May 06 2010

Increasing Organic Click Through Rate (CTR) with Google Rich Snippets

Published by oakley under Search Engine Optimisation


Google announced 26th April that Rich Snippets will go international.

Rich Snippets allow website owners to more effectively share particular information including reviews, people, businesses and organisations, events, and more recently recipes in structured format right on the search results pages.

For example a search for “Avatar” returns “Rating 8.4/10 from 229,718 users” for the imdb.com search results listing as per the image below:

Example Google Rich Snippets
Rich Snippets give searchers a convenient summary of information related to their search query, by marking up the results page with highly relevant, specific information and thus helping searchers make a more informed click. Ultimately this means that rich snippets will help capture better qualified search traffic by drawing in the users with more relevant information.

RV Guha, one of Google’s engineers involved in the rich snippets project, states:

From our experiments, it seemed that giving the user a better idea of what to expect on the page increases the click-through rate on the search results. So if the webmasters do this, it’s really good for them. They get more traffic. It’s good for users because they have a better idea of what to expect on the page. And, overall, it’s good for the web.

Increased relevancy means increased organic search click-through rates. Rich snippets is definitely something to add to your company’s SEO toolbox. Contact us to find out how First Rate can help with your organisations search engine optimisation objectives.

Below we’ll outline and discuss the particular benefits of using rich snippets. The five types of rich snippets introduced below can be marked up in Google’s search results:

  • Reviews
  • People
  • Businesses and Organisations
  • Events
  • Recipes

Rich Snippets: Product Reviews

Product reviews displayed on a search results page can be used to display snippets of useful information such as ratings, count, votes, item being reviewed, short summaries of the review, author of the review and the date of the review – all known as properties.

Review information can be marked up in two different ways being either individual reviews or aggregate reviews. To recognise these properties, and for rich snippet integration to be successful, the content must be marked up using microdata, microformats or an RDFa markup.

The more information the rich snippet can provide, the more easier it becomes for the user to decide whether the information being displayed is relevant to what they are searching for. For example, if your site provides review information such as ratings and descriptions, if it is marked up in the body of the webpage correctly, this information can complement your listing on the search results page by encouraging users to pay more attention to your listing.

The image below shows an example of an individual review by GameSpot.com of the much anticipated and popular PlayStation 3 game – God of War III:

Search query: God of War 3 review
Properties of this individual review include: rating indicated by stars, reviewer (GameSpot), and date the item (8th March 2010) was reviewed.

Search Query: "God of War 3 review"

Search query: Avatar movie review
Properties in this aggregated review include: rating indicated by stars and as a percentage and count by total number of reviews.

Rich Snippets: People

Rich snippets can also be used to enhance a search result listings for people. Such properties can include: name, job title, person’s role, link to a particular URL, name of organisation in which the person is associated with, location of the person and even an image link. Below is an example of a person’s rich snippet, First Rate’s own Samuel Stadler.

Search query: Samuel Stadler
Properties displayed in this snippet include location, job title, and organisation.

Search Query"Samuel Stadler"

Rich Snippets: Businesses and Organisations

Business and Organisation rich snippets allow properties such as the name of the business/organisation, link to homepage, location (address), geographical co-ordinates using longitude and latitude, and a telephone number for businesses and organisations.

In case you are wondering whether this type of rich snippet information is going to affect your Google Local Business Listing, it’s important to note rich snippet data does not replace or affect other channels of information provided to Google, so your Google Business Listing should not be affected.

Rich Snippets: Events

Events are another format of Rich Snippets that can surface structured data in the search results pages. The events format allows webmasters to display links to events including the date/s and location/s. Event rich snippets can be beneficial to the user displaying specific events they may be interested in.

Event rich snippets allow properties such as the name of the event, link to event details page, location of event, description of event, start date and time of event, end date and time of event, duration of event, type of event (concert, exhibition, festival, seminar etc…), geographical co-ordinates using longitude and latitude, and a link to a photo or image of the event.

Rich Snippets: Recipes

Most recently, recipes have been added as a format of rich snippets. This means that for sites with recipe content, marking up these recipes could show in the search results pages like the example below.

Recipe rich snippets allow properties such as the name of the dish, type of dish (entrée, main desert, etc…), image of dish prepared, date the recipe was published, short summary describing dish, review of dish, preparation time, cook time, total time, nutritional information, instructions, serving quantity of dish, specific ingredients, and the author of the recipe.

Search query: Crepes with Salted Butter Caramel Recipe
Properties displayed in this rich snippet include an image of the dish prepared, number of dish reviews and the total cook time.

