Search Privacy - An Education from DuckDuckGo

With the recent news about PRISM (government access to US Citizen's search information), would you make the switch to a search engine that promises privacy?

DuckDuckGo is a search engine whose privacy policy is they do not share any searches with third-party sites or store user data.  In the weeks since the major news stories on PRISM, DuckDuckGo has seen a major up-tick in searches and traffic, although, the surge is certainly not a threat to major search engines like Google.  However, this is not their goal.  The goal at DuckDuckGo is to provide a private search experience for those on the internet that are concerned about such things.

In addition to being a search engine, there are a number of insights you can learn from this private search engine.

1.  What Are Search Engines Tracking?

DuckDuckGo has a neat graphical explanation of exactly what search engines track and why you see the same or similar ads across a variety of websites.  If you've ever wondered what all the fuss regarding PRISM is all about, it's worth a minute to read through it.

2.  How Can I Stop Some of It?

It's impossible to stop every website from tracking information about your searches.  Though, you can lessen the effects.  DuckDuckGo offers great insight about improving you're browser's privacy settings and tools that prevent third-party tracking.

3.  Do I Live in a Bubble?

One last issue DuckDuckGo discusses is what they call the "filter bubble".  What is this bubble?  It's your past clicks, searches and purchases all stored by search engines to create your perceived preferences.  When a new search is performed, the engines use that bubble of reference to give you the results the engine thinks you'd prefer.  So, your results for a search term or phrase may differ from your Mom's, your best friend's, or the guy sitting in the cube next to you--all because of this "bubble" of data you've created.

At lunch today, why not do a quick test while dining with coworkers?  Pick a common search term and see if/how search results vary on the same search engine given each person's "bubble".  We'd love to hear about it over at our Facebook page!  Are the results quite different?  

4.  Tools

DuckDuckGo has a ton of neat tools to quickly find whatever you're searching for.  What to know how many calories are in a bagel with cream cheese?  Need a strong password that is at least 7 characters?  Need to convert currencies?  There are a ton of fun, useful tools to be found here.  

5.  Search

Of course, DuckDuckGo is also a search engine.  Why not give it a try for a few days?  Upon our initial queries, it doesn't seem to be as comprehensive as a Google or Bing search.  However, it is nice to have alternatives when Google or Bing don't find what you need.  We'd love to hear your thoughts!

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Care to read a bit more?

SearchEngineLand has an article on why DuckDuckGo is no threat to Google.

Here's a different take on DuckDuckGo and private search engines courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle.

DuckDuckGo's Wikipedia article.

Local Search - Claiming Your Brand's Online Identity

Image: IT Jargon

Googled your business lately?  Customers are using search engines to find your address, phone number and service information as well as to determine your credibility.  Not pleased with the search engine results for your brand?  Take heart, there are steps you can take to claim your brand's identity online.

The Basics - Your Website

Your brand's website is the first step to claiming your business identity.  Start with a Contact Us page with your business's address, phone number and relevant information.  Be sure to include the cities you provide services to on your website as well.  Blog posts that are sporadically sprinkled with the areas you provide services to will round out your local search results.

Low Hanging Fruit - Social Media

Create a business page on Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn for free.  Be sure to fill out as much information as you can on each site.  List the hours your business is open, street address, services provided and any relevant imagery as well as a link to your website.  This information will, 1) provide search engines with your address/phone number to list in their results and, 2) add a credibility to prospective customers.

Online Directories - A Little Time, But Well Worth It

A number of directories exist that will list your business information for free.  Here are a few of our favorites:

google.com/placesforbusiness
local.yahoo.com
bing.com/local

In addition, there are a multitude of smaller directories out there well worth claiming as well.  A great way to check out if you're listed properly is to use a search tool.  You can easily see the directories where you're already listed and the ones you'll need to visit and add your information. Some of the notables are:

yext.com
getlisted.org
ubl.com

These services provide listing information for free but then charge to help you fix your listings. If you want to save some cash and fix your listings yourself, it's not hard but it will take time.  Many of the listed directories will have you verify your ownership of the business information through a phone call or post card.

As with your brand's social media profiles, be sure to fill in as much relevant information as each directory allows to lend credibility.

Create Engagement

A great enhancement to your directory listings is customer reviews.  What is the best way to get a review?  Simply to ask. If you do receive reviews, many directories allow you to respond to it.  Thank commenters for their patronage, respond to so-so reviews and address any negative reviews.

Why Claim My Brand's Identity?

Time is a commodity.  Why should you spend time on these business directories?

1.  Almost all of these are free!

2.  Free traffic to your website or front door!

3.  Search engines cross-check these directories.  The more directories that have your info listed properly will lend to the credibility of your brand's online presence.

4.  Ensure search engines are giving customers the proper info--not an old address or phone number.

5.  If you don't claim this information, someone else may.

Wait, what?  That's right.  We've had a client who had their brand's identity claimed by a competitor.  Their name, address and phone number were marked as:  "Out of Business."  Ouch!  Immoral.  And, not good for business.   Claim your brand's info before someone else does!

Tips

* Be sure you use the same address and even format the address the same way in every instance.  "123 Main Street, Suite 23" looks different to search engines than, "123 Main St. Ste. #23."  Be consistent.  Every time.

* Adding a photo of the exterior of your business is a great way to help customers become acquainted with your business before they even get in their car!

*Spread these tasks out over a month.  That way, you won't be overwhelmed by the process.

* Keep checking periodically, even after you've made your changes.  If a site or directory you've missed is feeding other directories, your work can be unravelled.


