Following from my presentation at Search School Manchester last month, it seems to me that there are loads of students looking for further information on how to enter the digital marketing industry. With digital marketing evolving at the pace is has and continues to, universities and other educational bodies appear to have struggled to keep up, focussing as they do on more traditional marketing methods. Meanwhile, an entire industry has cropped up and today’s students want in.

Since speaking at the event, a number of students have asked me how they can improve their chances of earning a job in digital marketing, including Ned – who posted the following question to the Search School Ning.

“Do you look favourably on candidates with specific skills such as coding or photoshop/creative suite, or is a passion to learn these skills enough at graduate level?”

I started to type my answer but it quickly morphed into a bit of an essay that could conceivably help others in the same boat as Ned, so I thought I’d post it here.

Realistically, ANY digital proficiency can be used to your advantage when looking for a job in digital marketing. How much of an advantage will depend on how proficient you are, and the relevancy of your proficiency to the role you are applying for. For example, coding skills might allow you to work directly on a site, while a flair for design or copywriting could help you to create content or images that people want to see, read and link to.

That said, if you want to be a marketer rather than a developer, copywriter or designer then some proficiency in one of these skills might not be sufficient to get your foot in the door, especially nowadays as competition for jobs gets fiercer and fiercer. Whether you want to go into affiliate marketing, paid search, social media, SEO or email marketing, you should get as much presentation experience as you can if you’re still at university (marketers tend to have to present to bosses and / or clients quite frequently). Set up a site (if you haven’t already got one) and get some experience using website analytics programmes. Google Analytics is widely used, free, and you’ll stand in very good stead if you can show you know how to use it to a relatively advanced level.

Aside from that, read, read, read. Most online marketers are self-taught to some degree, and we seem to be unable to keep it to ourselves. There are literally thousands of blogs, guides and e-books covering virtually every aspect of online marketing. Back over at the Search School Ning I gave the following starter guides for SEO (prepare for some heavy, but edifying, reading);

The SEOMoz Beginner’s Guide To Search – http://bit.ly/Pczt
SEO Revolution Google Best Practices Guide – http://bit.ly/9lxmHS
Hobo’s Google SEO Basics Guide – http://bit.ly/NyhcO
Google’s Search Engine Optimisation Starter Guide – http://bit.ly/11Xze

I can recommend these SEO guides as they’ve all contributed to my personal understanding, but there are plenty of great other blogs and guides out there to help you get to grips with other aspects of digital marketing, including…

The Digital Marketing Industry – http://econsultancy.com/blog
Pay Per Click Management – http://www.ppchero.com/
Affiliate  Marketing – http://www.affiliates4u.com/
Social Media Marketing – http://whatconsumesme.com/
Email Marketing – http://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/

The examples given above are a few of our favourites, but the list is far from exhaustive. Read around the subject by performing your own searches, or follow blog roll or comment links for more sources of information. Join in with conversations in the comments sections – be open and honest about your n00b status and more often than not you’ll find people falling over themselves to help (be smart about it though – if you have what seems like it could be a dumb question, JFGI first).

In his original post, Ned also asks about how useful diplomas / qualifications from bodies such as CAM, IDM or CIM are when applying for digital marketing roles. Having none of these qualifications myself at present, I hardly feel qualified to comment, but if anyone reading has any advice regarding this sort of qualification and the value it adds to a career in digital marketing, please feel do comment below! I do, however, have a relative at the CIM to whom I’ll pose this question, so watch this space for more info!

One final, indispensable advantage when applying for jobs is actual, real life work experience. By working in digital marketing with an agency or online business, you’ll see first hand, and experience the different tasks, skills, challenges and rewards that come with a career in this industry. Work experience stints can sometimes turn into fully fledged jobs, and even if not, you’ll go to your next interview with far more ammunition than before.

Fluid are always open to applications for work experience from anyone wanting to get a head start in this industry. As we’re a full service agency, candidates experience a wide range of disciplines, and see how they can feed into one another to create great websites and content. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch at info@fluidcreativity.co.uk. Let us know the kind of experience you’re looking for, when you’re available, and anything else about yourself you think might be relevant, and we’ll see how we can help!

