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By Neptune Moon, May 21, 2013 9:54 am

Content marketing is all the rage these days. If you’re on Twitter you can’t escape it… but what does it really mean for businesses? Most of the articles and posts I’ve seen seem much more applicable to a person or a major brand rather than a “regular” business.

What do I mean by this?

We’ve all read about how SEO in its traditional format is dead (as it is every few months it seems). And now content marketing is the new path to search results relevance (along with authorship, according to many!). As a long time SEO practitioner, content marketing makes a lot of sense to me. Quality SEO has always, at its core, been about content. I’m on board with creating great content. I encourage clients to get on board with creating great (and optimized!) content.

Where the wheels come off a little bit for me when I read about content marketing strategy is in the HOW for businesses. I think it is easy for those of us who work in the internet sector to forget that not all industries are as sexy as ours. Creating interesting, timely and shareable content is (relatively) easy for us – technology is changing every day. There are literally at least 3 things I want to write about every day. Finding the time to do so needs to be its own post!

But what about regular businesses and industries? How realistic is it to set the goal for them to regularly create shareable content? There are definitely some areas for content development and marketing for every business that I absolutely love:

• creating posts or articles answering common customer questions
• providing brief commentary and links to relevant media stories
• creating case studies or project summaries outlining successes
• testimonial stories and/or videos from your happy customers
• blog posts about timely topics & industry news
• time sensitive information like special offers, weekend specials, etc.

All of these tactics make total sense to me and I think most organizations should be able to manage at least one or two. And they are elements of good business and sound marketing practice. But let’s get down to the real question – how shareable and “likeable” is this content really going to be? Are you going to share that link from your plumber about toilet issues? How about from your accountant about business tax tips?  Or the latest industry news about green building in the modular industry? Or teeth whitening facts from your dentist?

This is where I think all the hype about content marketing falls flat as a major SEO tactic for many organizations.

Not all content is created equal – especially when it comes to social channels. You may be interested enough to read the above types of content, but are you going to share them with your social networks? Probably not. I am hopeful that Google and the other search engines will get out of the echo chamber of tech long enough to really think about this and how it will impact “regular” businesses. Most organizations do not have entire departments dedicated to creating content, social or otherwise. If this becomes the foundation for SEO going forward, I fear that all but the largest brands and personalities will be left behind.

The web used to be a place where Davids could readily compete with Goliaths. It seems like that is becoming harder and harder to do successfully – whether you’re trying to do it via SEO or even PPC.

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By Neptune Moon, April 25, 2013 2:14 pm

“I want my site to be #1 in Google!”

At first blush, who wouldn’t? Seriously. But if you have ever found yourself or one of your clients saying these words with stars in their eyes, it’s time to get back to reality with these three simple truths:

Search engine optimization is about sales, not ranking. You should search engine optimize your website not to become #1 in Google, but so that your target market can find you and buy from you. In reality, you could generate 10,000 visits a day from search, but if none of them are your specific potential customers you have wasted your money. You could generate just 100 visits a day, but if they are all your target customer, you could be rolling in profit. Search engine optimization is a question of quality, not quantity.

Search engine optimization is a highly competitive game. Type the word “accountant Philadelphia area” into Google. See how many results come up? In my search, it was 27,700,000. That means that if you are an accountant and you want to come up in the top 10 on Google for that term, you have to beat out 27,699,990 other web sites. Wow. That’s some fierce competition. When you realize what you are up against, you can modify your expectations to be more realistic. No longer is it a question of “I need to be #1 on Google for all the best keywords,” but “I need to generate X-amount of qualified traffic by various means and through various sources in order to maintain a viable and growing business.”

Search engine optimization is an ongoing process. Face the facts: even if you achieved #1 Google placement on Monday for one of your best keywords, you could drop in the rankings on Tuesday and be out of the running on Wednesday. Search is a constantly changing place, and how your site is ranked for various keywords or phrases can be more variable than the weather. That’s why search engine optimization requires ongoing tracking, analysis, and testing. The goal is not to get to #1 placement on Google for a day, but to maintain a strategic and targeted web presence 24-7-365.

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By Neptune Moon, February 25, 2013 2:25 pm

I have been noticing a somewhat disturbing trend when I log on to Facebook lately – apparently, Facebook thinks I am old and fat. Or at least they are hoping I think I am old and fat… How do I know this? A disturbingly high number of “suggested posts” have been littering my Newsfeed of late for either anti-aging secrets or weight loss secrets:

Facebook "Suggested Post" recently in my Newsfeed from Dr. Oz (who is a huge offender)..

This "Suggested Post" is even trickier, as it looks like a post where a friend updated their cover photo.

Apologies for the slightly grainy images – the ads appear on my iPad and I took a quick photo of them to share!