Search Query "Crepes with Salted Butter Caramel Recipe"

While Google continues to roll out rich snippets internationally it’s likely we’re going to see more of them in our daily searches on Google. Rich snippets can be particularly useful for e-commerce, review, and topic specific sites (i.e. cooking sites). If you have a site that you think would benefit from rich snippets it’s time you considered marking up your web pages.

Google Rich Snippets Tips

Here are a few are important areas to note when using snippets:

  1. Ensure the marked-up structured data is representative of the main content of the page.
  2. Ensure your marked up data is correct and not misleading.
  3. Ensure your marked up content is not hidden from the user (“Hidden div’s — don’t do it!”).
  4. Test your mark ups using the rich snippets testing tool
  5. Once you’ve tested and confirmed your mark up is being extracted correctly, fill out the rich snippets form to submit it to Google to help speed up the process.
  6. Simply marking up your web pages won’t guarantee your snippets will show in the search results pages, but as long as your pages are marked up correctly your rich snippets have a good chance of being displayed.

One last important thing to note: No matter how well your pages are marked up, Rich Snippets may not show for sites that have too few pages (or very few pages with marked-up structured data) and may thus not be picked up by Google’s Rich Snippets System.

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Apr 20 2010

SearchIgnite 4.0 revolutionary SEM Software


SearchIgnite Unveils New Breed of Search Management & Online Media Attribution Technology

SearchIgnite 4.0 changes the industry landscape with revolutionary usability enhancements, ROI forecasting and optimization capabilities

April 20, 2010 –SearchIgnite, a provider of search and performance media management solutions, today announced the release of SearchIgnite 4.0, the newly enhanced version of the company’s industry-leading search optimization and digital media attribution platform. This latest release includes a number of major enhancements such as in-line editing, ROI forecasting and other new features that make the process of managing high-performing paid search campaigns easier than ever.

Many major marketers and digital agencies including Digitas, E*TRADE and Avis rely on SearchIgnite’s proprietary technology platform to manage, optimize and report on large-scale paid search campaigns. In addition, SearchIgnite clients can utilize the company’s advanced analytics and attribution modeling capabilities to better understand their marketing performance and make smarter budgeting decisions across the online landscape, including PPC, SEO, Universal Search, email, affiliate and display advertising.

SearchIgnite 4.0 advances the platform’s capabilities with a completely overhauled and streamlined user-interface that takes advantage of Adobe® Flex, providing the greatest level of usability and functionality in the marketplace today. In addition, the platform now provides the ability to forecast paid search performance at varying budget levels in order to select the optimal spend to maximize a marketer’s goals.

“As the search landscape continues to trend toward convergence, the need for marketers to properly attribute media performance across all digital channels is paramount,” said Roger Barnette, CEO of SearchIgnite. “SearchIgnite 4.0 leapfrogs the competition in terms of its usability and support of more holistic cross-channel strategies, empowering marketers to efficiently optimize their search programs and maximize ROI. It is the most advanced optimization and attribution platform available on the market today and the best experience we’ve delivered to date.”

Key Enhancements in SearchIgnite 4.0:

• Make all changes within SearchIgnite and get the power of Excel within a Web browser — no spreadsheets needed.
In SearchIgnite 4.0, bulk changes to campaigns can be made directly within the interface and updated in real-time across all engines. This alleviates the need to download bulksheets for changes, saving marketers time and easing the campaign management process.

• Chart projected ROI at varying budget levels and make budgeting decisions with confidence.
Marketers can create their own forecasting charts to predict campaign ROI at varying budgets. These forecasts help marketers make more informed budgeting decisions by accurately predicting how much revenue search campaigns will generate at different levels of spend.

• Search and find anything — instantly.
With improved navigation, advanced filtering, robust search capabilities and a revamped user interface to streamline daily workflow, managing large and complex search campaigns has never been easier.

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Mar 09 2010

An unfair advantage in SEM

Published by admin under Search Engine Marketing


We all know how hard it is to consistently beat competitors at SEM.

The low barrier to entry doesn’t help. It is an uncomfortable feeling knowing that just about anyone with a credit card can become a search engine marketer.

The low barrier to creative isn’t that great either. Just when you think you have the best ad creative (i.e. the best 3 lines of text), a competitor goes and copies most of it, neutralising your advantage.

Even Quality Score is losing its competitive advantage, with Google offering automatic rotation of ad creatives based on click-through rate (a key quality score factor), and publishing of each keyword’s score along with several improvement tips.