So after a weekend boning up on Analytics trivia thanks to Google’s Helpcenter and Conversion University, James and I took the exam today. And guess what – we passed!

And here’s the proof – if proof be needbe – two brand spanking new Google Analytics Individual Qualification certificates.

Looks like they’ll need to be updated in 18 months, but that’s fine and dandy – I’m sure there’ll be plenty more to get our heads round by then! But in the meantime you can be confident that, when you’re dealing with Fluid Creativity, you’re dealing with a company that will not only help you to increase your traffic, but to understand and react to it.

I guess this may concern certain people/organisation’s, but what impact this all new wimbledon based search engine will have on the ever growing Google only time will tell.

Check it out and see what you think: www.oparla.com

Firstly, you shouldn’t base your whole link building strategy on directories, especially if you are looking to optimise for competitive keyphrases.  The whole question of directories and SEO came under the spotlight when Google announced that is was apparently devaluing links from Yahoo and DMOZ.  However I would argue that there is still value in submitting to directories because…

- At the end of the day a link from Yahoo / DMOZ / Business.com is a high powered link.  These are authoritative sites with thousands of links pointing into them.  Even if Google has devalued there SEO value, it is unlikely they have completely diminished it.

- Directories help get your pages indexed.  Aside from ranking well, you are going to want the search engines to see all of your content.  This is especially useful for new sites with no existing links.  You can buy dozens of directory links for this purpose only, and they need not be relevant or high powered.

- Relevant directory links will help your rankings. If you can find niche directories these will improve your ranking chances as search engines will see the relevance of a similar themed directory linking to you.  If the directory is on an older domain, this will be of huge additional benefit.

- Some directory pages have good PageRank and their inner pages maybe PR4 or PR5.  Think about the ontology of the words on the page linking to your site.

Some directory listings could cost $200 and above,  but could really be worth it if it is a relevant, high powered and old domain.  My advice would be add your site to relevant directories and do it gradually – and don’t make it your ONLY form of link building!

The bulk of Google’s income comes from sponsored links, the eminent Adwords program.  It is not an understatement to say that Google Adwords has revolutionised not just online marketing, but marketing in general.  So it is to be expected that Google would focus on Adwords as a way on increasing revenues during a time of recession.  The advertising revenue is generated from charging advertiser’s each time they’re ads are clicked on by users, known as a Cost Per Click or CPC based advertising.  Therefore the quickest way to increase revenue would be to increase the cost of the clicks.

However from the research I have done it seems this has not been the case for the simple reason that this would encourage users to spend even LESS on Adwords.  Moreover some keywords have become cheaper as less people advertise on them, for example “100% mortgages” which have disappeared from high street banks.   Instead Google have implemented other methods of encouraging, cajoling some would say forcing advertisers into spending more on PPC.

1. Reintroducing sponsored advertising for gambling Ads

In October of last year Google reintroduced gambling related keyterms into Adwords. Search agency Greenlight confidently predicted that this could net Google £100 million in additional revenue. This was then amended to include gambling affiliate websites.  Any lingering feelings that Google had a moral compass were well and truly destroyed by this move.

2. Google news results in the main SERPS

Universal search has been a hot topic for discussion as Google look to blend other search channels such as Images, Videos, News and blog results.  However, it seems like they have been a little over keen to drop in news results where they are not appropriate or relevant.  The idea is to push the organic links down, encouraging those below the page fold to pay for PPC advertising.

3. PPC Ads in Google images

What’s the quickest way to find a simple image on the web, Google image search of course! Earlier this year some SEO experts noticed that Google was implementing PPC Ads into the image search results.  Of all the initiatives Google has come up with for increasing revenue, this would seem one the most beneficial in terms of user experience.  If I Google “Android G2″, it would also be useful to see where I can buy one from?

