Ask the Expert: Reaping the Benefits of the Long Tail

June 30th, 2009

The following is a post from Brian Fitzgerald, the director of search engine optimization at TIG Global.

Hitwise is a company that provides insights into how Internet users interact with the websites that they are visiting. Their technologies allow them to collect massive amounts of online search behavior, and in-turn, they frequently release data about search engine market share and other interesting data points related to how searchers habits are changing and evolving. While reading their March 2009 report (PDF), my interest was piqued by the section that spoke about the continued growth of longer search queries. Their observations validated a trend that we have been seeing at TIG Global for quite some time. Over the last several years consumers have used online search more and more to find what they are looking for. In doing so, they have become more sophisticated and have learned that the more specific and targeted they are with their queries, the more likely they will be to find relevant information. This trend relates to the concept of “the long tail” and creates many strategic decisions and opportunities for online marketers.

The Long Tail
The term “the long tail” is credited to Chris Anderson who has written extensively on the subject. The long tail theories can be complex at times and often apply to a business’s overall operations. However, the basic principle that I want to try and borrow from Mr. Anderson today is that the total amount of traffic that comes from your top keyword phrases will typically be equal to or outweighed by the hundreds or thousands of other terms that drive traffic for you. This can, and often does, lead to a strategy of positioning for more niche keywords rather than the very competitive and broad keywords.

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Eye on the Industry: Protect Your Vanity…Facebook Introduces Customized URL Names

June 26th, 2009

The following is a post from the TIG Global Social Media Team.

As you have likely already heard, Facebook is making a long anticipated leap and updating its users to “vanity URL” names. Vanity URL’s, long used by similar social media sites, such as MySpace, allow users to customize their pages to make them more searchable and easier to locate for family and friends online. For example, John Smith could change his user name to appear as “facebook.com/JohnSmith” as opposed to a random string of numbers and letters following the Facebook domain name.

What Does This Mean For Custom Business and Fan Pages?

Good news for businesses that are keen to this change. As you know, Facebook is one of the most popular and effective Social Media tools currently available, and this update will allow businesses to gain greater and more targeted exposure. Vanity URLs provide the opportunity to streamline your brand name within the site, making it much easier to locate for users, and they also promise to make brand names more “spiderable.”

This means that it will make it easier for large search engines, such as Google, Microsoft Bing and Yahoo, to identify your brand or destination name and disperse it with more efficiency across the web. This action will in turn boost your search engine optimization and likely improve your page placement for natural searches online. The one caveat is that the names are first come, first served, so it is essential that decisions are made and communicated in a timely manner in order to secure your desired URL name.

Registration for pages that have at least 1,000 fans began on June 13, 2009. Registration for custom business vanity URLs with fewer than 1,000 fans will begin on June 28, 2009 at 12:01am (EST).

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News We Noted: Room Service Goes Mobile

June 23rd, 2009

Brian C. Silengo, TIG Global associate vice president of sales, comments on the rising trend of digitally based amenities.

The Article
By Roger Yu, USA Today

“Add the room service menu to the list of hotel items collecting dust. A growing number of hotels are using online menus, allowing guests to order via smartphones or laptops.

Online menus offer more detailed information about food choices, including photos and daily specials, and allow guests to bypass phone chats with kitchen attendants. For hotels, the new technology means freeing employees from the phones for other chores and creates opportunities for ‘upselling’ with recommendations. ”

Click here to read the full article. 

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News We Noted: UK Hotels Experience Promising Gains in the Travel Market

June 16th, 2009

According to recent news reports and findings from business advisory specialist Deloitte, it looks as though UK hotels are starting to see economic relief through a light at the end of the recessionary tunnel.

Revenue per available room (revPAR) still remains negative, but the pace of decline appears to be slowing down, with some markets showing gains on 2008 numbers. Reportedly, strong leisure demand is driving up weekend occupancies and revenues, according to the new figures, and there is also a trend of improvement in the weekday corporate business market in London, mostly in the airport hotel sector.

Marvin Rust, Hospitality Managing Partner at Deloitte, was quoted as saying:

“Our analysis shows that both weekend leisure demand in London and the Regions and corporate weekday demand in London over the past five months have shown an upward trend, signaling that the worst may be over for hoteliers.”