There is however, one often ignored factor that can give search engine marketers an unfair advantage.

The kind that can help you consistently dominate your competitors, and is sustainable in the long-term.

That factor is Conversion Rate.

The immediate benefits of a higher conversion rate

Let’s assume that in your current SEM program, one of your keywords is converting 2% of your website visitors into a sale, and this is producing a cost per sale of $50.

Let’s further assume that you are happy with paying $50 cost per sale.

If you go ahead and redesign your landing page, and increase your conversion rate by 25%, two things will happen:

  1. You will now generate 25% more sales than before, and
  2. Your cost per sale will drop from $50 to $40, and

We all know about these benefits. But there is something here that is often overlooked by search engine marketers.

The unfair advantage revealed

Using the example above, you have now increased your conversion rate by 25%, and reduced your cost per sale to $40.

You have two options now:

  • You can choose to do nothing. Just continue to generate 25% more acquisitions
on this keyword and save $10 per acquisition compared to before

Or

  • Re-invest the percentage increase in conversion rate, into a higher keyword bid

This latter approach is obviously a bold move. In the example above, you improved your conversion rate by 25%. So this means you would increase your keyword bid by 25%.

I call this approach Conversion Rate Re-Investment (CRR), and it can have profound implications on your SEM program – in terms of your click-throughs, sales, and cost per sale.

How will CRR affect my SEM program?

When you bid more on a keyword, something very interesting usually happens – your Ad Rank increases.

Remember the formula: Ad Rank = Quality Score X CPC bid

A higher ad rank means a higher ad position for your keyword. A higher ad position means a higher click-through rate (CTR). And of course a higher CTR means more click-throughs, and therefore more sales.

So even though you are bidding more aggressively, you are increasing your ad position, click-throughs, and sales, at an ROI that is just as cost-effective as the lower bid. This is exciting!

But you might be asking, “If I bid 25% more on my keyword, won’t I blow out my cost per sale by 25%?”

Yes, you will. But that’s ok.

Remember the beginning of this article? You had re-designed your landing page, and increased your conversion rate by 25%. This is going to act as an offset against your higher bid.

So this cost per sale ‘blow out’ is merely going to bring you back to your original $50 – which you were already happy to pay for every sale.

Consistently hit the top paid ad positions – within your cost per sale

As mentioned above, if you steadily and progressively increase your conversion rate against a particular keyword, you can steadily and progressively increase your CPC bids against that keyword.

In turn, this will generate a steady and progressive increase in your ad position against that particular keyword.

The implications of this are compelling.

Over time, and provided that your keyword’s quality score is competitive, you should consistently hit the top paid ad positions against that keyword.

All of this while maintaining your cost per sale.

In other words, CRR allows you to bid to the top paid ad positions, but without the cost per sale blow outs your competitors are probably experiencing.

How to increase your conversion rate

Obviously, conversion rate re-investment requires a steady and progressive increase to the conversion rate of your landing page. Without this, you should not increase your keyword’s bid, unless you are happy to pay a higher cost per sale.

So how do you go about increasing your website’s or landing page’s conversion rate?

In my next article, I will discuss proven ways to increase the conversion rate of your website and landing pages. This advice will enable you to start dabbling in CRR.

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Feb 19 2010

Mistake #1 in SEO keyword research

Published by admin under Search Engine Optimisation


When it comes to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), I have to tell you – marketing managers make a lot of mistakes.

I can easily count 20 of them. Of these, there is one mistake that I see over and over again. When this mistake is committed, it can destroy the business value of any SEO project. The mistake I am referring to occurs within SEO Keyword Research.  I call it the High Search Volume Addiction (HSVA).

What is HSVA?

HSVA is the addiction to selecting SEO keywords that show high search demand today, to the exclusion of other key selection factors.

Now I want to make this clear – I get HSVA. I really do. In these busy times, researching and selecting keywords based on search demand alone, is compelling. Especially considering that many keyword selection tools are free, e.g. the Google Keyword Tool.

So you’ve just used a keyword tool, and discovered 3 keywords that produce the highest search volume in their category.  You’re feeling pretty good about investing your SEO dollars in these keywords. All good?

Maybe.

The truth is, search volume is just 1 of 3 factors to consider. You have to cross-check search demand with two other key research and selection tools: trend analysis, and conversion analysis.

