Google Zeitgeist: what does it mean?

Thursday, December 18, 2008 by Dan Nolan

After our post revealing the Google Zeitgeist 2008, we thought we’d take a closer look at the list and the implications it holds for search advertising and online marketing.

The significance of Google, the internet’s biggest search provider, revealing their most popular search terms should not be underestimated. This year, Google’s share of the UK search market edged closer to a staggering 90 per cent (enjoying a rise of almost ten per cent from 2007). Which means that the most popular search terms on Google can pretty much be read as the most popular search terms among the UK population.

By looking at patterns emerging from Google search, companies and online marketers can second guess upcoming movement in the internet sphere. Google knows this; they’ve even got a whole set of tools dedicated to helping those working in SEO and PPC spot developments: Google Trends.

Looking at the latest Zeitgeist – peppered as it is with the likes of ‘Facebook’, ‘YouTube’ and ‘Bebo’ – shows that social networking and user-generated content, both tenets of the ‘Web 2.0’ revolution, are still high on the agenda of internet users.

Those working in online marketing, SEO and PPC can use information like this to inform future thinking. Does the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook imply that it is worthwhile pursuing pay per click campaigns on these sites? How about YouTube’s strong showing? Should we invest resources in creating SEO video content, if that is what people want? Ultimately, we must consider the bigger picture.

This year, search grew by three per cent in the US (by contrast, searches carried out on Google grew by 16 per cent). The ever-growing search market represents a direct line between consumers and businesses. Customers’ searches reveal their interests and desires, and with more people using search than ever before, companies have unprecedented access to their target audience’s needs.

By analysing trends and acting appropriately, those working in online marketing, PPC and SEO can optimise their output to be more effective for themselves, their clients and potential customers.

Does Google promote censorship?

Tuesday, December 16, 2008 by Dan Nolan

Here’s an interesting article from the New York Times about Google ‘Decider’ Nicole Wong and her team of policy makers. Basically, these are the people who choose what we see and what we don’t on sites across the entire Google brand, including YouTube.

The article - and the internet censorship debate it raises - is pertinent in the wake of the hoo-ha surrounding the Internet Watch Foundation’s decision to blacklist a Wikipedia page, after an image of a Scorpions album cover was deemed to be “potentially illegal.”

While most of it relates to YouTube, one passage in the article will catch the attention of search engine marketers everywhere:

“Wong and her colleagues also oversee Google’s search engine: they decide what... does and doesn’t appear on the local search engines that Google maintains in many countries in the world, as well as on Google.com.”

It’s fascinating to think about our access to information being subject to the opinions of a team and the corporate and governmental pressures they are under. Nicole Wong and co are librarians for the modern era; selecting and policing the books that line our web shelf.

The libertarian debate at the centre of it all is clear. Who decides what is and is not ‘acceptable’ on the internet? When does sensitivity towards other cultures become outright censorship? With Google’s reach extending ever further across the planet, the task of tailoring and monitoring search content will only become more complicated.

Google Zeitgeist 2008 revealed

Friday, December 12, 2008 by Dan Nolan

Google have released their list of the most-searched keywords for 2008. The compendium of popular search terms, christened the ‘Zeitgeist’ by the company when it first appeared in 2002, reveals the year’s most prevalent search trends as well as the fastest-rising terms.


The most searched terms in the UK

Facebook
BBC
YouTube
eBay
Games
News
Hotmail
Bebo
Yahoo
Jobs

The fastest rising search terms in the UK

iPlayer
Facebook
iPhone
Youtube
Yahoo Mail
Large Hadron Collider
Obama
Friv
Cam4
Jogos

New vacancies announced at theEword

Thursday, December 04, 2008 by Dan Nolan

Just like the hardy little leaf on our website home page, theEword is always growing. The second half of 2008 has seen our merry band of SEO, PPC, content and design specialists grow from two members to ten, and we’re not stopping there.

We currently have another four jobs on offer at theEword:

• SEO/PPC Account Manager job
  
• PHP Developer job
  
• Web Designer job
  
• Copywriter job

Full details of which can be found on the jobs page of our main site.

For those of you not already in the know, theEword is a digital marketing agency based in Manchester. We specialise in online marketing, web design and SEO/PPC management. As an employee of theEword, you’ll be able to thrive in your chosen field by working in an environment that is as supportive as it is demanding. If that sounds attractive to you, get in touch.

Oh, one more thing: we do not accept calls from recruitment agencies.

How-Do you do?