These posts really got me thinking about targeting and remarketing and what it is like from the targetee’s perspective. It can be borderline creepy and in this case, a little insulting to have at least one post (ad) in my newsfeed every day urging me to take action about my apparent weight and aging issues. Look, I get that I am in my 40s and recently had a kid, but does that mean that I want to see these kinds of ads every time I log in to Facebook? For me, the answer is no.

What is it about this that is bugging me – it is not the targeting specifically, although when you see 5 “suggested posts” in a row, it is a bit like being accosted at the mall! Rather, it is the lack of viewing these tactics from your target’s perspective. Do any of us like to feel bombarded by advertising? I would not be insulted or particularly bothered if these ads were showing up in the right side column on Facebook – but when they are right in the middle of the Newsfeed on a mobile device (for me a tablet) it starts to feel pretty intrusive.

It is worth noting that with retargeting and remarketing technology - just because you can does not always mean you should. As a marketer, I think these tools are pretty amazing and the possibilities dizzying when it comes to recapturing potential customers. But, we should exercise restraint when deploying strategies in this area and really think about the impression caps and the people we are trying to impress.

It’s not very sexy, but slow and steady really does win the race in marketing – with remarketing this is even more true. So, before you go nuts targeting every possible demographic set under the sun, take a moment and think about it from the targetee’s perspective and maybe dial it back just a bit. I know I’d be happy if Facebook stopped calling me fat every day!

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By Neptune Moon, January 31, 2013 8:56 am

It’s been a while since my last post… reentering the work world after a blissful maternity leave! As I have been catching up on my industry reading, I can’t help but wonder if we are moving toward a freemium model for Google Analytics in the near future.

NOTE: I am not even counting Google Analytics Premium as part of this post – at $150,000 annually, it is simply too costly for all but the largest of organizations.

What makes me wonder about this? Well, it started when Google stopped providing keyword query data in the Analytics product for users that were logged in at the time of their searches back in 2011. Google claims that they started doing this in the name of user privacy, but curiously, keyword query data is available for these same searches’ paid results. Couple this with the more recent news that Google is looking to hire someone to specifically build the searching while logged in component of their business (as reported on Search Engine Land including an update that the job post had been mysteriously removed) and it starts to come together…

It makes sense, from a business perspective, really. We are all so used to Google providing free search and tools, it might at first seem surprising to think that they could be moving in this direction. But we should never forget that Google is a gigantic, public company with enormous pressure to not only maintain, but constantly increase their bottom line!

If you are an AdWords advertiser, you have already experienced a myriad of ways that Google has changed AdWords, supposedly in the name of easier use and better performance, that certainly benefit Google when not actively or thoughtfully implemented or managed. The close variant feature comes to mind here.

But, I digress…

What makes me think that we will probably be seeing a free and paid version of Google Analytics in the near future? Mainly, the increasing volume of (not provided) keywords in Analytics for most sites. This is becoming more and more of an issue for search strategists, both on the SEO and SEM sides. Sure, you can use Google’s Webmaster Tools to view the top 1,000 search terms that sent traffic to your site, but Webmaster Tools is no Google Analytics! Knowing a list of terms is helpful, but only to a point. Were these organic searches or paid searches? How long do visitors using certain search terms stay on your site? Do they convert? What role is mobile playing? None of this information is available in Webmaster Tools – you need the Advanced Segment capability of Google Analytics to really dig into these types of questions.

And, these types of questions are incredibly important to anyone who manages a site with any type of conversion goal! I know for our clients’ sites, the percentage of (not provided) keywords has been steadily creeping up since the Google policy change. Many have 20% or more that are (not provided), which is statistically significant! With their clear desire to have more searchers use their search while logged in, I can’t help but brace myself for the announcement that for a monthly or annual fee, strategists like me could magically have access to all that data again!

Is this the end of the world? Certainly not. It is actually a pretty brilliant move – from a profit potential perspective for Google. Think about how many sites are running Google Analytics and chose to do so at least partially because it was a pretty robust free tool. I don’t know many firms or consultants who use paid analytics products anymore, including Neptune Moon, because Google Analytics does a great job and at a great price. Will we end up paying if Google opts to go the freemium route with Analytics, I would think that yes, we would. Google is doing what it always does – getting us so used to deploying and using their products that the sheer hassle of moving to another system will make it worth paying to just continue using theirs. Oh, and let’s not forget the investment we have already made with Google Analytics for historical data!

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I know we will be watching closely.

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By Neptune Moon, August 10, 2012 10:01 am

So now that much of the hysteria has calmed down after the big Google AdWords changes rolled out this spring and early summer, I thought it was time to do a post about how the changes are impacting clients’ accounts. Today’s focus is with the keyword match types – specifically what AdWords calls “close variants”.