Trend Analysis

Trend analysis is an underused tool in SEO keyword research. Trend analysis can help you determine whether or not the ‘high search volume’ keyword you have chosen to spend thousands of SEO dollars on, is a declining rollercoaster ride. In other words, trend analysis can help you determine whether your targeted keyword has retained, or increased, its search demand over the past three to four years.

Take a look at the keyword ‘bicycles’ below.  Based on its decreasing search demand since 2004, would you want to spend thousands in SEO fees to be #1 for this keyword?  Or would you rather focus your investment on another keyword that has proven its staying power?

  • Source: Google Trends (Australia), 18 February 2010

Have a look at another related keyword, ‘bikes’. This one appears to have maintained its search demand over the same period:

  • Source: Google Trends (Australia), 18 February 2010

Based on this trend analysis, which keyword would you choose?

We have one more step to go, before you make your final selection.

Conversion Analysis

I always marvel at how some marketing managers fail to grasp that SEO is just like paid search; the only difference is that instead of paying per click, you pay per month – the agency fee, that is.

Once you start thinking of SEO like SEM, you start to treat your keyword research with a lot more vigour.

Let me explain. Assume you took over as head of SEM for a large company, and then discovered that one of your search managers was bidding on 3 keywords that produced 40,000 clickthroughs between them at a cost of $40,000 – but with 0 conversions. What would you do? Would you be horrified? Would you consider firing that person?

If you answered yes to the above, I want to ask you: Why?

Probably because your search manager focused on search volume, but ignored Conversion. If an SEM keyword is clearly not converting, then why continue bidding on it and waste the company’s marketing budget? By the same logic, why would you invest your SEO dollars in keywords that show poor conversion history?

Whenever you conduct SEO keyword research, make sure you use your SEM conversion data to identify those keywords that show the highest conversion rate. Then cross-check these high-converting keywords against the keywords that have been identified through your previous search volume analysis and trend analysis.

This process should produce a list of SEO keywords that will generate the highest level of search volume (today and in the future) and conversion volume.

To summarise, the key tools to use for your SEO keyword research are search volume analysis, trend analysis, and conversion Analysis.

The above process might seem straightforward. Yet, when it comes time to conduct SEO keyword research, few marketing managers (or agencies for that matter), take the time to use these selection factors. This is probably due to the amount of research introduced by such a framework.

Those who do, ensure the success of their keyword selections, and SEO project in general.

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Feb 09 2010

First Rate Announces Exclusive Australian and New Zealand Partnership with SearchIgnite

Published by Mark under Other


Prese Release: Sydney, February 9, 2010.

Search marketing agency, First Rate has been appointed as the exclusive licensee in Australia and New Zealand of the Search Engine Marketing (SEM) technology, SearchIgnite.

One of the world’s leading providers of SEM bid management and reporting solutions, SearchIgnite will provide First Rate with an advanced suite of tools to manage, optimise, track and report on SEM campaigns for its clients.

The SearchIgnite solution offers advanced features including cross-channel conversion path analysis and end-to-end automatic optimisation of creative, bids and landing pages.

Founder of First Rate, Jon Ostler said “We carried out an extensive, worldwide search for the best SEM technology available. In the end we chose SearchIgnite because of their technology’s leading bid management methodology, unique direct marketing features, and proven client results.”

First Rate CEO for Australia, James Ward, said, “With SearchIgnite, First Rate can optimise and drive our clients’ SEM campaigns further than ever before – generating more clicks, leads, and sales within our clients’ ROI  targets.  As a recognised leader in SEM technology, SearchIgnite supports our commitment to provide the best and smartest SEM service available in Australia.”

Founder of SearchIgnite, Roger Barnette said, “We are excited to form a strategic relationship with First Rate across Australia and New Zealand. We were impressed with the reputation and leadership position First Rate has built up around their search marketing services.   This new strategic relationship with SearchIgnite means they will grow their leadership position further in SEM.”

-ends-

For further information or interviews please contact:
CP Communications
Phone: 02 9922 1063
Email: bron@cpcommunications.com.au

About First Rate
First Rate (www.firstrate.com.au) is one of Australia’s leading search marketing agencies, specialising in search engine optimisation (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), and performance online advertising.  They are recognised as leaders in developing strategies and tactics that help their clients dominate the search engines and grow their online market share. First Rate works with many of Australia’s leading blue chip brands.  Its clients are spread over 50 industries including retail / e-tail, financial services, education, energy, travel, and software solutions.  First Rate (Aust) Pty Ltd (ABN 87 123 553 042) is a subsidiary of ASX listed Q Ltd (ASX: QXQ).

