The Battle for Search Supremacy – Google vs Microsoft – Round 3
A little over 12 months ago, I started a series of posts looking at the search engine war between Google & Microsoft (see part 1 here and part 2 here). When we last left the action, the proposed Yahoo-MSN merger had fallen through, and Yahoo had subsequently signed an $800 million search marketing deal with Google which would have seen Google Ads displayed in Yahoo search results. At the time I claimed that this may have been the death knell for Yahoo! Search Marketing but since then the proposed arrangement was abandoned by Google after it ran into complications with US anti-trust regulators.
The last few months has subsequently seen Yahoo and Microsoft enter into a new deal that will see Yahoo’s Search Marketing ads appear on Microsoft sites and Microsoft’s organic results (powered by Bing) appear in Yahoo searches. Once again, this deal will need to jump through the anti-trust hoops but if it does, it shapes as a real threat to Google’s seemingly invincible search monopoly. Having said that, for Australian users this doesn’t change all that much, as Yahoo! Search Marketing has been controlling paid ad placements on Microsoft sites for some time anyway.
After only a few short years, it appears that Microsoft’s Live search engine experiment has been put to rest and in it’s place has emerged Bing, which has launched a massive $100 million (plus) worldwide advertising campaign designed to capture some of Google’s 80-85% market share. The name Bing was supposedly chosen because it resembles the sound made when you discover what you’re looking for (the lightbulb moment), but more cynical users might more logically associate it with a Windows error message dialog.
I have a slightly different theory, as Microsoft no doubt realised they needed to come up with a name that could make its way into users’ vocabulary in much the same way that “Google it” has entered mainstream vernacular. The old name, Live, didn’t lend itself to being used as an verb, but with Bing, they do have that (faint) hope.
So what does this mean for the ‘Google v Microsoft’ battle? The early signs are that Bing is making some ground into the search engine market share, with figures reporting that Bing has captured between 5-8% of the total search audience since June 2009. This may not seem like much, but in a industry worth billions of dollars every year, this translates to a significant jump in advertising revenues. Being in the industry, I’ve also been asked quite a number of times about Bing, and in the 3 years that Live was in existence prior, I don’t remember it ever being mentioned by a client once.
There’s no doubt that Google still reigns supreme over both Microsoft’s various search incarnations and Yahoo but for the first time in quite a few years, it seems that both Yahoo and Microsoft have abandoned their “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality when it came to Google and are now actually serious about taking on (or at the very least, making some inroads into) Google’s mantle as the undisputed king of search.
Bring on the next round…
Popularity: 14%
Read MoreGoogle Takes on PayPal – Google Checkout
If there’s one web company out there that can strike fear into the hearts of all the others, then Google is definitely it.
For quite some time, the online payment world has been dominated by PayPal, as its raft of features and ease of use for almost anyone has made it a logical choice for most online businesses. That was, however, until Google Checkout came along.
Google has taken their typical approach of making the use of its system totally free and easy to use. For a start, Google takes a flat 2% of any sale through Google Checkout (plus a 20c transaction fee) making Google Checkout competitive, if not cheaper than PayPal for most users.
But that’s not where its big benefit is. Google also offers free transactions on the dollar value of up to ten times your Google AdWords spend. That means if you’re a business advertising on AdWords spending $1000 per month, the first $10,000 you make in the month is all yours (with no commission for Google).
Since most businesses that have a checkout system probably use AdWords anyway, this is a massive advantage to using Google Checkout over PayPal.
But that’s not where the benefits stop. AdWords advertisers are also able to use the ‘Google Checkout Badge’ underneath their ads in the search engines and Google claims this badge improves both click-through and conversion rates (the percentage of people who buy) quite substantially.
However, Google Checkout is not just a threat to PayPal, but also to a legion of web designers who charge thousands of dollars to build custom shopping cart or e-commerce modules for their clients.
Users who sign up to Google Checkout are able to design their own shopping cart module using the built-in tools, and then simply cut and paste the HTML code straight into their site. Web development agencies who specialise in building website shopping carts are going to have to adapt and come up with new and exciting ways to build shopping carts or cut their prices drastically.
The big question that remains however, is when will Google Checkout come to Australia? Google Checkout currently supports buyers from around the world, but only supports sellers in the US and UK. Google’s information pages states that they are working to “make Google Checkout available in more locations” but can’t give specific dates.
Personally, I believe that Google Checkout will dramatically change the way online businesses are established in Australia as many website owners are crying out for a viable alternative to PayPal.
The ability to control all their purchases from one login is also a massive benefit for buyers.
Google is on the move again…
Popularity: 34%
Read MoreChoosing an SEO Company – What to Look For When Outsourcing Your SEO?
Most businesses are now realising the need to be top of the search engines, and many now realise that search engine optimisation (SEO) is how to do it. But when it comes to choosing the right SEO company or service to optimise your site, many business struggle with what to look for.
For this reason, we’ve put together a bit of a guide to assist business owners and web managers deciding which SEO program is right for them.
Reporting
The first major pitfall for businesses to avoid is signing up to an SEO program that doesn’t provide adaquate reporting. This may sound obvious but there are plenty of dodgy SEO guys out there who’s reporting is an email saying “It’s going great!”
Make sure you find an SEO company that actually sends a report detailing where you rank in Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc for the keywords they have agreed to optimise. This is so you can see that in this month we went from page 3 to page 1, etc for each keyword.