4. Promoting Display Advertising

Around one third of Google revenue comes from Adsense, that is advertising that is placed on publisher websites as opposed to the Google SERPS. Aside from Adsense ads, which are most often the same format as traditional Google search ads (a 70 character text ad), Google have been making it easier to create other forms of ad format, such as larger image and flash video Ads…much like traditional display advertising.  This makes it much easier for Adwords advertisers to venture into display advertising.

5. Google Suggest

Google suggest is a method Google uses to suggest related search terms so that the user does not have to keep refining their search to find what they are looking for.  Well, that’s the Google line anyway.  Others see it as a way to increase PPC traffic on generic search terms, as instead of typing out longer tail, cheaper search phrases, users will select the top phrase as they know it will display relevant search results.

For example “Gas and Electricity Price Compare” has 278,00 results on Google.com, whereas “Gas and Electricity Prices” has 7,090,000 and is the top result from the suggested queries.  The user will know that they both will display relevant results and will be tempted to choose the one that is higher on the suggest list.

6. Local Business Results

Over the past year I have seen a marked increase in the use of Google local business results.  These, in most cases, enhance the user experience by offering local results, more tailored to the user’s search query.  Ostensibly this is what Google will have been aiming to achieve, but it has also had the consequence of pushing natural search results further down the page.  On some searches within 1024 x 768 resolution, you can only see the first non-local organic result above the screen fold, whereas before you could see several.  What does this mean?  Less traffic for those who have been pushed down and a greater need to do PPC.

7. Google Automatic Match

Google’s Automatic match, similar to Google expanded broad match, matches your search query to relevant queries that you might not have included in your PPC campaign and then adds them, to your account  For example you bid on “Mobile phone” Google in theory could add the search term “Cell phone” to your account.  More importantly, Google has automatically been opting some Adwords users into this feature.  Results have been mixed, but one thing is for sure, it will have been increasing Google’s ad revenue.

8. Product Images in PPC ads

Google have been testing some PPC ads that have a drop down function showing a selection of products from that advertiser.  The drop down menu takes up a substantial amount of the page, meaning that for those advertisers lower down or without a drop down function, there is the potential for a lower levels or traffic.  What does this mean?  More advertisers will be clambering for the top three positions in hope of gaining the drop down box.

9. Google Suggest with PPC ads

Adwords ads appear on the SERPS when a user queries a search.  However in their eagerness to display an ad, Google are now displaying ads BEFORE a query has been completed.  They have done this through Google suggest, with the search giant picking up on what the user has queried and then matching it to relevant advertisers ads.  Google say that..

“This is another example of search becoming more dynamic and Google getting users to the correct results as fast as possible,”

You can make your own mind up on this one!

10. Directing publisher traffic onto Google SERPs

As mentioned Google adsense makes up about a third of Google’s overall revenue. However Adsense clicks are of less monetary value than clicks from Google search results. This considered, Google have conceived a clever method of getting publisher visitors onto the SERP’s.  Look at this image of an Adsense banner, it has a search box encouraging users to query a search for “credit cards”.  The user will then land on the Google SERPS, where the much more lucrative Google search ads will display.

Meanwhile it was also recently announced that Yahoo would be closing it’s content match functionality within it’s search platform.  Instead Yahoo is encouraging advertisers to use the company’s YDR (Yahoo Direct Response) as it has “more flexibility”. Moving display functionality away from the search platform into a traditional media buying format draws a clear distinction between the two marketing channels.  This comes at a time when Yahoo really should be looking to integrate them closer – as Google have with their new and improved display ad builder. Yahoo is not helped by the poor usability of Panama (formerly Overture) which is probably partially responsible for this move.  I imagine advertiser uptake and optimisation of content match was particularly low.

However the mere fact that Adsense makes up a third of Google revenues, a point made succinctly by Chris Lake at E-consultancy, surely shows that Yahoo should be trying to integrate search and display- not separate them.  As one anon ad executive said on a cnet post, quoted here,

“No one has properly integrated their platforms of search and display advertising. Even though Yahoo has integrated those ad sales teams, no one is treating it as a ’solution,’”

Technology or (lack of it) appears to be what is holding Yahoo back.  Adsense is a monopoly with Google dictating the rules of engagement to publishers. Google have made it very easy for virtually anyone who has a website to monetise the incoming traffic but it is done on Google terms.  With content and particularly user generated content becoming of greater importance both in terms of user behaviour and SEO, their is a massive opportunity for Yahoo here.