First Rate(Aust) Pty Ltd (ABN 87 123 553 042) is a subsidiary of ASX listed Q Ltd (ASX: QXQ).

About SearchIgnite
SearchIgnite is a leading provider of search management solutions for optimizing paid search to deliver improved performance and higher ROI. The company’s search management and digital media attribution technology offers an advanced suite of tools to manage, optimize and report on paid search campaigns in one central dashboard, as well as gather insights into the relationship between media channels. SearchIgnite optimises $400 million (USD), manages 50+ million keywords and drives $8 billion+ in revenue each year for some of the world’s leading marketers. More information can be found at www.searchignite.com.

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Oct 08 2009

Do Free Directories Still Work for SEO?


In the online marketing world, and with SEO in particular, there’s a lot of accepted wisdom – ideas which people have picked up but often are untested.

One thing I’m passionate about is challenging accepted wisdom and establishing the truth. This allows us to focus efforts on tactics with maximum effectiveness for our clients, and also satisfies my insatiable intellectual curiosity :) As a result, I am constantly running experiments on various sites (with the owners informed consent of course!).

A few months ago I asked: do free directories still work? With SEO, I always think back to the value to the user, which is how Google thinks. Given many free directories are of low value and the barrier to entry for creating a free directory and submitting a site to a directory is low, I had wondered if Google had completely discounted them and everyone was wasting their time submitting to them.

To test this theory, I worked with a leading shopping cart comparison site. The site had no link building program during the test period, so the results are clean. I had discovered a desirable keyword not being targetted by this site – the site wasn’t ranking for it. I modified the homepage title tag to incorporate this phrase, and after a few weeks to settle in was ranking steadily at 15.

I then submitted the site to about 300 free directories, using the phrase and minor variants of it as anchor text. Not wanting to look too spammy, these submissions happened over about 2 months.

So what was the result?

Turns out this is one for accepted wisdom – free directory submissions do work. On completion of the submission, after some fluctuations, the ranking settled at spot 5 and has been steady for a few weeks. I also saw an increase in ranking for some long tail terms, leading me to believe the overall page rank of the site increased.

I do still believe that at some point in the future, Google is likely to discount free directories – this is pure speculation and I have no data or  inside information to support that. The site is also ranked at spot 5 in Google Caffeine, suggesting any discounting of free directories is still a long way off. Until then, First Rate will continue to recommend this tactic to our clients.

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Jul 30 2009

Performance Online Advertising & Performance Branding – Advertising & Marketing Summit 2009


First Rate’s Consulting Director, Samuel Stadler, spoke on Performance Branding at the Advertising & Marketing Summit 2009, “Tough times – Tougher Tactics”, at Luna Park this week.

Samuel’s presentation focused on the following aspects of Performance Marketing:

Here the full list of speakers and topics presented at the Advertising and Marketing Summit 2009:

Day 1

  • ‘The Future isn’t what it used to be – How the role and relevance of advertisers is changing with the challenge’ - Chuck Porter, Co-Chairman, Crispin Porter + Bogusky (USA).
  • ‘Brands should be great storytellers’ – Ivan Wicksteed, Global Creative Director, Coca-Cola (USA)
  • ‘The view from the boardroom – Why marekting is more important than ever’ – Bruce Buchanan, CEO, Jetstar
  • ‘Marketing the Best job in the World’ – Anthony Hayes, CEO, Tourism Queensland
  • ‘Breathing life into Woolworth’s Brand’ – Luke Dunkerley, GM Marketing, Supermarkets & Corporate, Woolworths Limited
  • ‘Expanding the Conversation: A better way to converge with the wider creative world’ – David Nobay, Creative Chairman, Droga5 Australia
  • ‘Facebook and harnessing the power of social media: How marketers can leverage the social media platform in a unique and different way’ – Paul Borrund, Regional Vice President, Facebook
  • ‘The Power of 2: Creating a Rhapsody in Red’ – Tara Lordsmith, GM Marketing, Simplot and Ant Shannin, Executive Creative Director, Grey Worldwide.
  • ‘Opportunities in the Mobile Society’ – Greg Walters, Founder & CEO, QPay
  • ‘Competing for Consumer’s Time: The Challenges of Marketing Cricket’ – Luke Bould, Commercial Marketing Manager, Cricket Australia
  • ‘Reel Good not Feel Good’ – Craig Maclean, Brand Manager – Cascade, The Foster’s Group

