Google’s Move To Goggles – A Shift Towards Mobile Search

Out with the maps and in with the Goggles. Google has eliminated the Maps listings for Online Marketing categories such as Pittsburgh SEO, Pittsburgh Online Marketing, Pittsburgh Internet Marketing, and some other search phrases related to Internet Marketing. Is this the first of many categories to be removed? We see this as a possible emerging trend or shift in Google’s Map endeavors. Is Google making an attempt to scrap the often spammed Maps listings? Let’s look further…

Google has introduced Goggles, formerly titled Google Visual Search in the development phase. We see this as a possible replacement for Maps altogether. It aligns itself perfectly with Google’s move towards mobile computing in a big way. First, the Android Operating System, and recently the Nexus phone release all seem to be aimed at Google’s strategy towards focusing on Mobile Search Technology. Add to this Google’s Cloud computing initiative and the signals become stronger. (Pun intended)

As previously mentioned, this may be the beginning of Google's attempt to curb the rampant spam problem that plagues their maps. Bing has a more stringent verification requirement and their maps algorithm is less spammy because of that. Sometimes being first to market has its drawbacks as companies submitted multiple bogus listings in an effort to be found. Bing learned from this and only allows for Direct Mail registration as opposed to Google’s phone verification option which allows businesses to register from anywhere.

Pittsburgh is the home of Blackball Online Marketing so I can only speak to this issue from our point of view. As a small Pittsburgh Online Marketing Company we cater to Pittsburgh businesses only. It would be nice to have a very pretty maps listing for Pittsburgh SEO again. It would also be nice for Google to share its decisions and be transparent about this selective omission. But Google is Google and that's that.

Pittsburgh Online Marketing –Improving Methods of Measuring ROI

Develop a Clear Pittsburgh Online Marketing Message

When it comes to measuring your ROI from your website or PPC advertisements most businesses rely on analytics, however these are only one form of measurement.

If your goal is to convert sales via incoming phone calls directly generated through a website or PPC ad and you get 10,000 clicks per day to your site and no calls, how good is this metric as a measure of ROI? It’s almost worthless, but it’s a starting point. Everybody has heard of the phrase “statistics can be misleading”, this is a case in point when it comes to using analytics solely in regards to ROI.

Analytics can show a lot about your visitors.  They are a fine measure of how web traffic arrives to your site, what geographical locations visitors are viewing from, what their patterns are for finding your site, how they behave when navigating your site, and where they leave from. Analytics can also measure other metrics, but for final sale rates generated from your site or ads they are only half the measure.

Let’s use the same client from above for an example. Let’s say this client sells 100 units during this day. This would lead us to believe that our Conversion Rate is 1 in 100 or 10,000 clicks/ 100 sales. However, how many calls does our client have to take to get those 100 sales? I suspect it’s more than just 100. We need to measure clicks / calls and then calls / sales.

Let’s not forget that business does not exist in a vacuum like the analytics used to measure it. Most businesses have a Marketing Mix which is far more diverse. Social Media Campaigns, Print Advertising, other Online Marketing listings, word of mouth, and customer Brand Recognition awareness also play a part.

The need for business to measure the effectiveness of Social Media Marketing campaigns, Website traffic, and PPC conversion rates to justify continuation of Online Marketing Campaigns is impossible to quantify by analytics alone. If a company is looking to quantify sales we must look beyond analytics.

Conversion Tracking and Return on investment (ROI)

The following statement comes directly from Google Adwords Help, “ROI is the ratio of your costs to your profits. It's typically the most important metric for advertisers because it is based on your specific advertising goals and shows the real effect your advertising efforts have on your business. ROI revolves around conversions: customer actions that you deem valuable such as a purchase, sign-up, webpage visit, or lead.”

This is all well and good and provides further data for an effective lead generation stream but it has to go further if ROI is to be measured from it. We need a conversion rate for our conversion rates generated by the analytics and the Conversion Tracking we now use and a better way to measure them. Sales are the only way to measure return rates in the traditional sense. Without sales there is no ROI.

Blackball Online Marketing specializes in all forms of Internet Marketing and Website Promotion. We handle Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns, Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Google Maps listings for Local Search Marketing, Social Media Marketing Campaigns as well as managing many traditional media delivery methods. Call us at (412) 377-7280 to discuss your Pittsburgh Online Marketing needs.