• Brad Geddes, Founder, bgTheory.com
• Ron Jones, Search Engine Watch Expert & President/CEO, Symetri Internet Marketing
• Kendall Allen, Former Managing Director, Incognito Digital, Digital Marketing and Convergence Media Consultant
• Misty Locke, President & Co-founder, Range Online Media

Dana Todd moderated the session and made a point that each panelist was instructed to give at least one hot tip. That was refreshing to hear, because often panelists are too theoretical without giving practical advice.

Although technical difficulties delayed us about 10 minutes, Ron Jones started us off with some basic notes and a history of the Quality Score.

Ron Jones

• What is a Quality Score?
• Not Bid to Position
• Quality Score is a dynamic value assigned to each keyword
• Quality Score Influences ad position and determines CPC
• Google Introduced Quality Score in 2005, revised in 2007
• Factors that determine Quality Score
• Historical CTR
• Relevance with Ad
• CTR History – with all keywords
• Landing Page
• Solutions:
• Split AdGroups to 20 -30 keywords. If it’s more then that it’s not granular enough
• Test thoroughly
• Delete low / poor ratings
• Too many people are focused on bid management and not on quality score
• Hot Tip: Testing is essential

• Why is Quality Score Important?
• Ad Rank = Keyword Quality Score X Max CPC
• Save money by adjusting score
• Quality Score Factors Chart
• Account Organization is Key
• Dynamic Keyword Insertion should not be a crutch
• Hot Tip – Run a keyword bid that shows min bids

• “How to Manage the Madness”
• Quality Score goes back to the fundamental of paid search
• 5 basic Steps
• Keyword Building – Flush out all the “right” keywords
• Organization & Structure – Yahoo has a 10,000 AdGroup limit per Campaign – If you haven’t reached that, then you are not granular enough.
• Match Types – Every keyword should have every match type & Break Match types into unique AdGroups
• Creative – Keyword Insertion should NOT be needed
• Landing Pages

(Guest Post)

The following are my notes from “Measuring Success in a 2.0 World” at Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2008.

Moderator:
* Richard Zwicky, Founder & CEO, Enquisite

Speakers:
* Jim Sterne, Target Marketing & Chairman, Web Analytics Association
* Matthew Bailey, President, SiteLogic
* Avinash Kaushik, Author, Blogger, Analytics Evangelist
* Marshall Sponder, Senior Web Analyst

Avinash Kaushik

• Why is “2.0” such a challenge?
• The way content is created and distributed is much different than the traditional way
• Consumers have a choice. They can customize content the way they want and receive the information the way they want

3 key points of measuring success of Web 2.0

1. Multiplicity

• “You can not use one set of pliers to build a house”
• One tool can not do all. Multiple measurement tools and benchmarks are necessary to tell the complete story

2. Unique measures for a new world

• In the Social Media world, feed subscribers is more important than unique visits

3. Unique Data Collection

• Fake Page Views – Pollutes data with unreliable data

Jim Sterne

• Web Metrics moves from “Reporting” to “Hearts and Minds” which leads to “Predictive Buying”
• In SEM, focus on keywords that bring in profits, not traffic, not conversion.
• It’s all about the profit margin
• Page Views – it’s not the goal of the consumer, so it shouldn’t be your measurement.

Matt Bailey

• “Captain Kirk is an analytics genius and pioneer”
• 3 C’s of measurement: Context, Comparative, Contrast
• Statistics should tell the story of the people (the visitors)
• Segment the Segment: Break apart the Social Media traffic

Marshall Sponder

• Web 2.0 is not that much different. It’s about empowering people
• We often drive people to sites without giving them something to do
• The best way to approach analytics is to start with a question then look for answers

Summary

I often try to find a consistent theme in the SES sessions I attend, in this session theme seemed to be “segmentation”. The more you can segment the data the better the story. The purpose of analytics is to tell the story of the customer.

Where, Why, When and How? If the data is not answering questions or telling the story of the consumer, then it’s useless data.

** John Ellis is the Senior Online Marketing Manager for ResortQuest Vacation Rentals

• T.R. Harrington, Director of Strategic Direction & Product Development, Darwin Marketing
• Motoko Hunt, Founder, Japanese Search Marketing Strategist, AJPR LLC
• Alicia Morga, CEO, Consorte Media

China

The session started with T. R Harrington. He discussed the China search market. Below are a few of the highlighted bullet points from Harrington’s presentation

China Search Market:

• 254 million users in China July 08, the largest number of users in the world
• Fewer choices in other mediums, like TV. Because of this users are more engaged in the online conversation.
• There is a very little presence of analytics companies in China. Partly because companies are still hesitant to pay for this service, plus many are still not sure what to measure.
• Cost per Click is still the major measurement, understanding conversion and measurement has not reached the China market yet.
• Taiwan and Honk Kong are totally different markets then “mainland” China. All Chinese speaking areas can not be grouped together. Different tactics and strategies are needed.
• Domains with a .CN extension are considered more reputable and give more weight.

