Posts Tagged ‘Search Engines’
Results to the Lists and Voting Observations - Overview
August 13th, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
Are SEO’s and PPC experts more effective at driving referral traffic to a web site from Twitter than SMM specialists? That could be the conclusion based on data I’ve collected from a series of polls, so far.
A few weeks ago I started running some lists on this blog. My goal was to thank so many great contributors for posting relevant and useful information which would be useful to anyone engaged in online marketing. Some people are established, and well known. There were five lists SEO, PPC, SMM, Links, and Cross-Channel (meaning they fit in 2+ categories).
I’ve known many of these people for years, since before I started Eightfold Logic. I used a vote driven format, because I know polls always draw attention, but also because I thought their might be some interesting data to report. After a couple of system crashes, I’ve finally completed compiling the data and expect to begin publishing the results next week.
While I’ll publish the detailed lists later, I wanted to share out some interesting summary data in the meantime, and get your thoughts and input on a surprising result. Perhaps most interestingly to me: why is it that tweets by SMM specialists in support of the list of Social Marketers generated the lowest click through rates?
This first chart shows how many unique individuals posted, or reposted, a link on Twitter promoting each channel’s list. As you can see, the greatest volume of unique activity was for the Cross Channel and SEO lists. This total is not the number of tweets, but rather the number of unique individual who tweeted about the lists, and used Bit.ly for url shortening purposes. I selected just the bit.ly tweets as it’s simple to track.
This is where it gets interesting. Despite the unique activity levels for the SMM and PPC lists, the Social Marketer’s self-promotions drew the lowest average number of referrals per tweet. Could it be that SEO’s and PPC’s are the most effective Tweeters?
I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts as to why this is.
As for the raw numbers for these graphs:
| SEO | PPC | SMM | Links | Cross Channel | |
| # of names on poll | 29 | 26 | 24 | 32 | 42 |
| # of unique Twitter posters (who used Bit.ly) | 42 | 24 | 22 | 27 | 49 |
| Average # of referrals per tweet | 13.7 | 13.5 | 5.9 | 12.0 | 10.1 |
Details of each list’s results next week.
Thanks to everyone who participated!
Richard - @rzwicky
Tags: link building, linking strategies, links, marketers, metrics, ppc, referral traffic, search, search engine market, Search Engines, Search Metrics, search referrals, search traffic, SEM, SEO, SEO Link Building, SES, Social Link Building Marketplace, social marketing
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Do You Know Which Referral Source Drives the Most Traffic
August 4th, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
As you may be aware, we collect a lot of data at Eightfold Logic, and have been doing so for a few years. Last week, I was looking at the lists of online marketers, and the voting numbers, and began to think about them in the context of traffic delivered, and its value. I had a broad sampling run from a swathe of web sites across industries and geographies to ascertain which channels deliver the most raw referral traffic. Later, in another post, I’ll dive into quality.
Sample size: 1 week of data, 36,164,959 unique referrals. (original sessions, excluding bots etc)
| Referral Source | |
|---|---|
| Search | 24.04% |
| Links | 16.64% |
| Social Media / Social Networking sites | 1.56% |
| Everything Else (including Direct) | 57.75% |
It’s amazing how much marketing attention is focused on social considering the volume of referrals it drives to businesses, relative to other customer acquisition channels. However, it’s understood that used effectively, social is more about the pre-site-visit experience, and market awareness. That said, very few organizations are using social media marketing effectively. Effectively harnessing this inbound marketing channel opportunity will be of paramount importance going forward for companies to survive and succeed.
Richard Zwicky - @rzwicky
Tags: Analytics, business decisions, search, search engine, search engine strategies, Search Engines, search referrals, SEM, SEO, SEO Link Building, Social Link Building Marketplace
Posted in Inbound Marketing, Link Strategies, Marketing, SEO, SMM, ppc, social marketing | No Comments »
Bing Growing, Yahoo Steady - Search Engine Market Share Update
July 28th, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
It’s been almost seven months since I last provided insight into the search engine market shares based on click through activity. After holding relatively steady for months, this latest update shows Bing has grown by 2.0%. Perhaps most interestingly, it’s no longer growing at the expense of Yahoo, which was previously the case.