To review, before the changes, you basically had three choices for match type:

• Broad – where if your term appeared in any way or any order in a search query your ad would display
• Phrase – where if your target phrase appeared as part of a search query your ad would display
• Exact – your ad would only display if the exact word or phrase you chose were the search query

Those were the good old days! Now, by default, Google AdWords assumes you would like them to include “close variants” to the phrase and exact match types. In the settings and help documents, Google claims that by adding this feature, you will get more traffic and therefore more clicks. In fact, when you go to opt out of this setting, you get an “Are You Sure?” warning like this:

At first blush, this warning might give you pause – will I really be losing out on that many impressions and clicks if I opt out of the “close variants”? Our experience with the so-called “close variants” enabled has been a lot of crappy search terms that are not relevant to our clients’ targets. We have also noticed that Google’s definition of what constitutes a “close variant” is actually pretty broad.

Another effect we noticed when the close variant option was enabled was search terms triggering ads from odd ad groups. Our practice is to create tightly focused ad groups for our clients’ campaigns to maximize quality score and to be able to serve ads that are most directly relevant to the searcher’s intent. The close variant terms have been displaying the wrong ad group’s ads – or at least not the most targeted ones on a regular basis.

After turning off the AdWords close variant keyword matching option for these accounts, the search queries are now triggering the desired ad groups and the amount of garbage impressions and clicks has decreased.

So we encourage you to take a look at the dimensions tab for your campaigns and see what is happening in your campaigns and ad groups. This “feature” seems to us like yet another way that Google can increase their bottom line, without bringing real value to its AdWords customers. The worst part is, with it being the default setting and that warning they display when you go to opt out – we wonder how many AdWords customers are paying for worthless traffic?

Bottom line – keep a close eye on your accounts and don’t assume that an enhancement offered by Google AdWords to their interface is automatically a good thing for advertisers!

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By Neptune Moon, May 10, 2012 10:17 am

Been off the grid for a while and it’s good to be back!

Today’s topic – why it still matters to ask permission when contacting customers or prospects. With social media and smartphones, we are seldom away from communication, which is great when you want it and annoying when you don’t. Case in point – I have been getting a lot of auto or group texts lately. I did not ask to be contacted via text and I find it presumptuous when I get texts from groups or companies that have not asked for my permission.

Beyond the fact that asking permission is just the courteous thing to do, text messages are not free! I for one don’t appreciate getting texts that I have to pay for when I didn’t ask to get them. So before you start adding all of your prospects to an SMS platform, stop for a moment and ask for permission to communicate via text. Unsolicited emails are still a problem, but at least there is no direct cost to the end user for unwanted email (except for time spent managing your inbox!).

Try thinking of an unsolicited text message like sending a postcard with postage due – is that really the impression you want to make with a customer or prospect? I know in our increasingly connected world is it easy to treat customers, clients or prospects like we do the rest of our social network, but they are not like your friends or family. The relationship is different, and there should be an inherent level of respect for their wishes – you have to build trust with customers.

The golden rule is an oldie but a goodie – treat others as you would want to be treated. In the marketing world – online and offline – remembering this simple principle leads to better long term results and increased customer loyalty. Who wouldn’t want that?

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By Neptune Moon, January 23, 2012 5:55 pm

I’m annoyed this afternoon and I thought it was worth a blog post. WHY would you ever send an email that could not be replied to – especially if that email is in response to a customer support issue? This practice continually both amazes and infuriates me.

Case in point, web hosting companies that send you email updates on a support issue but if you try to email back a response to their update, put your message in the great void. How do you think you are making your customers feel when they are trying to communicate with you and they get an email back that says something like this:

Thank you for contacting Company X Customer Support.
The mailbox that your message was sent to is unmonitored, and as a result your e-mail will not receive a response.

If you require support for problem A go here: www.companyx.com/problemA
If you require support for problem B go here: www.companyx.com/problemB
If you require support for problem C go here: www.companyx.com/problemC
ETC…

So, now I have just spent time writing my message in response to the email you sent me (usually telling me how you have not yet solved my problem) and now I can’t just reply to the email to continue the thread and get my issue resolved. Why must I wade through 10 options to figure out where I should go next? How is this servicing your customer? The answer – it is not.

Even companies who are well-known for their customer service can fall into this trap. Southwest Airlines, which is generally a fantastic example of customer service, uses this same type of system for Customer Service emails. We had an issue on a recent flight experience and after receiving a long and thoughtful reply from their Customer Service Department, with a case reference number, I had to go back to the web site and fill out their comment form again, to send a follow up to their reply – not very user-friendly!

We could probably all benefit from taking an objective view of our communication and customer support practices. Try to put yourself in your customers’ shoes – is your customer service department easy to contact and quick to respond OR does it function more like a complicated choose-your-own-adventure story?

