Mar
3rd

Oneupweb : Eye Tracking Labs Zero In On Real-Time

Posted by Kathryn on March 3, 2010 at 1:03 pm

Remember Bill Nye the Science Guy? Kids across the country would sit glued to their televisions in awe because, after all, this was way cooler than any of the science demos at school. In Bill Nye’s hands, mundane things like vinegar and baking soda became explosive miracles of science. We all, hopefully, learned the importance of wearing eye protection.

Today, we sit glued in front of computer screens or, if we’re away from the desk, our mobile device is surely on. And rather than passively watching what happens when the unknown powder is mixed with the volatile liquid, we now have the opportunity every day to be a part of some newfangled online social experiment. You get to be one of the test subjects whenever a “beta version” of software or an app is released—it is the testing phase of development process. No goggles or lab coats required.

But not everything goes beta before it goes live. And sites like Facebook and Twitter are constantly rolling out new features or tweaking the platform. At Oneupweb, our team of digital marketing wizards are tracking, monitoring and analyzing all the new developments in the digital landscape—what will explode next?

Now here’s a little experiment you can try in the comfort of your own home that won’t require a fire extinguisher: whenever you’re ready, search for the “Oscars”, in Google (a current “Hot Topic”). You may have to scroll down a little depending on the dimensions of your browser window. Do you see the scrolling box of results? What about the big gorilla?

Well, when Google announced this new feature—real-time results—back in December 2009, we had a few questions. The basic idea is this: tweets, and current updates from Facebook, blogs, and websites will be integrated into the standard search results as they happen. But will people notice the real-time results and, more importantly, are these results getting clicks?

We rolled up our sleeves and headed to the Oneupweb laboratory. We were going to put the real-time results under the microscope, or rather, eye tracker.

Search is a key element of online marketing today. So it only makes sense for businesses to stay abreast of changes in the search landscape. And Google, Bing, Yahoo! and a variety of start-ups are getting into the real-time game. This is an online experiment that will have a huge impact on the future of search. Keep your eyes peeled—you don’t want to be caught off guard when real-time explodes.

But what about the gorillas? If you want to find out, download the free report, Search Gone Wild: An Eye Tracking Study On Google’s Real-Time Results.

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Feb
16th

Oneupweb : Neuromarketing, Capturing What People Think

Posted by Steven on February 16, 2010 at 4:49 pm

Beginning in the 20th century, marketers began using focus groups to research the potential public response to a product, service, advertisement and more. Focus groups use a variety of methods to determine a person’s attitude, opinion, perception or belief. Primarily, a person in a focus group is simply asked about how they feel and they give a conscious response. However, purchase decisions are essentially a non-conscious act. Therefore, traditional research methods may not be enough to fully understand a consumer’s emotional state ultimately influenced through marketing.

Enter neuromarketing.

Neuromarketing is the study of neurological responses to marketing messages. While still in an early stage of development, neuromarketing studies are currently being conducted and their findings are being used for online marketing campaigns.

Now, there is some controversy over neuromarketing, but as of yet, there is still no way to pipe advertisements directly into people’s brains—so don’t worry. Current neuromarketing techniques include eye tracking, galvanic skin response and a variety of brain wave measurements.

Oneupweb has been conducting eye tracking studies for many years now. One of the most recent whitepapers is a study of search on social networking sites. The study was conducted by analyzing a subject’s eye movement while searching.

It’s 2010 and technology is changing the marketing landscape—innovators rejoice!

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Jan
15th

Self Destruction Is Now Less Imminent – Both Online And Offline

Posted by Dave on January 15, 2010 at 3:03 pm

2010 is already looking up. For only the 19th time since its introduction in 1947, the time on The Doomsday Clock has been updated. On January 14th, the clock was updated from 11:55pm to 11:54pm. This change was made to reflect “a more hopeful state of world affairs,” and was announced over a live feed on Turnbacktheclock.org.

The quote, “a more hopeful state of world affairs,” can be applied to much more than just The Doomsday Clock. For many online retailers, 2010 is a year that needs to show improvement. And the good news is that the potential is there.

According to comScore, the 2009 holiday e-commerce season saw a four percent increase in spending over the 2008 season. Although not huge, this increase is a good sign of hope for 2010. People are still shopping online and although they are spending less, (1.5 percent less than 2008) comScore reports that the number of online shoppers still rose six percent (or by 8.7 million people). In addition, 2009 saw an increase in the number of people who turned to social media outlets to influence their online buying habits. 28 percent of consumers said that social media had some influence over their holiday purchase decisions.

What does this mean for your 2010 online marketing strategy? With more people shopping online and increasingly looking to social media sites to guide their decisions, it’s critical for your business to have a solid digital marketing plan in a place. It’s essential that this plan integrates both organic positions and utilizes social media in order to monitor and interact with your audience. Doing this will also help to build a positive brand image.

It’s not only about people finding your company online, but also what they learn about your business from other sites. Do you know what’s being said about your company? And what message are you sending about your company?

Remember, 2010 is full of opportunity if you know where to reach your audience. If you need help creating an online marketing plan, Oneupweb can certainly help.

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Sep
29th

Rural Broadband: High Speed Internet For People Living In The Sticks

Posted by Lawrence on September 29, 2009 at 2:26 pm

tv is important by A_of_Doom

My folks live in the very house that I grew up in, and cable television still isn’t available in their area – also eliminating the option for cable broadband internet. Their local AT&T telephone service said the current telephone wires and connection boxes in place are too old to support DSL broadband, and that is also the reason why their current dial up internet access is about half as slow as it should be (resulting in some truly sluggish speeds). Reliable cell phone service is also hit or miss, and the only 3G network available for them is three people at the gossip fence. Apparently this is also the case for many rural communities, as high speed internet access is either unavailable or comes at a premium price many rural Americans cannot afford.

