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luni, 8 iulie 2013

Seth's Blog : Q&A: The resiliency of Permission Marketing

Q&A: The resiliency of Permission Marketing

Here's my first Monday Afternoon book Q&A. Thanks to everyone who responded...

The first book is Permission Marketing and virtually all the questions were the same, best summarized by Brandon Carroll, "How do you feel like Permission Marketing has changed since the 90s when you wrote it? How can it be applied in today's fast changing world?"

If you haven't read it yet, here is some context. I wrote it in 1998, before YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Psy, the iPhone or the bankruptcy of Hostess.

I felt confident writing the book because there were two key shifts that hadn't drawn enough attention:

1. For the first time in fifty years, paid advertising was no longer growing as an effective, dependable way to buy attention from the people you wanted to reach. Instead, there was an explosion of cheap and even free ways to make noise. And...

2. For the first time in history, it was possible to directly reach people you wanted to reach, presuming that they wanted you to reach them. And you could do it for free.

If anything, both of these trends have accelerated. Most big companies now spend far more time than they ever spent before on advertising engaging in its free alternative. They tweet and post and ping and poke and generally put on an ever-noisier show, all based on the self-delusion that they can actually get back to 1968 and the ability to reach everyone, whenever they want. This is obviously a futile endeavor, but it's not stopping people who should know better from trying.

At the same time, a very rare and precious communications channel is being understood and refined. The ability to whisper. The opportunity to be missed. Replacing hype with permission, with an audience of believers who will go ahead and spread the word for you, because they want to, not because you pay them to.

And so, banner ads went from $50 cpm to less than 1% of that, because they're not, in fact, as effective as TV ads used to be. I was being hyperbolic 13 years ago when I said that they would disappear, but they've certainly vanished as the next-big-thing, either for marketers or for media companies. The movement of money spent on mass advertising to mass banners online isn't a smooth one, because it's a shift from mass to micro, from brand advertising to direct response.

No big brand has ever been built using banners. And so, the biggest brands built in the last decade (make any list you want, from Red Bull to Google) did not get that way using marketing that Don Draper would have recognized...

The biggest mis-fire from my original book, the thing I didn't understand well enough, is how nuanced the pursuit of permission would become. Online games and loyalty programs haven't disappeared, but they're not even close to the most important foundation of this asset. No, it comes down to our need to be included, to be respected and to be connected. Over and over, marketers that have touched this asset have raced to push it too hard and too fast, and along the way, lost the very permission they worked so hard to get.

The other mistake I made was underestimating how much fun it is to act like a big advertiser or a big media company, and how profitable it is to keep that industry moving forward. As a result, there are ever more techniques and ever more tools to act as if you're doing brand advertising in the new media space, when of course, the results are a mere shadow of what you used to be able to do with TV.

For the individual or small organization, all the social networks provide you with a fork in the road. Either you can work around the edges, spamming your way to more followers and more noise, figuring out how to make some sort of make-believe metric increase as a result of your efforts. Or, you can use these networks as a new form of 1:1 interaction, making promises and keeping them. This second path means that your followers are actually followers and that your friends are closer than ever to becoming friends.

Going forward, the organizations to bet on are the ones with a tribe, with a direct connection. If it's easy to get your Kickstarter funded, if it's easier to get your email opened, then you've built something, something that lasts.

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SEO Ranking Factor #1 is Satisfaction

Posted: 07 Jul 2013 07:24 PM PDT

Posted by Cyrus Shepard

You know the numbers â€" Google uses over 200 ranking signals, updates its algorithm over 500 times a year, and employs thousands of engineers. We often get so caught up in the minutiae of the algorithm that we forget all this effort serves a single purpose:

Satisfy the user.

This isn't a touchy-feely post that says "Make great content and visitors will come" or "Delight your customers and magic will happen."

It's not magic. Satisfaction is an actual ranking factor.

Unlike other ranking factors, this one is hard to measure because it's based almost entirely on search engines' own internal data â€" something they don't share. We do know search engines both measure and reward satisfaction in very significant ways. In fact, I highly suspect satisfaction is one of Google's most important metrics used to judge the performance of its own search results.

It's easy to tweak a keyword. It's much harder to stop visitors from clicking the back button on your website when they don't find what they were looking for. Satisfaction is very difficult to game; perhaps that's why search engines place so much emphasis on it.

