My Buy Essay

Posts Tagged ‘click’

The use of search engines in locating information has become so central to our daily lives that it is hard to imagine a world where one cannot simply “google” driving directions just before heading out to the car. This availability of information, unprecedented in human history, is still a new concept, yet it has revolutionized the way we live, even in our humdrum, day-to-day activities. Need a new recipe in time for dinner? Conduct a search (and forward it to meConductSearch.com!). Forgot your anniversary and need a gift by tomorrow morning? Piece of cake. It’s become second nature to not only snatch instantaneous solutions from the Internet, but to trust that they will be there.

Just because we’ve so readily accepted search doesn’t mean anyone thinks it’s fully developed. I offer only your typical financial headlines: Google does this, Yahoo does that, Exxon searches for oil &ndash everybody searches! Tech advances beget tech advances and search is still a work in progress, a particularly interesting work in progress.

The concept of search need not even be limited to alphabetical means. Microsoft is firing imaginations with image search…for more imagery. Somewhere in Washington State (I think) teams of cyber savants have been taking steps toward incorporating this imagery hunt functionality into the search engine. The goal is to allow users to input an image file as the search parameter in order to return associated image results.

While the technical process admittedly remains mysterious to those of us not actually working on it, its aim of a searchable database free from the ambiguity of language is a beautiful notion, even if it’s not the end all of search itself.

Let’s say that you were interested in researching a fancy home furnishing company called “Hammer and Co.”. You’d open up your web browser and enter the name in the search bar on Google, right? Your Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) will show hundreds of results…M.C. Hammer, tools, and the like. There will be some, if not lots of, sifting to do. But, were you able to input an image of Hammer & Son’s distinctive purple tulip logo in the search field, you

may get a glimpse of Hammer’s lovely wormwood designs. Heavenly.

Engines utilizing “image search” will distinguish content, spatial qualities, pixel dimensions and placement, the size of images, and various other factors in its comparison. While the technology is not quite ready to be unveiled for general use, Microsoft’s purchase of Vexcel, a specialist in imagery, remote sensing and “photogrammetry” does bolster support for the theory that we are not far off from being able to take a photo of a stranger with a camera-phone and running an internet-wide search for that person instantly.

It seems the internet cannot be further leveraged to the end of radical technological advancement and social change, it is. Web 2.0 expands infinitely outward into a world of possibilities that need only be imagined to become true.

Damian Verutes

Marketing Analyst

MarketingConductSearch.com

ConductSearch.com

Click-to-call is an emerging contextual advertising format that will help spark the growth of localized search. It links online users to offline advertisers by combining Internet telephone capabilities. Although it has yet to hit its stride as a platform or even pierce consumer consciousness, the biggest interactive names, like Google, Yahoo, and eBay, are positioning themselves for a future in click-to-call. Let’s take a closer look.

Click-to-call ads (CTC) are delivered, like pay-per-click, through standard online search results. They mostly resemble standard paid search ads, too. The user sees the familiar text in a box, except there is an icon that can be clicked to connect the interested party with the designated advertiser via telephone. This process is fully online until the user activates the CTC functionality by clicking that icon delivered with the ad.

Next, the user is prompted to enter their telephone number, which may or may not be already stored with the search engine. Once the phone number is entered, the search engine calls the user and connects the advertiser at no cost to the user. It should be noted that search engines will be adamant about protecting the anonymity of user phone numbers in order to placate any understandable fears of being added to telephone marketing lists. It will be imperative for search engines to build user confidence because trust is precious, especially when introducing new products.

Since CTC incorporates phone use through the Internet, VoIP specific companies like Vonage and Fusion will be parlaying their niche of Internet telephony into partnerships with bigger Internet properties, as evidenced by Skype’s sale to eBay. Even an online advertising agency like ICMediaDirect.com has to consider the impact of a “hybrid” service, like click-to-call, will have on search marketing. Isn’t it funny how convergence, the calling card of technological progress, can make the telephone cutting edge?