According to Deloitte, weekend leisure demand is driving the recovery with much stronger performance than corporate weekday demand. RevPAR was down 3.8% to £54 on the weekend while weekday drops were more severe, down 14.6% to £58 from 1 January through to 20 May 2009. However, some cities actually saw increases in weekend leisure demand during the period including Glasgow (4.3%), Edinburgh (3.4%) and London (0.3%). In this tough operating environment this is a great achievement.

We will be keeping an eye out for developments related to this promising economic news. Stay tuned.

Click here to read the full article related to this story.

Interested in revving up your online strategy?  TIG Global offers a full suite of internet marketing services. Click here to learn more, or give us a call at +1 301-841-4700.

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Posted in International Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Strategic Media Planning | No Comments »

Eye on the Industry: Google Makes Big Changes to Trademark Policy

June 11th, 2009

The following is an industry update from TIG Global’s Kurt Bradshaw, vice president of web marketing, and Rob Mulcahy, web marketing manager.

Google has recently announced major policy changes coming down the road scheduled to take effect on June 15, 2009. These changes are focused on two areas of trademark usage within the Google AdWords program – one is a shift in the number of countries where trademarked words are allowed as keywords, and the second will alter how trademarked words are allowed in ad copy within the US.

Current Status
Under the current Google trademark policy in the US, UK, Ireland and Canada, the rules are as follows:

  • Any trademarked term can be used as a keyword
  • Any trademarked term can be used in ad copy
  • If the trademark holder asks Google to not allow others to use a trademarked term, then it will be disapproved from ad copy, but can still be used as a keyword
  • A trademark holder can allow only certain companies to use their trademark in ads (but this is all or nothing, with no conditional usage)

    • What’s new on the 15th?
    I have highlighted a few scenarios of note that will go into effect for companies operating in the US.

  • If a business chooses to use ad copy or a keyword that is generic/descriptive and does not intently reference an actual trademarked name, or if the term is not trademarked within that businesses’ particular industry, then it can be used freely in online copy. If you sell a trademarked product, resell the product, or sell replacement parts for the product, you can use the trademarked term in your ad copy.
  • If you are an informational site that is non-biased, and does not sell or facilitate the sale or a product, you can use a trademark when sending traffic to a review or comparison of the product.

    • (Last year, Google extended its policy to include UK and Ireland, and earlier this year, Google extended the US policy to another 190 countries, but some European countries are still not yet included.)

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    News We Noted: Microsoft Rolls Out New Decision Engine; “Bing”

    June 9th, 2009

    The following is a post from TIG Global web marketing manager, Rob Mulcahy.

    As many may have heard by now, MSN recently rolled out a new search engine by the name of “Bing” that promises to provide more intuitive searches online and compete with the likes of heavy-hitter Google in the search arena. Currently, if you run a search on MSN.com or Live.com you will automatically be directed to the search results on Bing.com. Here are a few items we noted so far regarding the changes in SEO for the travel industry:

    · Starting around May 30th, advertisements were auto-opted into Bing search results, meaning there was never any dual ad serving, or “doubling-up,” taking place. Since the launch they have redirected all MSN and Live search results to Bing.com, so essentially all “MSN” traffic noted in tracking results since this time has actually come from advertisements being served on Bing.

    · In doing some testing related to TIG Global, the majority of our clients’ advertisements appear in the travel specific section.  This makes sense because Microsoft is referring to Bing as a “decision engine.”  It’s smart.  So for example, if someone conducts a search for your advertisement a bunch of times but never clicks it, Bing will likely stop serving this ad to the searcher because it appears to be irrelevant to what they are looking for.  Google has taken a similar approach for some time now, but it’s clear Bing will place extra emphasis on serving only the most absolute, relevant results based on factors such as previous consumer interaction.

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    News We Noted: Getting Creative with Twitter to Boost Bookings

    June 2nd, 2009

    The following is a post from TIG Global sales and marketing associate, Kristen Poillon.