How Google measures and predicts satisfaction

User behavior in search results

Stephen Levyâ€™s excellent book In the Plex describes how Google engineers figured out how to improve search results by mining their user behavior data (bold added):

"â€¦ Google could see how satisfied users were. â€¦ The best sign of their happiness was the "long click" â€" this occurred when someone went to a search result, ideally the top one, and did not return. That meant Google has successfully fulfilled the query. But unhappy users were unhappy in their own ways, most telling were the â€œshort clicksâ€ where a user followed a link and immediately returned to try again. "If people type something and then go and change their query, you could tell they arenâ€™t happy," says Patel. "If they go to the next page of results, itâ€™s a sign theyâ€™re not happy."

Often called pogosticking, this refers to the behavior of users that click on a result, then "pogostick" back and forth between the search results and different websites, searching for satisfaction.

Search quality raters

In 2012, Google released an abbreviated copy of its Search Quality Rating Guidelines to the public. A version of this document is used by Google's small army of Search Quality Raters to evaluate search results.

One of the highest scores a quality rater can assign to a page is "useful" (bold added):

â€œUseful pages should be high quality and a good â€œfitâ€ for the query. In addition, they often have some or all of the following characteristics: highly satisfying, authoritative, entertaining, and/or recent (such as breaking news on a topic). Useful pages are usually well organized and pages you trust. They are from information sources that seem reliable. Useful information pages are not "spammy."

The problem with quality raters is they can only look at a few thousand websites at any given time. There are millions of sites on the web, so Google invented a new system:

Panda

Instead of evaluating results after the fact, Panda gives Google the ability to predict user satisfaction â€" modeled on actual human surveys â€" and apply it to every site in its index.

Less satisfying pages are ranked lower in search results, and every few weeks the index is updated with new data.

The chart below shows Panda hitting a site again and again.

Site visits with Panda updates via Panguin Tool and Google Algorithm Change History

What can we do?

If search engines measure user satisfaction and employ it as a ranking factor, our goals as search marketers are to:

Create highly satisfying experiences so that users donâ€™t return to search results to pick another URL.
Build sites that meet Pandaâ€™s expectation of high quality.
Surprise and delight our visitors so that they seek us out again and again.

5 Tips to improve visitor satisfaction:

1. Google's free website satisfaction surveys

As if to put an exclamation point on the whole satisfaction experience, Google recently released free, embeddable customer satisfaction surveys for website owners.

After installing a line of JavaScript on your site, your visitors are presented with the following questions:

Overall, how satisfied are you with this website?
What, if anything, do you find frustrating or unappealing about this website?
What is your main reason for visiting this website today?
Did you successfully complete your main reason for visiting this website today?

If you'd like to customize the questions, Google allows you to do this for $0.01 per response.

It feels like Google wants to give site owners the same type of feedback Google acquires directly from behavior data. Using these forms won't tell you exactly what to do, but any webmaster using them is sure to get a ton of valuable feedback about visitor satisfaction.

2. Removing barriers

Weâ€™ve talked for years about making your site more accessible for both search robots and humans, but we rarely discuss how those usability factors affect rankings.

Imagine if you will, a site that requires registration to view any content, which is otherwise accessible to search engines. We're seeing these more and more all over the web.

What if Moz required registration?

The idea is simple: folks click on a search result, see the form and return to the search results to try another URL. After a few hundred times (or less), search engines start to figure out this result doesnâ€™t satisfy users.

At Moz, weâ€™ve seen sites use similar tactics only to watch their bounce rate skyrocket, and their rankings drop. In fact, thereâ€™s anecdotal evidence of sites being hit by Panda after introducing similar barriers.

3. Speed it up

We know that faster websites are good, but page speed has two mechanisms by which to influence rankings:

Directly: Google reps have stated that page speed has a direct impact on rankings for a certain percentage of queries (only 1% in 2010).
Secondary: As page speed affects usage, it can have a secondary effect on user satisfaction. A frustrated user waiting too long for a page to load can often return to search results.

Google obsesses over speed, and scientists at Microsoft have shown that users will visit a site less often if it's only 250 milliseconds slower than the competition.

Source: NYTimes

If you ever need to convince your client or boss to improve page speed, try the comparison tool at Webpagetest.com which allows you to export a slow motion video.

4. Empathy

Empathy as a ranking factor? "Cyrus," I can hear you saying, "youâ€™ve been hanging out with Rand too much!"

