Search is still the major marketing method that everybody is still focusing on, and it is where most people are putting all of their effort. Of course, this is because it continues to be the perfect way for marketers to see the results they desire. The main point in search marketing however, is getting your search results higher than those of competitors, essentially making it more likely to be clicked than others. Since getting search results to the top seems to be getting harder and harder these days, it is important to know just how important a spot at the top actually is. According to new research results from Compete.com, it may be much more important than you think.

Compete.com is a marketing resource company, and their recent analysis of what they are calling “tens of millions” of search engine results generated by consumers provides some interesting information to marketers. In the last quarter of 2011, the time that these results are from, 85% of all of the listing were organic, and 15 percent were paid listings. Out of all search pages, 55% had ads.

Here’s where the top search results come into the results. Of that 85% of all search results that were organic, 53% of all clicks on those results went to the very top result. As for the second results, only 15% of clicks went to them. To the third, 9% of clicks were seen. After that, the numbers shrunk to 6% for the fourth results, and 4% for the fifth.

Now, here is the problem; most people are clicking on top results, but that is not where most advertisers are appearing. According to the research from Compete, advertisers are appearing in all the wrong spots when it comes to search results. Of paid results, based on the position on the search page, 85% of consumers are clicking ads at the top of the page, while only 24% of advertisers appear there. Most advertisers, 61% of them, are appearing on the right side of the results page, while consumers only click these ads 13% of the time. Also, 15% of advertisers have their ads placed at the bottom of search pages, while only 2% of consumers are clicking there.

Sure, advertisers are seeing results with their search marketing efforts, but they are not seeing the results they could be seeing if they more strategically placed their ads.  Here is what Compete has to say about it in their reporting;

There is a strategic battle going on in SERPs and every decision has a dramatic impact on results. Most, if not all, search marketing efforts need to prove a ROI as there is a very definite spend, whether it is SEO or SEM.

Search marketing is one of the more competitive digital marketing platforms, and marketers are always trying to get to the top. Now that we know how incredibly important being nearer the top actually is, marketers should begin to figure out better ways to get there.

There are only two ways that anyone in the world does their Tweeting; they either Tweet or Retweet. Both of these methods of Tweeting are of the utmost importance to marketers who have Twitter playing a major role in their social media marketing campaigns. Today, we are informed as to which one of these methods has been seeing the most activity. The winner as of today is Retweets. People have apparently begun to realize that Retweeting something takes far less effort and can still get across the essential message that the Tweeter is trying to relay. For brands using Twitter marketing campaigns, it may be hard to tell whether the rise of Retweets and the fall of original Tweets are good or bad. Before figuring that out though, let’s look at the numbers.

Yesterday Bazaarvoice, a Software as a Service company, released a report called The Conversion Index Volume 5. In it, they have detailed the current state of brand mentions on Twitter. Among other things in the report, the company has provided a chart that details the current state of original Tweets versus Retweets.

In 2010, original Tweets accounted for a total of 85% of aggregate brand mentions and in 2011, the number had dropped to 82%. Now in 2012, the number of total brand mentions coming from original tweets has dropped down to 78%.

The good news though, is that total brand mentions on Twitter are on the rise. In July of 2010, the total amount of brand mentions on Twitter was at 537,332 and by the end of that year they reached 587,469. The increase was pretty steady from then on, with the number being at 897,434 in the middle of 2011. As for this year, the numbers for June showed a total of 2,229,620 brand mentions on the social network. Now, as these numbers are going up, and the amount of original Tweets that hold shares of the total go down, that can only mean that Retweets are on the up.

Here is what the report tells of the good and the bad in this newfound data;

 There’s good news and bad news for brands in this data. The increase of brand mentions overall means there is more data to learn your customers’ thoughts about you, but as the retweet analysis shows, that data is increasingly redundant. Retweets are becoming a bigger part of the Twitter brand story, but a retweet is a weaker social signal than an original tweet from, say, an advocate or detractor. Retweets also contain less original data, and may not represent the users behind them as much as a wholly original tweet from the same user.

It is clear that there are definitely some benefits and some consequences to these rising and falling numbers, but the question is this; do the consequences outweigh the benefits, or vice versa? The answer to that question is purely in the opinions of marketers at this point. Either way, there may need to be some preparation for a huge shift in Twitter numbers in the future.

Quickie Marketing Inc. (QMI), a leading data hygiene company, announced today that it has rebranded. QMI will begin operating under the new trade name eHygienics.com effective immediately. With the adoption of its new brand and logo, QMI has simultaneously launched their redesigned website http://eHygienics.com. The rebrand is the positive outcome of the company’s broadening global footprint, unprecedented growth, increasing recognition in the industry and the hiring of a new CEO. The rebranding will continue to build and foster the company’s unparalleled dedication to offering the world’s most innovative data hygiene technology solutions.

Founded in 2003, Quickie Marketing created “The Viral Spiral” internet marketing newsletter and continued as a full time publisher until 2007 when they built their list hygiene server. Today, eHygienics.com removes threats from all types of email marketing lists and caters to hundreds of list owners and publishers worldwide. With the growing numbers of clients, employees, and partnerships, eHygienics.com, will utilize its extensive multiplatform and development knowledge to generate an increasing number of data solutions in the coming months.

“eHygienics.com re-branding represents our evolution and direction,” said CEO, Lara Wettig. “Clients are gravitating toward us because of our cutting edge data hygiene service, so it makes sense for us to incorporate hygiene as part of our company name. This change is also a logical step in our succession and gives us an umbrella under which we can continue to expand our products and services during our next phase of growth and development. It’s an important step to better communicate our value proposition.”