    Marriott Hotels has launched a noteworthy new sales initiative that promises to provide excitement in the Web 2.0 front. For the next two weeks, starting today, the hotel chain will unveil a deal a day, exclusively on Twitter, for its Caribbean, California and Hawaii resorts that promises to draw visitors in and increase bookings.

    This approach is the perfect example of how hotels and destinations can take advantage of popular social networks, creating an interactive environment that keeps attuned consumers coming back for more. For this particular promotion, each deal offers a savings of up to 60% off of the brand’s leisure rates, but the catch is that each deal is also only valid for a 24 hour period.

    This strategy is particularly savvy for two reasons. One, it perks continued consumer interest. By rotating these economical offers on a daily basis, Marriott creates a lure that is likely to entice potential guests to return to their Twitter page day-after-day for the life of the promotion, as they will be looking for that “one-in-a-million” deal or vacation destination of their liking to appear. Two, the limited nature of these deals creates demand. By presenting a “take-it-or-leave-it” style offer, consumers are given an accelerated window of time to take advantage of each deal, essentially shortening the booking window and giving the properties more control over the booking process as a whole.

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    News We Noted: Is Your Social Media Strategy Keeping Up with the Times?

    May 27th, 2009
    TIG Global Web 2.0 Analyst Will Samolis responds to an excerpt from a recent industry article on social media trends.

    The Article

    Is the Travel Sector Stuck in Web 1.0?
    By Mark Seall

    “Travel has basically had an easy life on the Internet. Although one of the first industries to take advantage of the web - effectively disintermediating agents whose phones went quiet while sites like Expedia and Travelocity glowed red hot - it did nothing other than automate some very simple processes.

    Elsewhere on the web people have had to work harder for the dollar, which has led to an Internet full of innovation, culminating in the social web that has emerged in recent years. The web is no longer a simple information resource, it is at once a library, a conversation, a market, a social gathering and a lifestyle.”

     Click here to read the full article. 

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    Ask the Expert: Branding or Direct Response Advertising …Tortoise or the Hare?

    May 20th, 2009

    In the following post, Chris Poda, TIG Global Web Marketing Manager, responds to excerpts from a recent article on short and long term online advertising approaches.

    Article

    On Branding Versus Direct Response Advertising
    By Gian Fulgoni – April 22, 2009

    “It seems to me that we often have one group advocating the value of branding advertising, while another larger, and more vociferous one, claims that the secret to closing a sale is simply a matter of putting the right message in front of the right target audience at the right time. The latter view seems to have prevailed more often than not online because it’s clear that the majority of Internet advertising dollars have been spent on direct response advertising. In fact, I estimate that direct response advertising accounts for about 80% of all ad dollars spent online, while in traditional media the situation is reversed.

    In my mind, the two strategies differ fundamentally in how they view “time to purchase”. Direct response ads aim at closing a sale or a transaction right here and now. Branding, on the other hand, means investing ad money in building brand equity, which is to say, establishing a brand’s value proposition in the minds of consumers. The return from that investment is probably not going to occur immediately. It may take weeks, months or even years.”

    Click here to read the full article.

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    Eye on the Industry: Optimization…It’s Not Just for Your Website Anymore

    May 18th, 2009

    The following is a post from Lindsey Urbaniak, manager of sales and marketing at TIG Global.

    It is no secret that social media is one of the most cost effective ways to promote your business. From Facebook to Twitter, the majority of these services are at your disposal with little to no cost associated with them. Today I want to focus on one social media outlet in particular, LinkedIn.

    Most people know that LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site that allows people to create profiles and setup “connections” to other business professionals. In its most basic sense, a LinkedIn profile is a fact sheet about your company and its employees. It is a great resource for you to showcase your services, recruit new employees, and connect to related industry professionals. While having all of this information on LinkedIn can be a great resource, it has little impact if people can’t find it!

    In order to maximize your company’s presence on LinkedIn, you must optimize your profile. Yes, it’s true. Now, not only do you have to optimize for your target keywords throughout your website, you should also ensure you are practicing the same tactic within your LinkedIn profile. This simple approach will have your company showing up higher within LinkedIn searches as well as within the search engine results pages (SERPs) in Google, Yahoo!, etc.
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