• Claims the largest and most active BBS Community
• Baidu is not like Google
• Has 71% Market Share (Google has 23%)
• Pushing the ads to right side, like Google. Historically, they have been at top, this pushing organic listings down
• Introduces 14.5 products a year
• Wants to be the Wikipedia and Ebay of China, as well as search
• Provides no CTR% for Paid Search advertisers
• Faster CPC price increases (as much as 70% from Jan to May)
• Traffic estimations tools in China are unreliable in China

• Omniture Aalytics is present in Japan. Google Analytics is also present. However, larger companies seem to outsource analytics.
• Google and Yahoo splits the market share about 50% a piece
• Mobile marketing is hot
• Many online ads include search boxes, with keyword suggestions. This persuades the users to use the suggestive keywords, which have a lower CPC. Very effective
• Keyword Research and translation is a unique challenge. Multiple character sets and translations are needed to capture all traffic.
• Shopping/Ecommerce is huge
• Payment options – Credit Cards, Mobile accounts, wire transfer
• Japanese prefer Points over coupons

1. Localize – don’t just translate
2. Extensive keyword research
3. Adapt to what works in Japan

South America

Alicia Morga, CEO of Consorte Media talked about the Latin America market

• US/Hispanic Market – 60% of internet access
• Spend 9% more then non-Hispanics
• Best Buy was instantly indexed after creating a translated site. Traffic increased but site wasn’t ready for consumers.
• English credit card processing is considered more “legitimate” in shopping sites. Although, that seems to be changing now.
• Banner campaigns do well, consumers are not as jaded as US Consumers.
• Mobile advertising does well
  

Summary: The session had a consistent message: Translation software doesn’t work. Localize not translate. If businesses are really serious about having an international presence they need to have content translated by a human editors. It’s difficult to find translators that understand online marketing, especially SEM. Therefore, extensive testing is necessary to make sure the right words are target for optimization.

** John Ellis is the Senior Online Marketing Manager for ResortQuest Vacation Rentals

(Guest Post)

I have learned from previous Search Engine Strategies San Jose conferences that it’s best to have a plan of action. I go in with a set of goals or questions, and then I determine what sessions will help me answer those questions.

I have put together my agenda for the week. I hope to catch up with familiar faces at SES San Jose this year. If I don’t find you, below is where you can find me.

Day 1 – Monday, August 18

9:45am-11:00am – Search Around the World – Part 1: Asia/Pacific & Latin America
11:15am-12:30pm – Pay Per Conversation
1:30pm-2:30pm – Orion Keynote Panel – How Much Search is Enough?
2:45pm-4:00pm – Search Around the World – Part 2: The UK & Europe
4:30pm-5:30pm – Opening Keynote Presentation: Lee Siegel

Day 2 – Tuesday, August 19

10:00am-11:00am – Expo Hall Grand Opening
11:00am-12:15pm – Measuring Success in a 2.0 World
1:30pm-2:30pm – Orion Keynote Panel: Technical & Information Giants
2:45pm-3:45pm – Sponsored Session (Microsoft) Diagnose SEO Issues Using Live Search Webmaster Tools
4:00pm-5:15pm – Identify, Analyze, Act: SEM by the Numbers
5:15pm-6:30pm – SureHits – Networking Cocktail Reception
7:00pm-11:00pm – Google Dance – Glow in the Dark!

Day 3 – Wednesday, August 20

9:00am-10:00am – Keynote Roundtable: Why Does Search Get the Credit for Everything?
10:30am-11:45am – Ads in a Quality Score World
1:00pm-2:15pm – Link Building Basics
2:45pm-4:00pm – Keywords & Content: Search Marketing Foundations
4:15pm-5:30pm – Facebook, Feeds and Micro-Blogging
7:15pm-11:00pm – WebmasterRadio.FM Search Bash

Day 4 – Thursday, August 21

9:00am-10:00am – Morning Keynote: Chip Heath
10:15am-11:15am – The Business Case for SEO Content Development: Turning Words Into Action!
11:30am-12:30pm – Trademark Issues: What SEMs Should Know
1:30pm-2:30pm – Post-Click Marketing: Converting Search Engine Traffic

** John Ellis is the Senior Online Marketing Manager for ResortQuest Vacation Rentals