The new ads however must not lead to a site where hard alcohol can be purchased.  Instead the website that the user lands on may contain product information, recipes or promote a brand.
Whatever your opinion of why Google has decided to allow advertising on these products, from an advertisers perspective the key question is how to capitalise on the new opportunities that arise. For some of the leading sprit brands, this is a question of reinforcing their brand with the type of alcohol which they are associated, below are some examples…

•    “Smirnoff” Vodka
•    “Gordon’s” Gin
•    “Bells” Whisky

These are all household names and are commonplace is many licensed premises – in many instances these brands will be what is served as a matter of course when a customer asks for a “Vodka, Gin or Whisky” for example.  As advertisers are still restricted from actually selling through Adwords the key is to increase awareness, interaction and possible footfall.

Google Adwords ads can be a useful device in enacting the above marketing opportunities.   Fluid Creativity would make the following suggestions for a possible PPC campaign for Smirnoff.  Run an ad on the term “Vodka” so that the brand Smirnoff becomes more synonymous with Vodka – there are over 500,000 UK searches each month.   Smirnoff Red is the most well known of their products but the company also produce Smirnoff Blue and Black which are higher in alcoholic strength but much less commonplace.  These could be promoted in the adcopy, for those who do not simply choose the cheapest / non descript Vodka or even Vodka Connoisseurs, the market is wide open with competition from Absolut, Stolichnaya  and Zubrowka to name but a few. As 99% of the population know what Vodka is, those searching on Google will possibly be looking for a greater depth of information. These are exactly the sort of users who might be persuaded of the merits of one premium brand over another.

However, one aspect which would be difficult to quantify is ROI as there is no end purchase directly attributable to the PPC campaign.  This is of course true of any branding exercise, but the problem which the company might face is that one of the main benefits of PPC is that you can quantify the return on investment very precisely.   One solution could be to create an action on the site, e/g a sign up or a recipe download (Smirnoff Black is popular cocktail vodka) and also to more broadly monitor sales of the subsidiary products since the start of the PPC campaign.

Previously mobile Adwords advertisers would have had to create mobile campaigns and adhere to mobile ad sizes and restrictions. Now orthodox desktop Adwords ads can be served on compatible mobile devices. They can also be reported on separately and include mobile specific call to actions such as calling the advertiser for example.

This functionality is a natural extension for Google as there are now reportedly over 400 million mobile web users and this is growing at 8 times the rate of new PC based internet users. Whilst the number of mobile internet users has been growing at a fast rate, advertising revenues have not increased at the same rate some may have predicted or desired. This has principally been due to lack of developments in mobile technology. Early mobile browsing powered by WAP was quite slow and not conducive to a prolonged browsing experience and thus difficult for advertisers to capitalise on. However with the advent of 3G mobile communications and the ability of modern devices to handle full HTML browsers and run at much faster browsing speeds, a real opportunity has arisen for mobile advertising to succeed as users can view more pages at a much quicker speed.

The question is how to best capitalise on this new channel? Fluid Creativity is advising their paid search clients to design specific ads for the mobile market where possible. It should be recognised that although mobile internet usage is increasing, it is probable that certain criteria that will impact on its success, such as the amount of ecommerce transactions made by mobile users will still be a great deal lower as a percentage of overall use when compared to desktop users. A consequence of this is that advertisers may find that conversion rates are much lower among mobile web users.

However as mobile web use is in general conducted when users are on the move, for example, commuting from one place to another there can be other methods utilised to entice the user to convert. A conventional Adwords ad might entice a user to “order online”. However a mobile ad could use a different call to action such as a Freephone “0800” number and a message to “call now”. The number can be dialled directly from the ad with no need to key in the number manually. As the user will have the phone in their hand it would seem an easier method than, for example, making a phone call when in the office (where booking online is easier).