals form the core of your target audience, and whilst it may be prudent to pursue the fine art of SEO and all the other E-Marketing techniques, it is however important to Remember Who You Really are Dealing With.

Links, optimized tags, PPC campaigns and the like may bring the much needed traffic to your website, and even place you in the top 10 results of Google’s SERP, but just as Google’s Matt Cutts said “last year” (it’s fun saying that);

“SEOs are starting to embrace the fact that they are marketers. It’s a broader spectrum. You have to think about how you build buzz, how do you get loyal customers, how do you optimize your ROI. All those different things and that can include how do I make good videos, do I have a book, things like that.“

“…. the smart SEOs are not just necessarily looking at the rankings. They are looking at conversion, they are looking at their server log. It’s great if you’re ranking for a phrase but unless that leads to sales that doesn’t help you very much.“

Similarly, with regards to E-mail Marketing, sending an email or calling someone up might be more convenient, but it’s also less personal — and therefore less effective. Words alone cannot always communicate what you want, your facial expression and body language often contribute to help your cause and help you reach your marketing goal.

There is also the issue of practicability- what assurance do you have that your E-mails won’t just end up in a Spam folder, and even if they do make it to the “Inbox”, what are the chances of them getting read, especially if they are unsolicited?

This is particularly true for most African countries, where most businesses don’t even have email addresses, and 90% of those who do, either do not monitor their mail boxes, leading to them being closed after a while, or deliberately post invalid addresses. It is extremely common to get E-mail bounce rates of up to 85% in E-mail campaigns (and that’s no lie)- all resulting from invalid E-mail addresses.

As such, you cannot and should not play down the role of physical marketing, and you should also pay serious attention to localized forms of advertising/marketing such as the radio, Television, NewsPapers, etc. Localization is also a very important aspect of marketing and branding.

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Okay! It’s official- Ranking as we know it is “DEAD“.

The official release of Google’s all new Search Wiki marks the end of Page Ranking as we know it. Basically, Search wiki allows users personalize their search results, meaning- users now have a way to; “customize search by re-ranking, deleting, adding, and commenting on search results“.

The effect of this on SEO need not even be mentioned. Search Wiki has introduced a new dimension to Search Engine Marketing, which essentially downplays the importance of SEO’s- with regard to SERP, as Search Engine Marketing has more or less shifted from just getting good rankings with SE’s, to brand marketing as a whole.

As Google’s Matt Cutts puts it,

SEOs are starting to embrace the fact that they are marketers. It’s a broader spectrum. You have to think about how you build buzz, how do you get loyal customers, how do you optimize your ROI. All those different things and that can include how do I make good videos, do I have a book, things like that.

So is page ranking officially “Dead”? Maybe not quite …….  according to Cutts;

I’m not sure I would say ranking is dead but it’s not as important as it used to be. The fact is the smart SEOs are not just necessarily looking at the rankings. They are looking at conversion, they are looking at their server log. It’s great if you’re ranking for a phrase but unless that leads to sales that doesn’t help you very much.

According to the Google Blog, the changes you make only affect your own searches. But SearchWiki also is a great way to share your insights with other searchers. You can also see how the community has collectively edited the search result.

Quoting Cedric Dupont, Product Manager, and Corin Anderson, Software Engineer,

This new feature is an example of how search is becoming increasingly dynamic, giving people tools that make search even more useful to them in their daily lives. We have been testing bits and pieces of SearchWiki for some time through live experiments, and we incorporated much of our learnings into this release. We are constantly striving to improve our users’ search experience, and this is yet another step along the way.

Well folks, that’s just a brief picture of the new face of SEO in 2009. There are also other things worth mentioning though, such as googlebot’s new ability to index flash and video content.

From regular webmasters to SEO professionals, If you do any form of online marketing, then you must have thought about this at some point- Text Ads or Banners?

Many schools of thought believe the latter is more effective, seemingly because “colours and moving images are more appealing to the eye than regular text”. I must admit, i was a part of that school …. well, until today.

A Recent study conducted by iPerceptions Inc. (TSX.V:IPE), a leading provider of web-focused Voice of Customer analytics, has shown that users are more likely to click on text ad’s, as opposed to banners, and …. YES! even video ads.

iPerceptions collected user-generated feedback from over 14,000 visitors to leading media sites during the month of August 2008 to paint a detailed picture of consumer advertising preferences based on their likelihood to click on different types of online ads.

Here are the results-

• 25% of respondents more likely to click on simple text ads

• 20% for right banner ads

• 12% for top banner ads

• 11% for video ads

I already see a number of open mouths. Yup! I felt exactly the same when I stumbled on the results myself.

There have also been a number of other surveys which came up with similar results. Not the exact same figures of course, but close.

Well there you have it. In the end, the facts speak for themselves. So all you marketers out there who have focused most of your time and money on banners are video ads, neglecting the good old text need to have a re-think.

But that is not to say- totally ignore video ad’s though, because just as Chris Crum of Small Business Newz puts it;

“there is no question that they are a better branding tool”

It’s just a question of whichever suites you better then. Are you looking out for just a couple more clicks, or perhaps your in it for the sake of your overall brand? Whatever you decide, you should bear one thing in mind though- Once again, I’m tempted to quote Chris Crum on this one;

“Clicks are great, but they’re not everything. A brand is invaluable.”

Brands stick around. Brands survive. Brands are remembered. “

You couldn’t have possibly said it better Chris. Couldn’t agree with you more on that.

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