Consider this comment on a recent Whiteboard Friday. I've edited the comment below to highlight the important parts:

When you practice empathy, you put yourself in the shoes of your visitor to try to build a satisfying experience. You accomplish this by

Answering their questions
Employing intuitive layouts
Giving them relevant links and resources to click
Surprising them with extras

While it's difficult to prove a relationship between improved user experiences and rankings (because we can't measure user behavior like Google can) there's strong anecdotal evidence that search engines aggregate these factors into their algorithms.

5. Linking out

One of the best SEO articles Iâ€™ve read all year is AJ Kohn's Time to Long Click, a great article you shouldn't miss. AJ explains how linking out (and also creating content hubs) can be used to increase user satisfaction (bold added):

What Iâ€™m recommending is that you link to other valuable sources of information when appropriate so that you fully satisfy that userâ€™s query. In doing so youâ€™ll generate more long clicks and earn more links over time, both of which can have profound and positive impact on your rankings.

Stop thinking about optimizing your page and think about optimizing the search experience instead.

-AJ Kohn

Think of it this way: It's far better for users to click away to another URL from your site than for those same users to return to Google to try again. In the first instance, you are the authority hub, in the latter, Google is the authority.

Be the authority.

How do YOU improve satisfaction?

There are two types of SEOs: those that try to satisfy robots, and those that satisfy users.

The robot-focused SEOs build pages with just the right keywords and title tags, hoping to attract the bots on relevancy. I say "try" to satisfy robots, because search engines are actually watching the users. If the users aren't happy, neither are the bots.

The user-focused SEOs works with the same keywords and title tag, but then they go one step further and ask their users to try the site. After that, they do whatever it takes to make their users happy.

Have you seen improvement in rankings after improving user satisfaction? Share your story with us in the comments below.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

Shouldn't Government Be Easy to Use?

Featured

Shouldn't Government Be Easy to Use?

President Obama is devoted to making government smarter -- improving disaster response, reducing waste, and opening up government data. We've made some big progress, but there's more to do to make government user-friendly for Americans.

That's why, today, President Obama is highlighting a new management agenda -- directing his cabinet to continue to bring this government into the 21st century, and make it easier than ever for Americans to get the services they need from government.

Watch live at 11:50 AM ET to find out how a new management agenda is improving government.

Seth's Blog : Canaries and coal mines

Canaries and coal mines

Years ago, I went on a grueling trip, four cities in four days doing speaking gigs. That meant I was in a lot of airports. At every airport bookstore, there wasn't a single copy of any of my books, including one that had recently came out.

I whined to the team at my book publisher. What sort of distribution was this?

Someone wrote back, "Seth, if you tell us which airports you'll be visiting, our salesforce says they will do their best to have your book in a place you can see it."

My own little Potemkin Village. I'm afraid he didn't really get the point I was after.

Don't save the canary. Fix the coal mine.

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duminică, 7 iulie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Hypocrites and Bullies Speak on "The Importance of Trust"; Bullies, Bribes, and Foreign Aid

Posted: 07 Jul 2013 01:41 PM PDT

The bullies and hypocrites took to the air waves today regarding the "Importance of Trust".

For example, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff complained today Snowden's disclosures have undermined 'importance of trust' with other countries.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman says NSA leaker Edward Snowden's disclosures about U.S. surveillance programs have undermined U.S. relationships with other countries and affected what he calls "the importance of trust."

Gen. Martin Dempsey told CNN's "State of the Union" in an interview broadcast Sunday that the U.S. will "work our way back. But it has set us back temporarily."

The head of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, told he "absolutely" thinks that one of the countries will give Snowden travel documents.

Rogers, R-Mich., said the U.S. should look at trade agreements with the nations that are offering asylum "to send a very clear message that we won't put up with this kind of behavior."

Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he wasn't surprised that those nations were offering asylum. "They like sticking it to the United States," Mendendez, D-N.J., told NBC's "Meet the Press."

He also mentioned re-examining U.S. trade policies and foreign aid to any country that might take in Snowden.

"Clearly such acceptance of Snowden to any country ... is going to put them directly against the United States, and they need to know that," he said.

Hypocrites and Bullies

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
Rep. Mike Rogers, Head of the House Intelligence Committee,
Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

I would like to point out to all three gentlemen one important fact: Edward Snowden did not undermine trust.

There was no trust to undermine. All Snowden did was prove the obvious.

If there was any trust the US would not have been bugging the offices of the EU and Germany. If there was any trust, France would not be spying on us.

Bullies, Bribes, and Foreign Aid

Please note the bullying by US imperialists. Rep. Mike Rogers (R) proposes "to send a very clear message that we won't put up with this kind of behavior."