EHygienics.com has taken on a new direction with the launch of their redesigned website, eHygienics.com. “We wanted our website to reflect our style and innovative technologies as well as characterize eHygienics.com as the premier provider of innovative data hygiene solutions,” continued Wettig.

The idea of rebranding QMI was raised in August when Wettig came on board. “We have some great momentum right now with no signs of slowing.  There may never be a better time to rebrand,” said James Carner, Founder.  “Our new brand identity is a logical step that communicates to both current customers and potential customers that we continue to provide products and services that consistently outpace our competitors,” he continued.  “Our new identity helps mirror the fact that we’re an innovative and forward-looking company with a commitment to ensure the success of every client we serve,” stated Wettig.

SparkNetworks USA, the company that runs ChristianMingle, JDate, BlackSingles and several other niche dating sites has been served with a class-action lawsuit. According to the complaint, the company is liable for advertisements that were in violation of California Spam Laws and promoted by its affiliates.

The lawsuit claims that consumers received numerous misleading emails that came from fake people and generic names like “Christian Dating” and misrepresented the advertiser and hid it’s origin as interpreted by a recent California ruling.

“As consumers, we unfortunately find ourselves bombarded with a lot of unwanted spam,” said Brian Kabateck, an attorney in the case. “But the blatantly deceptive tactics the complaint alleges were employed by Spark Networks and its affiliates are simply deplorable. This has to stop.”

The attorneys in the lawsuit are Brian Kabetck, Timothy J. Walton and Daniel Balsam. We were unable to reach SparkNetworks for comment.

What you are probable thinking right off the bat after reading the title of this article is, “Oh great, another article about mobile optimization.” Well, yes this is about mobile optimization and how important it is, but this time eMarketer has given its readers some reasons why optimizing mobile can turn everyday internet surfers into customers. In their recent report, they mention another study that I wrote about last month;

According to a July 2012 survey of US adult smartphone internet users conducted by market research and consulting firm SmithGeiger and Sterling Research on behalf of Google, about two-thirds of respondents said they were more likely to purchase something from a mobile-optimized site, while three-quarters said they were more likely to make a return visit to the site.

That is definitely a huge reason to maybe think about changing some things around to make your mobile presence more user friendly if you ask me. However, according to this new information from eMarketer, your mobile presence can affect far more than the way consumers feel when they visit your site on their mobile browsers.

The main goal of most marketers, both on mobile devices and desktop platforms, is getting consumers to become customers of their respective business, brand, or product. Now, call me old fashioned, but my favorite way to be a customer is in person. Physically going to a store is still the favorite way to shop or buy for a huge margin of today’s consumers. Why does that matter? Well, eMarketer is now showing results that I must have missed before, from the September study sponsored by Google.

The result show that 74% of respondents said the main reason they visit a mobile site is to find directions or hours of operation for an actual store. After that, 64% of respondents visit a company’s mobile website in order to find information that will allow them to contact a store.  Also, 61% said that their main reason for visiting a mobile site was to find information on a product or to research a product before actually going out and buying it. Only 50% of these respondents said that one of their main reasons for visiting a site on a mobile device was to actually order or purchase a product or service.

So, if you are a marketer or advertiser trying to get customers to visit physical store locations and buy, which is still the favorite method for many consumers, then it seems that a mobile optimized site may be more important than it may have originally seemed. People today use their mobile devices as a sort of companion, helping them to figure out just where to go to get what they want and how to get there. If consumers cannot use their “companions” to find information on your business or store, then chances are they will not be going there. It is just one more thing to consider when trying to decide the importance of mobile optimization.

Often times, the small businesses in this world get far less attention than do the bigger, more profitable businesses. However, who is to say that what small businesses have to say will not affect the future decisions and actions of big businesses? Now, I have been looking at article after article today, trying to find something new and exciting happening in the social media world. It was during this period of looking around that I found an article that was published by The Wall Street Journal last Thursday. It is called “What’s a Facebook Follower Worth?” and it tells us of some of the perils that small businesses have found when trying to use their favorite marketing source’s new Promoted Posts.

First, let me remind you of why small businesses fell in love with Facebook as a marketing platform in the first place; because when people think Facebook, they think free. Most small businesses could never even imagine affording the huge marketing campaigns that we see with the country’s big businesses, so they use Facebook and it has so far worked like a charm. Now, of course that has not ended but these small businesses are having some trouble with the idea of Promoted Posts, which kind of ruin the, “free” thing that they had going for them.

Here is the gist of the problem that they are having, as explained by a caterer named Richard Bishop in the Wall Street Journal article;

Facebook “lured us in with free Facebook pages,” says the 35-year-old caterer, referring to small-business owners like himself who have built marketing programs around Facebook. “Now all of a sudden they’re saying a minimal percentage of your fans will see your posts unless you pay. They devalued the value of a fan.”

Obviously Facebook is not to blame, unless of course there is a rule book out there somewhere that says, “Once a company says their services will be free, they are to remain that way forevermore.” Since there isn’t, Facebook really has not done anything wrong. Regardless, it has caused a struggle for small businesses all over the nation, and it seems to them that their marketing platform will soon disappear as a viable option. These companies cannot afford to promote all of their daily posts, and most of their Facebook fans will not even see some of their most important posts.

While looking into other opinions on the subject, I found that I was not the only one who found interest in this new problem for small businesses that use Facebook as a main marketing tool. Personally, though Facebook has not done anything wrong and it would be unwise of them not to have customers pay to Promote Posts, it is hard not to feel a bit bad for these small businesses. The economy is rough to say the least, and the free marketing that Facebook used to offer along with the old value of fans was a beam of light for small businesses. Facebook will probably remain the tool of choice for these small businesses, but marketing on social media will probably no longer be anywhere near the same.