A few other great articles to on improving your local marketing

5 Ways to Improve Local Search Results for Business
How to Claim Your Online Identity and Keep It Relevant

News from Search Engine Strategies Conference- Chicago

This week, DMI Studios has been knee deep in all things Search Engine Marketing while attending the SES Conference & Expo in Chicago #SESCHI.  SES provides marketing professionals, brand advertisers, agencies, and business leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to traverse the dynamic digital landscape. Translation- the best and the brightest gather together to share ideas and talk about what’s new and trending.

While our brains are still brimming with everything we’ve learned, we thought we give a few quick highlights and interesting facts.

Google:

• Over 200 data points are used by Google to determine organic positioning.  The top 3 are Site Structure, Frequency of Updates and Linking- Content really is king!
• 100 billion queries per month come into Google.
• 16% of Google inquiries have never been seen by Google before.
• 80% of queries have no exact match.
• 40% searches are over 3 words long.

Bing:

• 5.6 billion queries per month come into Bing.
• Bing controls 30% of the US Market.
• Bing has 151 million unique users.
• Bing claims to have 46 million users that don’t also use Google.
• Bing users spend on average 5.4% more per transaction than Googlers.

Google Shopping:

• There's 1 billion products in Google Shopping.
• Google Shopping boasts over 100,000 retailers.
• By submitting themselves for review by Google, a retailer can become “Trusted” by Google.  Google reports a 5-10% gain in orders for stores that have become trusted.

Social Media:

• Social campaigns on Facebook or Twitter can also help with other campaigns like content marketing, link building, brand awareness, lead generation and SEO.
• Social Media can be used as a way to get others to do your work for you- spreading the word about your brand.
• Twitter processes about 1 million tweets per week.
• 20% of all tweets are invitations for product info and 48% are to introduce a brand.
• 25% of internet users go to a website after learning about it on some form of social media.
• 500 billion minutes a month are spent on Facebook.

Cool Stuff:

• Wal-mart.com does 1/20 the sales of Amazon.com.
• Google is offering up to $10,000 a month in free Pay Per Click ads to Non-profit organizations.
• Mobile marketing accounts for only 1% of ad spend but 23% of web use.
• Local Search comprises 40% of all mobile traffic.

Whew!  That was quite a brain dump!  We’d be more than happy to talk with you about more ideas and options that could impact your business- just give us a day or two for the swelling in our heads to go down!

Bing the Vote!

We interrupt your Tuesday to remind you to vote.  And, in the spirt of voting, we'd love to see which Search Engine you prefer--Bing or Google.

Want to know how the candidates stack up?  Bing has created a tool to help with that.  You can search simultaneously for varying search topics to see which search engine YOU prefer:  Bing or Google.

Since we're savvy and strive to be empirical, we did a double blind test -- no caffiene was ingested directly prior to this test.

Note :: You can click graphics to view them at a larger size.

We were split 50/50 and selected Bing twice, Google twice and had a draw for Round 5.

Why not see where you stand?

Looking for more Bing vs. Google standings?  Check out this great infographic.

We'd love to hear which search engine gets your vote!

Internet 101- Search Engine Marketing

Search Engines change they way they do business all the time.  Major changes in SE algorithms can really give website owners a headache.  One day a major product category is placing well on page 1 and the next day it may be buried on page 5.

The good news?  Search Engine marketing comes in two forms: Organic (blog post coming soon) and Pay-Per-Click Ads (PPC).  A PPC campaign is one that generates website traffic through purchasing specific search terms.  These terms are listed prominently so your ad will be seen by lots of potential customers.

Today, the biggest player is Google AdWords, however Bing/Yahoo! also has PPC capability.  Facebook and now, Twitter, are also jumping into the paid-search field.

Establish Goals

Before you begin, define your goals.  Are you looking for more traffic?  More newsletter sign-ups?  More purchases?  Establish your goals to give your campaign clarity of purpose.  Tip:  Communicate your goals to everyone involved in your campaign to ensure success.

Research

The first step in any PPC campaign is research.  Digging deep into your website's analytics is one way to learn how people are finding your website.  You may sell "diamond studded flea collars," but your customers are searching for "best flea collar," finding your website and buying.  Tip:  Focus on search terms your customers are using rather than terms you like to use.

A Solid Landing

The page a user ends up on once they've clicked your ad is called a "landing page."  Landing pages are crucial to the success of a PPC campaign.  If a user clicks an ad for "best flea collar" and ends up on a page asking them to sign up for a newsletter, they will probably jump ship and look for a different, relevant website.  Decide where you want the traffic to go.  Tip: Each landing page should have a compelling call-to-action for your audience.

Ad Creation

Time to get creative and write the ad copy!  Each ad venue will have differing requirements as to title and description parameters.  It is best to do a bit of research before beginning this step.  Go ahead and search for the words on your list to get a good idea of what your audience is already seeing.  Tip: Be sure to have someone proofread your work before you go live!

Tweak

As your campaign evolves, it's important to tweak as you go.  You may have keywords that are underperforming or terms that performing well but not converting leads.  Tip: Be willing to tweak your campaign but also be willing to gather enough data to make informed decisions.

Call Out for Help

This kind of Search Engine Marketing is very hands-on and time consuming.  With the ever-changing nature of Search Engines, an industry expert can be your best chance at a successful campaign.  DMI Studios has in-house Search Engine Marketing experts that create, optimize and report on campaigns for our clients.

Call for a free consultation.  You can toss your idea's past us and we can help you customize a campaign that will fit your goals.  Don't want to do the heavy lifting?  We'll execute your campaign and hit your goals for you.

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This post is the part of a series of Internet 101 information topics. As always, when class is dismissed, you're welcome to contact us if you have any questions or would like any additional information. If you don't feel at the head of your class, don't worry, we took notes.