Thursday, December 04, 2008 by Dan Nolan

You may have noticed that we’ve recently taken on some new members of staff, who we unveiled in a series of meet-the-team posts last month. The arrival of new personnel comes right in the middle of a fantastic period of growth for theEword, which looks set to continue into next year.

Now, the Press have caught wind of our success story, as this news article on North West media bible How-Do shows.

The piece details our three latest appointments: online marketing manager Mark Baker, senior PHP developer Max Hooton and copywriter Tom Mason.

Speaking about the appointments, theEword founder Al Mackin said:

“We’ve picked up four major clients in the last three months, so it’s important that we built a strong team to support them. Myself and Tom [Glass, creative director] believe our appointments are first class, and it’s been rewarding to promote from within.”

Let's hope 2009 brings more good news for theEword.

Manchester Christmas Market provides festive joy for all

Thursday, December 04, 2008 by Dan Nolan

Spirits were high the other week as members of theEword team ventured out to Manchester’s famous Christmas Market in Albert Square (the one with the giant Santa Clause in front of the town hall).


We were there to meet some clients and soak up the festive atmosphere amid the sights, sounds and smells of mulled wine, bratwurst, pancakes and singing reindeers.


The evening started with a brief (ie five-second) discussion of this year’s Santa. Gone is the roof-scaling rebel of old, replaced by a seemingly baked bean-inspired model that stares out disconsolately across the square from atop a twinkling plinth, although in the picture above he does look a bit like Zippy from Rainbow.


We wasted no time in getting stuck into the mulled wine on offer. Available in a variety of flavours from the many vendors at the market, each mug of Glühwein warmed the cockles and loosened the shoulders of our hardworking team. It also led to us holding court about wordly issues, as the picture below shows.


More relaxing still was the wide selection of continental lagers at certain stalls, as noted by WHLN editor Percy Herbert, who had been at the market taking photos (and sampling various alcoholic delicacies) for most of the afternoon.


Ethanol-free fun was available in the form of those stalls serving up culinary delights from around Europe. Amid a selection of paella from Spain, chocolate from Belgium and sausage from Germany, we clambered through the crowds to grab ourselves some steaming carvery sandwiches (above), followed by a nice big plate of crepes (below).


After washing the food down with yet more mulled wine, theEword team decamped to a nearby bar in a bid to take shelter from the cold. As you can see from the picture below, some were in need of the rest...

SEO: we're not kidding around

Wednesday, December 03, 2008 by Dan Nolan

The internet is an unusual place and, much like the Bermuda Triangle spitting out the occasional 19th century fishing trawler, strange things can happen online. Mysterious things.
Take the BBC News website. In what is either a measure of usability, or an exercise in observing just how the British population spend their time online at work, the BBC helpfully list the five most-read stories on any particular day. Normally, these reflect the main stories of the hour. Occasionally though, a news story from years ago manages to worm its way back into the top five, directly influenced by the number of users clicking through to read it.

The tale of the Sudanese man who married a goat is one such story. It sneaks into the list every six months or so. A report from 2006, it’s the tale of an unfortunate man who was forced to marry a goat after engaging in inappropriate activities with a certain special someone in the owner’s flock.

Three months on from its initial publishing date, 24th February 2006, and the story was a non-mover on the BBC’s most-read stories. Almost three years later and it still rears its head on the most-read list occasionally. A report from the BBC’s tech guru at the time stated that the traffic was genuine and coming from as far afield as France, Australia and India. ‘Rose’ the goat gained so much popularity, the BBC devoted a section of its homepage to commiserate her unfortunate death in 2007.

The story still ranks number one in Google for any combination of a search including the terms ‘goat’, ‘man’, ‘Sudan’, and ‘marriage’.

This poses an interesting question for SEO firms and their writers, offering an interesting insight into what motivates users to read and share information on the internet; why users decide to not only link through to SEO content but also email it to friends, relatives, colleagues and anyone else in need of a cautionary tale of inter-species love.

At theEword, we aim to produce copy with coverage equal to that of Rose and her bipedal lover and, as left-field as this particular example is, it’s a good demonstration that SEO content doesn’t always have to be straight-laced and merely informational in order to get hits and links.

While writing attention-grabbing copy is a crucial aspect of SEO writers’ jobs, the tale of Rose the goat can give us food for thought. It’s the job of an SEO writer to increase traffic to a client’s website and, because of the nature of the internet, our aim is to develop new ways to attract an audience; to make SEO content that people read, enjoy and then link through to.

Or, at the very least, intrigue them enough to Google what 15,000 Sudanese dinars equates to in English pounds.