In our blogosphere recap we examine four blog posts from last week that discussed QR codes, the challenges of integrating social media, SEO KPIs, and more changes to Google’s algorithms. Below are some of the highlights from these articles:
- 79% of internet users surveyed had not heard of QR codes before.
- There is nearly no difference in social media integration among B2B and B2C companies.
- It is important to look at key performance indicators (KPIs) when evaluating SEO campaigns.
- Websites that load the top of their pages with ads, forcing visitors to scroll down to view content, will take a hit on their Google rankings.
Curious Consumers Begin Scanning QR Codes
Half of smartphone users have now scanned a QR code at least once, but findings suggest marketers have still not proven their value to consumers. As QR codes pop up in more places, awareness of them is growing, and many users seem to learn what they do before learning what they are called. QR codes are becoming hard to miss, even for those without a smartphone. As 2-D barcodes become ubiquitous, people are learning what they are: something to scan with a special app on a smartphone. But as awareness develops, the novelty factor may be in danger of wearing off. Marketers will have to prove there is valuable information in store for QR code scanners—perhaps a coupon or exclusive content—or those who scan a few times out of curiosity may not develop a scanning habit.
Key Takeaways:
- 21% of internet users surveyed had heard of QR codes before.
- Well over 90% of the top 100 magazines in the US have featured at least one mobile barcode since May 2011.
- Smartphone users’ top reason to scan one was out of simple curiosity (46%), followed by the hope for more information (41%).
Integrating Social Media Still Challenges Marketers
Marketing Profs | Staff | 1-17-12
More than one-quarter (27%) of companies are working to integrate social media into their businesses; most, however, say their social marketing efforts are still in the early stages, with marketers taking first steps in implementing social media (23%) or piloting social media (20%). Three types of change are needed to integrate social media into the organization, according to the research: 1) Personal change; 2) structural change; and 3) cultural change. Various factors impact people’s attitudes toward such change. Companies need to establish formal social media training in order to fully integrate with social media.
Key Takeaways:
- Among B2B and B2C companies, there is nearly no difference in social media integration.
- Tech and media companies lead the pack in social media integration: 23% of tech/telecom companies and 24% of media companies say social media is integrated across the organization.
- Companies in the financial and health industries are lagging behind in social media integration: Only 14% and 8%, respectively, say their social media efforts are integrated across the organization.
Top five KPIs for SEO campaigns
Econsultancy | Anna Lewis | 1-20-12
Throughout an SEO project there are many different ways to measure performance, but which is the most important? Is it your keyword rankings? Is it your traffic? What about conversions? Or does revenue come in to it? Maybe it’s all about the links? This post shortlists the top five key performance indicators (KPIs) that you might already be looking at or should really consider using, with explanations of their pros and cons.
Key Performance Indicators:
- Keyword Ranks. This shows how much your target keywords have improved or dropped in the search engines throughout the SEO project.
- Traffic Volume. Look at your traffic volume regularly, but don’t forget to segment the data to see where it’s coming from, find trends and look at other statistics to understand the visitor quality and true value of your marketing methods.
- Non-Brand Organic Traffic Volume. Leading on from looking at your total traffic, segmenting this down to measure your non brand related organic traffic will give you a good understanding of how well the SEO keywords are performing.
- ROI. This is the KPI that can be seen as the most important, as without a good return a business is unlikely to succeed.
- Brand Exposure. It’s not just a company name any more; however big your companies is, it should be a brand and ideally dominate the first page of results for the brand name.
Google to Punish Sites With Many Ads at the Top of Pages
PC World | Juan Carlos Perez | 1-20-12
Websites that load the top of their pages with ads, forcing visitors to scroll down to view content, will take a hit on their Google rankings. Google has concluded that its users are bothered by this type of layout so it will begin penalizing them in search results, the company said in a blog post. As often happens whenever Google introduces search algorithm changes, webmasters are already chiming in, and some aren’t very happy, as evidenced by some of the comments left on Cutts’ blog post.
Key Takeaways:
- Google says, “If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn’t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience.”
- Google will not punish websites that place ads at the top of their pages to what the company considers “a normal degree” but rather those with an “excessive” amount of ads that make it hard for users to find the site’s original content.
- Several commenters argue that it’s hypocritical of Google to punish sites for something that they believe Google itself is often guilty of, while others suggest that it shouldn’t be Google’s business how sites decide to lay out their ads.