Here’s the raw numbers:
| Yahoo | Bing | Other | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 7 | 78.68% | 11.51% | 6.80% | 3.01% |
| September 14 | 78.35% | 11.13% | 6.50% | 4.02% |
| September 21 | 77.43% | 11.35% | 7.11% | 4.11% |
| September 28 | 77.65% | 10.80% | 7.27% | 4.28% |
| October 4 | 77.78% | 10.66% | 7.23% | 4.33% |
| October 12 | 77.78% | 10.66% | 7.21% | 4.35% |
| October 18 | 77.89% | 10.65% | 7.29% | 4.17% |
| October 25 | 77.83% | 10.56% | 7.56% | 4.05% |
| November 1 | 77.75% | 10.46% | 7.66% | 4.12% |
| November 8 | 77.96% | 10.21% | 7.75% | 4.08% |
| November 15 | 77.60% | 10.39% | 7.59% | 4.42% |
| November 22 | 77.59% | 10.41% | 7.67% | 4.37% |
| December 22 | 78.43% | 9.73% | 7.86% | 3.97% |
| Month of June 2010 | 75.93% | 9.94% | 9.82% | 3.83% |
Eightfold Logic collects data from a network of web sites distributed globally. The data used in this reports represents web sites distributed globally, accessed by searchers located in the U.S., and reflects click-through activity data.
Tags: bing, GOOG, Google, Market Share, market shares, Marketing, microsoft, msft, search engine, search engine market, search engine strategies, Search Engines, Search Metrics, search referrals, search traffic, SEO, Yahoo
Posted in Ask, Google, Market Share, SEO, Search Metrics, Yahoo, bing, ppc, search marketing | 2 Comments »
List of Amazing Cross Channel Contributors
July 28th, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
Over the last few days I’ve been publishing lists of people I read or whose online marketing comments I find useful / interesting. I hope you’ll add all these individuals to your bookmark list of people to turn to when you need advice across various search and online marketing disciplines.
The challenge with putting together any of these lists is to make sure that you don’t forget anyone. I have missed some along the way, and once I realized the error I added them to the appropriate list after publication.
There’s also some great contributors I wanted to note who write scant amounts themselves, but rather highlight great resources for others to read. Finally, there are some individuals who mainly contribute via public speaking engagements; they’re perhaps the most difficult to reference, as it’s hard for non-attendees to understand the context of the contributions.
On each of the earlier lists, I’ve had comments from people about why “XYZ” wasn’t on the list. In some cases it was an obvious error, in others, it’s because they fit on so many lists that I was saving them for this final one. The most obvious name in this category was Danny Sullivan. As I wrote in my first post, he really should be on everyone’s reading list! He contributes across so many areas, I could have included him throughout, so instead of listing him five times, I saved him for this list.
Today’s final list in this series is about amazing cross-channel contributors; I’ve tried to include mostly people who didn’t fit the other lists. Being on any of these lists reflects a very broad range of contributions to the industry. This list in particular is of people who have made contributions spanning multiple areas of online marketing. These people write authoritatively, OR, they provide commentary about areas of interest and point their listeners or readers in the direction of great, meaningful content. In the latter case, they’re like great filters for all of us, pointing people to the essential nuggets they should keep track of, but sometimes miss.
As this is the last list in the series, I’ll be closing voting on all the lists within a week, and then getting around to publishing some interesting results, with links to the places to find the best contributor’s content.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me: Richard Zwicky - zwicky@, tweet me @rzwicky, or leave a comment below.
If you’ve missed them, please read further down the blog for the prior lists of great online marketing contributors across SEO, PPC, SMM, and link-building!
Thanks again for participating!
