Sitewire

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 5

Featured Client
Ask the Experts
Universal Search
Featured Employee
Ranking Arizona

Did You Know?

User generated media king YouTube serves up more than one million video views per day with more than 65,000 new videos being uploaded daily. According to a Hitwise survey published in June 2007, U.S. market share of YouTube visits increased 70% January through May of this year. Comparatively, visits to the next 64 largest sites tracked by Hitwise rose only 8% during the same time period. Hitwise research director LeeAnn Prescott notes that, "As of May 2007, YouTube's market share was 50 percent greater than those 64 sites combined."

Featured Client - Tempe

Named after the ancient Greek "Vale of Tempe", (fabled stomping grounds of Apollo and the Muses), Tempe, Arizona is home to both Sitewire and the Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau (TCVB). The TCVB is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote Tempe as a desirable leisure and group destination. The Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau accomplishes this by providing visitors, media professionals and meeting planners with information on Tempe's comfortable hotels, savory and sundry restaurants, eclectic entertainment and local points of interest.

Since 2001 Sitewire and the Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau have been partnering on an arsenal of Web site and interactive marketing endeavors. In addition to its SEM successes, the TCVB keeps ahead of the pack by engaging in progressive, online marketing techniques such as podcasting, blogging, optimized press releases (OPR), video and other daring media du jour. Embracing the true value of the Web as both a branding and direct response medium, the TCVB plans to launch a new Web site in the coming months. With their sincere commitment to Web marketing and maximizing the value of a viable Web site, the TCVB and Sitewire are working hand-in-glove on an integrated planning and requirements project to build the best tourism Web site that Web 2.0 has ever seen. The planning project includes on-site polling, Web analytics data mining, focus group events, tomes of behavioral data research and ultimately; engaging user interface.

"Our relationship with Sitewire transcends the typical business relationship. We enjoy competitive challenge with those maniacal marketers over at Sitewire; mini golf, scavenger hunts, and broomball to name a few. They're not just fun to work with - they keep us up-to-date and on the cutting edge of Web marketing with their solid, creative recommendations. They're like an extension of our in- house marketing team," admits Michael Martin, Executive Vice President of the Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau.

We like Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau, too! Want to learn more about Sitewire's hometown or plan a visit? Check out the Tempe CVB or give them a shout at 800-283-6734.

Ask the Experts

How do I incorporate video and other creative technology into my site effectively?
With the launch of Google's Universal Search, we found this month's question extremely relevant. Now that Google will serve video and images alongside text results for queries, including these types of dynamic content on your site is even more crucial.

The simple answer is optimize images and video on your Web site with strategically-selected, organic keywords -- much in the same way that you would optimize a page on your site for a specific keyword phrase. Because search engine spiders can not "see" video and images the way they read text on Web sites, simply having video on a web site isn't going to do anything to improve ranking when served to an end- user. By adding tags and metadata to the file, it can be picked up by the search engines and really work for you to move your Web site to that coveted first page of results.

Video and images on Web sites are not just preferred by visitors, they are expected. Make sure the content you've placed on your site to satisfy that traffic is also helping you rank higher to be seen by even more users.

Ask the Experts is the answer to all of your marketing questions. Submit your question today and receive a valuable answer from one of the bright and innovative minds at Sitewire. Ask us about anything - search engine marketing, podcasts, RSS, user interface analysis, copywriting, design - the sky is the limit!

Submit your question today and watch for the answer in our monthly newsletters.

Universal Search

Google Universal Search
- Leslie Jackson, Marketing Research Manager

Google recently unveiled the first steps toward a search model that will offer users a more integrated and comprehensive way to search for and view information online; aptly named "Universal Search."

What is Google Universal Search?
When it comes to search results, Google's favorite keyword is "relevance." The strategy behind Google search technology enhancements, business procurements and algorithm changes is to continually ensure that the results presented on the search engine ranking pages are the most relevant to the searchers' query.

Google is on the forefront of change with the recent acquisitions of YouTube and DoubleClick and the constant tweaks being made to their search offering. The release of Universal Search indicates the culmination of these efforts to make Google the one stop shop for all things search.

In essence the technology behind Universal Search brings together, under one roof, all the search properties associated with a specific query - images, video, maps, local ads, news and of course Web results.

Additional features of Universal Search include updated homepage design and new navigation features that make it faster and easier for users to find the information they are looking for as well as contextual navigation links above the search results that help users "drill down" to specific types of information.

The following illustrates Universal Search in action. A search on the keyword phrase "he-man" results in the standard natural and sponsored search results with the addition of some new components including the navigational changes indicated by letters A and B as well as the inclusion of YouTube videos and he-man images shown below.

A. New Google Search Navigation
A new feature part of Universal Search is the addition of top navigation that allows the user easy access to all of Google's search services.

B. Top Contextual Navigation Links
Another new feature associated with Universal Search is the inclusion of navigational links located above the search results that are dynamically generated. They suggest content types that are most relevant to the search term. The searcher can select these links in order to see more results of a particular content type.

C. Integrated Search Results
The new Google technology searches across all types of content and ranks the results that are most relevant to the search. The results may be from multiple content types, including images, news, books, maps and videos.

D. Plus Box
Clicking the plus box icon reveals additional information about your search results. This feature is shown for pages related to publicly traded US stocks, local business and Google and YouTube Videos.

How Will Universal Search Shape Search Engine Marketing?
Universal Search reveals the need for a multi-faceted approach to search engine strategy to take full advantage of the opportunity to gain greater saturation of search engine results. The inclusion of video, press releases, images, relevant company information, etc. on a Web site is essential. While Sitewire's organic optimization approach remains in line with Google's ranking methodology, it is now imperative that the scope of search engine marketing go beyond creating a Web site for the purpose of promoting Web presence. It is now necessary that sites include various forms of media to be effectively indexed in Universal Search. As with all things Google, it is certain that MSN and Yahoo! will follow suit, thus heightening the need for evolution in the near future.

Featured Employee - Jim Jeffers

As Sitewire's Lead Designer, Jim Jeffers spends much of his time designing ads and building Web sites. Jim's Web design skills have been perfected with years of experience and he is well-known in the industry for producing innovative and creative designs.

Heavily involved in the design and photography networking culture, Jim's ideas are always on the cutting-edge. He also carries expertise in areas such as social media, blogging, flash development, HTML semantic programming, microformats, usability design, Web accessibility and AJAX implementation.

Away from the office, Jim enjoys traveling to new places, listening to live music and trying new things. He is an exceptional photographer, using his Nikon whenever he can. Jim also spends his time socializing with friends at bars like Four Peaks, hiking mountains and attending and participating in racing events at Firebird Raceway.

Ranking Arizona

Are you a Sitewire fan? Vote for Sitewire in Arizona's largest business opinion poll!

Visit Ranking Arizona and use the drop-down menus to select Sitewire as your favorite Internet marketing agency.