Excuse Me! What about unconscionable spying by the US on its alleged allies?

Countries should send a very clear message to the US that they will not put up with our severely misguided imperialism. And they probably would except they fear the US might cut off aid.

If you are looking for a reason very few countries have offered Snowden asylum (see Venezuela, Nicaragua offer asylum to Snowden; Double Standards and Hypocrite Allies), you now have an answer.

Thus, we can all thank Rogers for explaining that US foreign aid is really nothing but bribery so the imperialists, war-mongers, and hypocrites can continue their ways with impunity, totally clueless they are the ones directly responsible for the undermined trust.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Bundesbank Chief States the Obvious "ECB Cannot Solve Euro Zone Crisis"; Unstated Message "No One Else Can Either"

Posted: 07 Jul 2013 11:39 AM PDT

The markets gave a high-five to an ECB statement last week by Mario Draghi "The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time."

I fail to see why this was news even though the ECB has never issued such a pledge before. Did anyone really think the ECB was going to hike rates soon?

For further discussion, please see Communication Only "Tool" Left

A more realistic message came from German Central Bank president Jens Weidmann who stated the "ECB Cannot Solve Euro Zone Crisis"

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (Reuters) - The European Central Bank cannot solve the euro zone crisis, Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann told economists on Sunday, pressing the bloc's governments to get their economies in shape and tighten their fiscal rules.

Weidmann addressed an economists' conference in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, only three days after the ECB broke with precedent by declaring that it intended to keep interest rates at record lows for an extended period and may yet cut further.

"Monetary policy has already done a lot to absorb the economic consequences of the crisis, but it cannot solve the crisis," Weidmann said in his speech.

"This is the consensus of the Governing Council. The crisis has laid bare structural shortcomings. As such, they require structural solutions."

FISCAL RULES

While he does not see sufficient support in the euro zone for governments to give up sovereignty on fiscal matters to forge a fiscal union to prevent such crises in the future, Weidmann pressed them to stiffen Europe's fiscal rules.

"To fully unleash the common currency's potential, efforts are needed on two fronts: structural reforms as well as the abolition of implicit guarantees for banks and sovereigns (government bonds)," Weidmann said.

"In addition to stronger rules, we need to make sure that in a system of national control and national responsibility, sovereign default is possible without bringing down the financial system. Only then will we really do away with the implicit guarantee for sovereigns."

The Bundesbank chief also called for euro zone governments to sever what he describes as the "excessively close links" between banks and sovereign governments, saying that European banks hold too many of their own governments' bonds.

"This is because banks do not have to hold any capital against their government debt, as the risk-weight assigned to sovereign bonds is zero.

Six Key Points

The ECB cannot solve the crisis
The problems are structural
There is little support for governments to give up sovereignty on fiscal matters to forge a fiscal union
There should be no guarantee on banks and sovereign bonds
European banks hold too many sovereign bonds
Sovereign bonds should not have a risk-weight of zero

Unstated Message "No One Else Can Either"

The above six points are obvious. But what Weidmann did not say (but should have) is the euro itself is a big structural problem.

And please note point number three. Weidmann was not just speaking for Germany. Rather he was speaking of the divide between Northern Europe and Southern Europe.

Yet another divide exists between France and Germany regarding productivity issues, labor reforms, taxes, government spending, and the role of the ECB.

And just imagine the impact if all of a sudden banks had to assign a reasonable risk-weight on sovereign bonds. Banks holding them would suddenly (and correctly) be viewed as capital impaired. The obvious implication is banks are capital impaired right now, but impairment is hidden via of absurd zero-risk weightings on bonds.

So don't expect anything to come of points 4-6. And don't expect countries to give up sovereignty. And don't expect France to do anything about work rule reform, its pension problems, its massive 56% of GDP public sector, or its horrendous agricultural subsidies (imposed on the rest of the EU as well).

In short, the problem remains unsolvable until the first country has enough common sense to say "to hell with the euro".

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Seth's Blog : Polishing junk

Polishing junk

The first rule of social media is that it powers the spread of remarkable ideas.

The second rule is that all the social media in the world can't make a lousy project work in the long run.

The time you're spending polishing might be better spent building.

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luni, 8 iulie 2013

Seth's Blog : Q&A: The resiliency of Permission Marketing

Q&A: The resiliency of Permission Marketing

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SEO Ranking Factor #1 is Satisfaction

SEO Ranking Factor #1 is Satisfaction