It is worth taking a look at your process and discovering if you’re treating your customers the way you’d want to be treated if you had an issue. If we all took the time to follow the golden rule when designing customer service responses, the world would be a much less frustrating place!

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By Neptune Moon, January 11, 2012 12:00 pm

Have you seen the ad campaign the NFL is running these days for its women’s apparel? If you watch any football at all, they would be impossible to miss, even if you DVR the games! As a lifelong football fan, who happens to be a woman, these spots drive me nuts.

If you haven’t seen the ads – they all go something like this:

1. Woman having argument with her boyfriend or husband as she angrily throws NFL apparel at him, and often storms out
2. “You Don’t Own Me” plays in the background
3. Boyfriend or husband arrives at girlfriend or wife’s door to find her looking adorable and happy in her very own female sized NFL apparel
4. Joy to the world!

Does the NFL have any women working for them in their marketing department? Seeing these ubiquitous ads, it is hard to imagine that they do! Who are they marketing this stuff to – men or women? I assume it is being marketed to women, as they are the ones who purchase the actual items in the ads? If this is the case – how does this premise sell to female NFL fans (who make up a solid 40% of the fanbase and purchase 46% of official NFL Merchandise*)? It is problematic on several fronts:

1. It assumes that women are only football fans if their husbands or boyfriends are – and that you root for the same team!
2. Why the fake fight then about the men’s jerseys – is it not a strong enough premise to let women know that they now have options beyond men’s sized apparel or the awful pink and/or bedazzled NFL apparel previously marketed to women?

This ad campaign is a classic example of not knowing your audience. If women are your target audience, then these ads do not understand what would motivate said audience to take the desired action – in this case, purchasing NFL women’s apparel. Why is it cast as an act of defiance to buy your own jersey or t-shirt? I’m thrilled to know that the NFL is finally starting to make licensed apparel that is actually sized for women and not pink or glittery. But these ads make me not want to buy any and I’m pretty sure I’m in their female demographic sweet spot.

Lesson for all businesses, large and small – take the time to get to know your audience(s) and create offers that genuinely speak to their needs. I guarantee you’ll be pleased with the results!

* From she-conomy.com.

View the ad on YouTube here.

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By Neptune Moon, December 7, 2011 10:14 am

Managing your online reputation can be challenging enough, but in the past week or so, emails alerting you to fake Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaints have begun circulating. If you receive one of these emails do not open it or respond to it. It is not the BBB’s practice to send complaint notices via email:

Better Business Bureau is issuing an urgent SCAM alert cautioning businesses and consumers about an email that is purporting to be from a bbb.org email address about a recently filed complaint. The email contains a dangerous attachment regarding a complaint and appears to direct recipients to the BBB website. This is a scam – BBB does not send complaints as attachments via email.

The email has a subject line of “BBB Complaint Activity Report” and looks like this:

BBB Scam Email Screenshot

It is important to monitor your online reputation and the real BBB still carries weight with consumers. To monitor your status with your local BBB, schedule regular visits to their site to view your listing and have a response plan ready should you find any negative reports.

When in doubt, if you receive an email that seems suspicious – I got two of these same emails this morning – do a quick Google search on the topic. I searched for “bbb email scam” and had a page full of results outlining this scam.

You can read the full BBB Scam Alert here.

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By Neptune Moon, September 29, 2011 1:14 pm

The web does not need to be homogeneous. Usability is important and making sure your site is meeting visitor expectations is critical, but I think we are losing our ability to create sites that are appropriate for OUR audiences. Case in point – the redesign of the Slate web site. Haven’t seen it yet?

Here’s a look at the new home page layout:

Not so bad or different from how it used to be, but scroll down further and it is a disaster:

I don’t even know where to look?

I am getting a little exhausted by what seems lately like every web site’s attempted reinvention into some type of social media experience. Not everything needs to look or feel or function like Twitter or Facebook. Twitter and Facebook are great tools and can play a really important role in your relationships with your customers and potential customers. A web site is not a social media outlet – why do we keep trying to make them into one?

Even Facebook is arguably trying to turn itself into some strange Facebook Twitter hybrid with its new design.

Enough already.

Today’s web sites should be about integrating your web site proper with your social media efforts. Turning your site into a real time experience with constantly refreshing content and comment streams, well, takes away from the experience most visitors are looking for when they choose to visit your web site – instead of your Twitter feed or your Facebook page. There is still room for a well designed, user-centric web site in your internet strategy. Let’s make the most of what a web site can be and stop trying to make it do everything.

The comments about the Slate redesign have been overwhelmingly negative. Look, I know people aren’t generally great with change, but the criticisms of this redesign really resonate with me. And they should resonate with anyone who is still designing and developing web sites for clients in today’s climate.