Day 2

  • ‘Where Next for Australia’s Digital Community?’ – Richard Freudenstein, CEO, News Digital Media
  • ‘Better Targeting through better Understanding’ – Rohan Lund, CEO, Yahoo7
  • ‘How digital gets you more when you need it most’ – Jack Matthews, CEO, Fairfax Digital
  • ‘Becoming more intimate with your audience’ – Joe Pollard, CEO, Ninemsn
  • ‘The Mitchell Prediction | What 2009 holds for Australia’s Media Future’ – Harold MItchell AO, Executive Chairman, Mitchell Communications Group
  • ‘The LEGO Brand Universe: From the child on the floor to the user online’ – Jacob Kragh, Chairman of Global Marketing Board, LEGO (Denmark)
  • ‘Linking Brand Strategy and Shareholder Value’ – Amanda Johnston-Pell, Executive Director of Brands and Marketing Communications, Telstra Corporation
  • ‘Valuing Marketing in Challenging Times’ – Joe Talcott, Director of Marketing, News Limited
  • ‘Repositioning for tougher times’ – Andrew Seager, GM Marketing, Westpac
  • ‘Developing your competitive intelligence to drive a strategic advantage’ – John Batistich, GM Marketing, Westfield

First Rate consultants at the Advertising & Marketing Summit 2009 – Celebrating in style (inside a Hummer Stretch limo).

Looking for more information on how to grow your marketshare with performance-based marketing tactics…? Please visit our page on Performance Online Advertising.

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Jul 01 2009

9 very successful years

Published by Jon under First Rate News


As I step down from my role as CEO of First Rate I am ecstatic to see the business reporting record revenue and profits with significant operations in both New Zealand and Australia. In fact, First Rate has grown rapidly and consistently year on year for nine straight years featuring in the Deloitte Fast 50 List in 2006, 2007 & 2008! It’s been quite a ride and there is no sign of it slowing down, even with the current economic challenges.

I’m also very proud of the team we have put together at First Rate which includes some really capable individuals who I have worked with for many years now. Here are just a few:

Kevin Francis: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinafrancis

Tom Skotidas: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomskotidas

Samuel Stadler: http://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelstadler

Grant Osborne: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gosborne

We will also be expanding the team with some new senior appointments over the coming months.

For those who have followed First Rate over the years I have provided a graph that illustrates the company’s growth in terms of product offerings, geographic expansion and revenue.

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Jul 01 2009

Jon Ostler takes up a new challenge

Published by Jon under First Rate News


After nine very successful years building up the First Rate business in New Zealand and Australia I have stepped aside from my operational job as CEO of First Rate, and handed the reins over to Kevin Francis (http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinafrancis) in New Zealand and James Ward (http://www.linkedin.com/in/wardji) in Australia.

I will however maintain an interest in First Rate’s ongoing success through my strategic advisory role as the group’s Head of Search & Performance, and I will continue to be based in First Rate’s offices in Auckland and Sydney.

I’m very excited to take up a major new challenge within First Rate’s parent group Q Ltd (ASX:QXQ) establishing a new business (QED) that will be tasked with devising, developing and growing profitable online assets, including opt-in email lists, ad networks and other web assets.

QED will utilise the 100+ digital experts employed by the group to design, develop, operate and market these online assets.  For those that are unfamiliar with Q Ltd this is the company I sold First Rate to two and a half years ago. Q Ltd owns 7 other digital businesses and most of the founders of these businesses have committed to remain within the group for the long term. This means I will be working with a range of industry veterans ranging across strategy, creative, development, marketing and sales. QED will therefore have access to some of the best minds, experience and capability in the world.

Q’s existing online assets already generate many millions of dollars in revenue and this new business will build on this success by significantly increasing Q’s online assets.

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Jun 24 2009

Search Engine Marketing & Google Analytics Featured at Google Geek Night Sydney

Published by AU Editor under Events, First Rate News


Some of the team here went along to Google Geek night yesterday. We always have an excellent time – thank you to Google for extending the invitation.

Obviously most of the night was about Search Engine Marketing, with the feature presentation relating SEM to offline in-store sales. Some good insights and AU specific stats were shared which was great.

Search Engine Marketing & Google Analytics Featured at Google Geek Night Sydney - Team Photo 1

Google setup a booth for Google Analytics, Adwords, Ad Planner (good for estimating audience share for online advertising), Google Mobile (Android) and using banner advertising on Google’s content network.

Google Analytics and Search Engine Marketing - Google Geek Night Sydney: Team Photo 2

We really enjoyed the buildig tour as well, thanks heaps!

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