Experts aren’t expecting great revenue generation straight out of the gate, but click-to-call could be at the forefront of yet another giant tech-based advertising expansion. One area that click-to-call may impact is local search. I believe CTC has enough functionality to ignite the long anticipated surge of localized search as a leading format of small business advertising. For example, if a person finally has had enough of a bad back &ndash where do they go to find a chiropractor, the Internet? Could be. That’s where we can research and get a phone number. Just think what a chiropractor would pay per click of that icon that rings his office and the sufferer simultaneously. And you thought pay-per-click was targeted and relevant?

Finding out which businesses will advertise on local search via click-to-call is an easy task &ndash they’re the ones filling the yellow pages of your phone book. These small businesses (think: pizza parlors, law offices, florists) are already heavily vested in local advertising, yet almost none use search advertising because the format has yet to incorporate small business. It’s believed that there are nearly 15 million small businesses in the United States today and almost none are benefiting from local search the way that it’s envisioned. When geo-targeted search is smoothed out and more popular, and CTC gets rolling, local advertising will realize more convenience and more targeting &ndash and the world will witness another online advertising revolution.

Click-to-call is even more targeted than the pay-per-click search format as we know it today. Advertisers are going to pay more for CTC because anyone who takes the time to call is certainly a higher-percentage paying customer than your basic web surfer who indicates interest. While some web surfers may click ads to satisfy curiosity, few visitors will be clicking icons to make idle talk with businesses &ndash as far as I can tell, this isn’t an issue for businesses listed in the Yellow Pages. Click-to-call is a potent ad format and advertisers are going to shell out top dollars for it. Keep an eye out for developments in this format and be ready to adjust your strategies accordingly.

Joseph Pratt

Media Analyst

ICMediaDirect.com

.icmediadirect.com

e: josephicmediadirect.com

You’ve been quite some time at the Internet, marketing your products, or other’s products and running multiple Google adwords campaigns. Although your market is a competitive market, your sales letter is amazing, your ads are targeted, your landing pages are specific and well designed, you offer free ebooks to tempt your potential customers, but still you cannot convert your visitors into customers. What is happening? If this is you then keep reading.

Ok, first stop crying please. I know it’s frustrating to work hard and get no results but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Here are some tips that will help you write killer ads that will convert prospects into customers.

There are many factors that affect the quality of your ads especially when using adwords campaigns. Here’s an example of a three line ad and how to write it:

Ad Line 1: The headline. It’s so important to write a good compelling headline. I will assume you already know this. Now, try to use as many targeted keywords and search terms as you can. That means you have to do some keyword research on your topic before you start writing your ad. If you don’t use specific and well targeted keywords when writing your headline your ad is bound to fail.

Ad Line 2: Main text. Here you have to tell your prospects/potential customers exactly what to expect when they click your ad. Don’t use all caps. You may capitalize the first letter of every word, that’s ok. You also have to create interest here. State a fact, a solution to the problem. Create desire and an emotional attachment. What will your product help the customer do? How quickly can your product help the customers accomplish their goal? Don’t be afraid to use cliches like “How To..”, “Amazing..”, “Top selling..” etc. They do work.

Ad Line 3: Call to action. Tell the readers why they should immediately click your ad. Maybe because they will miss some important offer or something like that. Maybe because you offer free shipping for the next 7 days. Maybe because you throw 3 exclusive bonuses. Can you find a clear and cool reason for your call of action? Use it here. Do not forget to proof-read your ads again and again before publishing.

Landing pages

Yes, landing pages are important. Especially if you are on Google adwords campaigns. You should know that your landing pages affect your overall quality score of your ads too, according to Google. Do you have any idea how frustrating can be to decide to click to a quality ad that points to a lousy landing page? Another bad example would be to “hide” your product under adsense ads, images or text. Try to help your visitors to see exactly what they want when they land on your page.