Number of Keywords
The next thing to look for is the number of keywords or keyword phrases that will be optimised. SEO programs can range anywhere from 2 keywords to 150. Obviously the more keywords the better, but there’s no point an SEO firm claiming they optimise 150 keywords if you don’t get a report showing where you rank for these terms. It’s easy to say but harder to do.
I have personally seen SEO programs that cost business owners $2000 a month for 10 keyword phrases. This sort of thing is grossly overpriced.
Guarantees
If there’s one phrase that gets thrown about a lot in the SEO game it’s “no one can guarantee you top spot in Google.” While this is true to a certain extent, you still should make sure that your SEO program comes with some kind of guarantee.
If an SEO company only optimises 1 keyword phrase then they couldn’t possibly guarantee you top spot for just that one phrase. There’s too many other factors beyond their control.
However, for a company that optimises 25 keywords, they should be able to guarantee a certain amount of these on the first page. Any company that is not offering some kind of guarantee is not even sure enough of their own ability to perform quality SEO.
No guarantee means the SEO firm is not confident of their own ability.
Setup Costs
The other big thing to look out for is setup costs. Many SEO programs start with a $2000 or so setup cost plus an on-going monthly cost. When working out the overall cost, always budget for a 12 month commitment.
Even if the company says you can leave at any time, don’t pay the up front cost, 1 or 2 months then leave. Always plan for 12 months. SEO is one of those things that doesn’t happen overnight. Be patient, and realise that starting now will yield results in 9-12 months time.
If possible, it’s best to find programs that don’t have any setup fees at all.
The Final Word
So the basic piece of advice here is to make sure your SEO firm is accountable.
Reload Media offers three SEO programs and a brief summary of these programs are shown below. For more on these programs, click here: SEO services.
Use this table as a starting point to do your comparison shopping of SEO programs:
| Program | SEO Local | SEO Silver | SEO Gold | SEO Platinum |
| Number of Keywords Optimised | 10 | 25 | 75 | 150 |
| Number of ‘Top 10′ (first page) Rankings GUARANTEED | 2 | 10 | 40 | 120 |
| Search Engine Ranks Reported on for Each Keyword? | Monthly | Monthly | Monthly | Monthly |
| Setup Costs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Monthly On-going Costs (excluding GST, 12 month contract) | $250 | $490 | $890 | $1,690 |
Popularity: 17%
Read MoreSEM Tip – Target Your Customers Location with AdWords
SEM Tip #2
The internet is a big place, so making sure your online advertising dollars effectively reach your target market is one of the biggest challenges for managers.
When it comes to most marketing activities, whether it be a newspaper advertisement, television commercial or internet campaign, managers are always striving to choose marketing mediums that attract the most number of potential customers for their dollar.
This is where search engine marketing has a huge benefit over its more traditional rivals. SEM can obviously be targeted to the exact keywords you want, which gives you a great level of control over who your advertisements reach. By targeting the phrase “neon lighting brisbane” you can be fairly well assured that your ads are going to be displayed to those who want to buy neon lights in Brisbane.
However, not everyone includes the location when searching, meaning that someone from Perth can search “neon lighting” and click on your ad, costing you money without ever really having any intention of purchasing from you.
One way to get around this dilemma is to use what’s called ‘location targeting.’ Location targeting in programs such as Google AdWords allows your business to specify to what geographic regions you want your ad displayed.
For instance, you might want to target the whole of Australia, so you select that option. Alternatively, you can narrow down your region even further to a particular state or city.
An even better option however, is to use an ad radius, which allows you to set a certain size ring in which you want your ad displayed. For instance, you might set up your campaign so that your ads are displayed within a 50km radius of the Brisbane CBD, and only users within that radius will see your ad.
Obviously this is an extremely useful tool as it enables businesses to really target their potential local customers. One word of warning though, this is not foolproof system, as current ISP setups in Australia mean some users will not see your ads when they should.
Popularity: 6%
Read MoreBusiness Tip – Treat Search Engine Optimisation as Marketing!
The headline for this article may have some people scratching their heads. Search engine optimisation (SEO) isn’t part of the marketing mix, it’s a technology or web cost, right?
Wrong!
But before I go into why your business should be including search optimisation as part of your marketing budget, let’s go back to the basics of exactly what marketing is.
Marketing is essentially any activity that aims to increase awareness about your brand, its products or services and reach potential customers.
What does search engine optimisation do? It aims to increase your business’ appearance in search engines, and reach more users than before, just like more traditional mediums.
To help with the thought process behind this idea, think of a search engine like you would a newspaper, magazine, or some other traditional marketing medium. The aim of placing your ad (at considerable cost) into a newspaper or magazine is to reach consumers who you wouldn’t have reached otherwise. A search engine is no different.
SEO aims to lift your site’s rankings in the search engines, exposing your business to more potential customers than before.
One major stumbling block for SEO in the past has been the reluctance of managers to spend $$$$ per month on what they considered to be web design costs. However, they are more than happy to spend thousands on print media ads that are fast losing their effectiveness.
The challenge for managers is to realise the need to treat SEO as a marketing item and not as some nuisance or web cost.
But how much should a business spend on SEO?
There are many different SEO services available, but how much you spend on SEO should be consistent with your business’ online goals and objectives.
If you currently, or would like to, achieve 40% of your sales or referrals via the online channel, then you should seriously consider spending around 40% of your marketing budget on SEO and SEM (search engine marketing).
Obviously this depends on your industry and business, but far too many businesses are not maximising their website’s earnings potential because they are not giving it a fair weighting in their marketing budgets.
Popularity: 5%
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