Thanks to a new company providing high speed rural internet service through a fixed point wireless connection, my parents now have an affordable means to connect to the information super highway through a line-of-sight wireless connection to a tower over five miles away from their house. Previous efforts from their local cooperative electric service provider proved unsuccessful when a wi-fi tower was erected less than two miles away. Turns out it was blocked because the trees were too tall for their connection to work in that direction.

Can you imagine life today without the benefits of high speed internet access? 68 percent of today’s high school students say that the internet is their primary source for homework research, and more than 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies only accept online job applications.

Many rural residents are still missing out on some basic internet opportunities that many of us can take for granted nowadays such as: electronic bill payments, banking online, online stock trading, travel planning and reservations, holiday shopping, and internet dating. Not to mention the social media phenomenon, which is still experiencing exponential growth.

The cost of this digital exclusion – The Great Digital Divide – has real consequences and is affecting the way of life for the “unserved” and “underserved” broadband internet population. There is a great study by the USDA’s Economic Research Service called Broadband Internet’s Value for Rural America that showcases the value of broadband internet service, especially in our recessionary economy, where online job searches and online education opportunities are essential.

The good news is that there is currently a Broadband Initiative funded by a $7.2 billion stimulus from the federal government. In the process of deciding where these funds are needed most, up to $350 million is being used to map out the U.S.’s current broadband services and areas of those who are in need. This map should detail where high speed internet service is available and how fast it is, helping us shape broadband policies for the future.

What could this information mean to the search marketing industry and your e-commerce business? If this map becomes available as public information, which I hope it is since we’re all paying for it one way or another, there lies within a wealth of data – a treasure map of sorts. Each of these underserved or non-existent broadband areas will be charted down to the individual zip code on a national map, and this brings to mind many opportunities for geo-targeted PPC campaigns.

How about targeting computer and networking products and services to the rural population in these underserved areas? Many of these folks will be just beginning their foray into the information age, and starting from square one. What about the broadband service providers themselves? Those who do receive some of the broadband stimulus money from the government for funding and implementing their services should be well in place and easily found online well before the unserved and underserved public start looking for them.

My parents have been busy catching up to the times, thanks to their new broadband service. They have been online for two months now and have already placed and received orders for a wi-fi router in their home, a laptop PC, a high efficiency industrial wood stove, a chainsaw and kayaking equipment. They’ve also already started their holiday shopping. They have planned and made reservations for a spring break getaway, and are currently doing research for a new snowblower and ATV (to be delivered right to their door).

These purchases could have been sales for your e-commerce business – it just takes the magic and know how of a well targeted PPC campaign to serve your ads when and where these new buyers are looking. Call Oneupweb if you need help getting your new PPC campaign started, or to take your current campaign to a whole new level. It takes time, patience, and know how to do this right, and we’re darn good at what we do!

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Jun
3rd

SEO or PPC – Who Prefers What?

Posted by Billie on June 3, 2009 at 9:52 am

When it comes time for a company to decide how to best optimize their website, they often ask, “Do I just do natural SEO, paid search, or possibly both? What is the best thing for my company?” At Oneupweb we strongly using both SEO and paid search. But let’s take a look at the differences between them, and the different demographics they effectively target.

According to a survey of 1,649 people, 56.3 percent of the respondents use search engines at least once a day and 56.7 percent usually use the same search engine. Of all the respondents, 81.7 percent said they will try a new search if they aren’t satisfied with the listings within the first 3 pages. Also, the older the internet user is (or if they are a homemaker or unemployed), the less likely the user is to review the listings past the first SERP (search engine results page). Females are also less likely to go beyond the first page of results.

Another factor to look at is the search engine that the user is loyal to. (Believe it or not, this could have an effects on how relevant PPC or SEO are to the user.) The majority of users on Google and Yahoo! found natural search results to be more relevant to their searches. The majority of users who use MSN found paid search advertisements to be more relevant, while users of AOL found natural and paid search results to be equally relevant to their searches.

Gender also plays a role in which type of advertising works best. Overall, men and women both favor natural search results, but according to the survey, 43.1 percent of female respondents found paid search advertisements to be relevant to their search query, while just 34.6 percent of men found paid search ads relevant.

Education and employment also play a role in SEO. College graduates, those who are fully employed (as apposed to part-time), frequent users of the internet, and those who’ve been using the internet for a longer period of time all favored natural results, making them more relevant to their search. Non-college graduates and unemployed users favored paid search ads.

So when considering whether to use paid or natural search, it’s extremely important to look at your website’s target audience—whether they’re male or female, unemployed or employed, college grads or non-college grads, old or young, new internet users or die-hard web surfers— each option benefits a certain demographic and will help you to reach your potential customers.

Overall, it appears that people who seem to spend less time on the internet, who are unemployed and non-college graduates, and use MSN tend to favor paid results. Men, the fully employed, college graduates, experienced internet users, and those who use Google and Yahoo! tend to favor natural results. Women and AOL users tend to lean both ways.

Once again, it’s important to look at your website’s target audience, but it is strongly recommended to use both SEO and paid search in your company’s online marketing strategy. The two tactics will work together, reinforcing each other to lead more traffic to your website and give your company its best shot at success!

Image: Search-Engine-Marketing by Danard Vincente

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