Richard Zwicky
Tags: link building, linking strategies, marketer, marketers, Marketing, online marketing, ppc, referral traffic, search engine, Search Engines, SEM, SEO, SMM, social marketing
Posted in Commentary, Inbound Marketing, Link Strategies, Marketing, Poll, SEO, SMM, link building, ppc, search marketing, social marketing, twitter | 9 Comments »
Whose Advice Works Best for Link Building?
July 27th, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
Over the last four work days, I’ve been publishing lists of people, broken out by online marketing disciplines. These are individuals whose writings or commentaries I recommend that people should read to keep abreast of the industry. I’ve broken them into areas of expertise as I saw fit - SEO thought-leaders, PPC experts, and strategic and tactical SMM thinkers. I have two more groups I want to reference in this series: 1) Link-Building masters, and; 2) Cross-Channel contributors. Then I will start compiling the data for publication.
Today, it’s the link-builder’s turn. These are all people I’ve read, and whose work I recommend you look at for link-building advice. Some is tactical, some strategic, but it all has its place. Presuming you already look at some, I’d like to know which 5 are the ones you reference the most often?
If you haven’t looked at the earlier lists, I’d suggest you look at them now. For the Search Engine Optimization Experts list: SEO; For the list of PPC Experts, PPC; and for the list of top Social Media Marketers, SMM.
Tags: business, link building, linking strategies, links, marketer, marketers, Marketing, search engine, search engine market, search engine strategies, Search Engines, search referrals, SEO Link Building, Social Link Building Marketplace
Posted in Commentary, Inbound Marketing, Link Strategies, SEO, SMM, Search Engines, link building, search marketing, social marketing | 3 Comments »
Who do you follow for Social Media Marketing?
July 26th, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
Last week I began a series of posts to answer a question I keep getting asked by people entering the industry, attending conferences, or even veterans looking for new sources of information: Whose writings I have found useful, by discipline. On Friday, the post was about PPC experts, and on Thursday, SEO thought leaders. If you haven’t read those posts, please do, and please read what these people are saying.
By now, I hope you’ve read the other posts you’ll know the point of this series is that it’s easy to list off a few names, but there’s an incredible span of knowledge out there and experts in many different areas. Everyday single day, there’s great new content being published, and I want to share with you whose contributions I regularly find to be useful and valuable. While they may not all publish regularly, what they do share is practical and should either makes you consider something new, or provide you with insights as to how to do something ever better!
Of my list, who’s your Top 5, and who am I missing out on?
Tags: ppc, search, search engine, Search Engines, SEM, SEO, SMM, social marketing, social media
Posted in Inbound Marketing, Poll, SMM, social marketing | 5 Comments »
Whose Writings / Comments assist you the most with your Paid Search Marketing work?
July 23rd, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
Yesterday, I started a series of posts to answer a question I keep getting asked by people who are entering the industry, attending conferences, or even veterans looking for new sources of information: Whose writings I have found useful, by discipline? Yesterday I posted about SEO writers
It’s easy for everyone to list off a few names, but there’s an incredible span of knowledge out there and experts in many different areas. Unless you read a good, broad sampling, and not just the few same ones every day, you’re not going to become truly proficient in any one domain. That’s because there’s always cross-over. If you think that you can succeed as an SEO without properly understanding the fundamentals of the other disciplines, good luck to you.
Everyday, there is great new content being published, but these lists are about who do you find provides the most useful information for putting skills into practice? The people whose contributions I find the most valuable may not publish daily or even weekly, but when they do, what they share is practical and either makes you consider something new, or provides you insights as to how to do something ever better! Some will mostly use Twitter to highlight other people’s articles of interest for their own readers [or polls ].
The list of people I know whose contributions I value is so large that I found that it was easier to create lists around themes, or concept groups. Some people are better known than others, but that doesn’t mean their writings are more helpful: The reality is, some people are incredibly knowledgeable, and while they don’t write a lot, or do so with flair, what they write matters.
If there’s someone you think I’ve missed, send me a comment - I’m trying to recognize people by discipline, and it’s possibly I see them more in one concept group than another. If you’re not on this list, perhaps you’ll be on one for another discipline, or perhaps your knowledge is so broad it’s hard to pin you into any one group! There’s also a few people who fit into two or more categories.
There is one person not on any of the lists on purpose: Danny Sullivan. I like him personally, and value and enjoy what he writes. But, let’s face it, he’s on everyone’s reading list.
Top 5 Results will be published at a later date.
And if you haven’t looked at the list of SEO’s I’ve regularly turned to, please do so.
Tags: authority, list, Marketing, online marketing, Poll, search, search engine, search engine market, search engine strategies, Search Engines, Search Metrics, top 5
Posted in Inbound Marketing, Poll, Search Engines, ppc, search marketing | 10 Comments »
Whose writings / comments assist you the most with your SEO work?
July 22nd, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
I thought it would be interesting to put together lists of people, by discipline, whose writings I have found useful, and ask you: Who are your top 5?
Every time I tell someone what I do, and at every conference I go to, people ask me: what resources should I read to learn more about online marketing? It’s easy to whip off a few good resources, but what about particular writers? There’s tons of great content being generated all the time, but who provides the most useful information for putting skills into practice? Lots of people publish articles, blogs and tidbits to share knowledge and wisdom with others. Some will also balance out original contributions by using Twitter to highlight other people’s articles of interest for their readers. That’s a tougher question.
When I started trying to put together a list recently, I found that it was easier to create lists around themes, not just “search.” There are some great online marketers whose knowledge spans multiple disciplines, like paid and organic; social marketers v. search marketers; or organic and link-building (yes I consider that separate!). So why not break them down into concept groups accordingly? Some people are better known than others, but that doesn’t mean their writings are more (or less) helpful. Conversely, some people are incredibly knowledgeable, and while they don’t write a lot, or do so with flair, what they write matters.
If there’s someone you think I’ve missed, send me a comment. If you’re not on this list, perhaps you’ll be on one for another discipline, or perhaps your knowledge is so broad it’s hard to pin you into any one group! There are two people I’ve not included on purpose: Danny Sullivan and Matt Cutts. I like both of them personally, and enjoy what they write. But, let’s face it, they’re on everyone’s reading list. I’ll be running more polls across more of the disciplines in the coming days.
Top 5 Results will be published at a later date.
Tags: authority, link building, Marketing, online, search, search engine, Search Engines, SEO, top 5
Posted in Commentary, Inbound Marketing, Marketing, SEO, SMM, Search Engines, ppc, search marketing, social marketing | 31 Comments »
Poll: What % of mobile searches are local?
July 21st, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
It’s interesting how when you ask the right question, you get more questions. We ran a poll on mobile phone experience yesterday, and it generated a solid response, which is still going. I asked a few people about other questions they would like to see asked. Cindy Krum, who’s an expert in mobile marketing wants to discuss:
Thanks for the question Cindy - let’s see how the results turn out!
Previous polls:
- Best User Experience with mobile web browsing?
- Is Twitter effective Interruption Marketing?
Tags: android, GOOG, Google, local, local search, Marketing, metrics, msft, search, search engine, Search Engines
Posted in Chrome, Mobile, Poll, apple | No Comments »
Should You Consider “Author Authority”?
August 6th, 2010 by Richard Zwicky
Search marketers are familiar with signals. One of the truisms is the logic: if no one links to your site, it can’t be considered important, therefore why should it appear in the search results? The more quality links referencing your website or web pages, the better.
A lot of signals or factors behind links can affect the quality, relevance, and value of these citations. Perhaps there’s another signal to consider: Author.
If you’re interested in learning more, earlier today Search Engine Watch published an article I submitted on the topic of Author Authority. The idea came to me while reading a recent patent which was issued and assigned to Google. I’d love to get your thoughts and feedback!
Thanks!
Richard / @rzwicky
Tags: authority, authority score, GOOG, Google, linking strategies, links, marketer, Marketing, patent, Search Engines, SEO Link Building, social marketing
Posted in Commentary, Google, Inbound Marketing, Link Strategies, SEO, SMM, Search Engines, link building, search marketing, social marketing | No Comments »