31st March

Search engine use on the up in Ireland

The number of Irish internet users who turn to search engines to find the information they're looking for has risen by 35 percent over the past year.

That's according to an online survey of 500 internet users which was conducted by Amarach Consulting for the second annual Search Marketing World 2008 conference, which is taking place in Dublin on Thursday.

The online poll indicates that 83 percent of Irish internet users turn to search engines in order to track down information they want, compared to 48 percent a year ago. In addition, 33 percent of search engine users said they clicked on sponsored listings, up from 15 percent in 2007.

According to a study conducted by digital media services firm Captivate Digital last year, more than half (53 percent) of leading Irish firms don't appear in the top five results in search engines based on a simple keyword search in their category.. Source - ENN

28th February

Online Marketing - All industry types can benefit

Independent Clinical Research centre, Shandon Clinic, provide studies for the pharmaceutical industry across Pharmacokinetics including bioequilence testing and single centre out patient studies. Recently Shandon Clinic became aware of the marketing potential that their website could provide, when in 2007 they received an unsolicited approach from a client in the US via their website. This tipping point led to the engagement of searchcreations to further that potential and create a strategic revenue stream from their online presence.

To ensure a positive return from their online marketing investment, Searchcreations will articulate the product and service value so that it is search engine friendly and will provide immediate relevance to those visiting the site in order to promote conversion.

If your company would like some initial consultation to understand the benefits of optimistation for your website.......Find Out What We Do

7th December

theBadArtGallery find a new canvas

Sometimes you sign up a new client and it is one of those campaigns that really intrigues you. This one, an art gallery based in Dublin, really made me think as to who their customer really was. We developed their value and opened up their market so they were no longer looking at an individual but at several different types of client, the art lover, the corporate responsible, the interior designer. We challenged the web site visitor to learn more about the artist, understand what inspired the painting and develop their appreciation. So what was the outcome you may ask, well it is working and I say working as marketing only starts, it never ends. Traffic is up as are conversion levels developed from the web site, a weekly comparison from the stats for Oct compared to Dec shows a 125% in visitors coming to the site, with 80% of these being new visitors. View the gallery and who know's you may be inspired

12th October

Do You Challenge Your Visitor?

When your web site receives traffic, assuming it does, are your visitors presented with questions or do you simply roll out some content in relation to your product, your company and expect them to put all of the pieces together. If you had a jigsaw, but without the cover of the box to know what the final image was to look like and without any edges to provide you with some direction, how long do you think you would spend trying to put this puzzle together……..not very long!!

Now take that analogy and apply it to your web site as your audience will want direction and they need to understand the value that will be gained through using your product or downloading your information. You can gain direction by presenting your visitors with questions as you should never assume why they entered your web site. If I visit a Real Estate web site I may have any number of questions that need to be answered:

Looking for Houses for Sale, Looking to sell a house, Looking for a valuation on my Home, Looking for tips to sell my home, Looking for pricing levels within my area, etc.,

Only if I ask these questions up front and challenge my visitor can I learn what their needs are. Once this is established I can assist and direct them through my web site towards the information they require. If all of your web site traffic was treated in such a way, how do you think your conversion levels would react?..........Find Out What We Do

24th August

New Clients realise the value of Online Marketing

EHA Soft Solutions and Spectrum Telecom have contracted Searchcreations to realise their online potential. Both clients understand that to reach their web audience there is a need to fully understand their customers. Searchcreations will carry out a full campaign, identifying the buying process which their existing and future clients will take. To ensure a positive return from their online marketing investment, Searchcreations will articulate the product and service value so that it is search engine friendly and will provide immediate relevance to those visiting the site in order to promote conversion.

If your company would like some initial consultation to understand the benefits of optimistation for your website.......Find Out What We Do

1st August, 2007

Stop Focusing on your Website Traffic

We look to understand your customers and help them get what they want. Recent addition to the Searchcreations client portfolio, Spectrum Telecom understand the benefits of this approach. You will never gain additional revenue from your website by just increasing your web traffic alone. Our aim is to ensure your website visitors receive the relevance they were searching for and the value that they can gain by benefiting from your service. When people use the web they are relentlessly task focused. They want to do something and they want to do it as quickly as possible, with the minimum of stress. If your website does not install consumer confidence, if you do not understand your online market, your marketing strategy stops at www.!! Find out What we do..

26th June, 2007

Looking to Develop the Right Keywords?

Keyword Research is still fundamental to getting the best results for your website and part of ensuring the your website is fully optimised. To achieve a positive return on your online investment you need to ask yourself the following questions when assessing the best keywords for your website:

1. What do I want to be known for?

2. What information, products or services do I offer?

3. What keywords are my competitors using?

4. What keyword phrases are actually being used by people?

5. What is the resulting action of people using these keywords?

We recommend that this process is continous and not just when you are looking to develop the architecture of your website. We constantly need to re-ivnet ourselves as our customer is never satisfied with a single result but will always strive for more. How to Market Your Webpages

11th June, 2007

Are you really trying to Understand your Customer?

I am not asking you to set up a therapy session or talk to them all day, every day, but do you really look at your customer as an individual? How easy is it for us all to class customers as "them" or "they" and label them with certain personality types? The problem we have with that is you are not really getting to know the individual and you are throwing away a large opportunity in relation to your market. It is for these reasons that Searchcreations will look to focus on your customers and model them into persona's so you can humanise your customer, making them an individual that you can relate to or empathise with.

Persona's are developed to provide you with a more rounded view of your customers and the more you understand them they more you can cater for their needs. Try not to cul-de-sac your view on customer's as "them" or "they" and open up the relationship so you can build on your knowledge of what they really want within your website. How to Market Your WebPages....

26th April, 2007

How does your Audience Form an Opinion of You?

The internet has become a key part of the consumers' shopping process, according to a survey by consulting firm Accenture and reported by emarketer. While 66 percent of respondents said they prefer shopping in traditional bricks-and-mortar stores, just under 70 percent said they research product features on the internet before embarking on shopping trips.

So you have 70% of your potential audience coming to your website looking for relevance, looking for value and most importantly looking for you to install confidence in them that your product or service is what they really need.....Time to think about marketing your website!

22nd March, 2007

The Debate Rages On...Is Online Marketing a Proven concept?

Yes we say..........and now in excess of EUR30 Million a year is spent in Ireland as it becomes the fastest growing advertising medium. Research from Amarach Consulting even reflects that several individual company's are spending in excess of EUR1 million a year, indicating the strong demand for Internet Marketing Services within Ireland.

The reasons are quite simple, almost half of all Irish Internet users use search engines on a daily basis. When combined with the finding that 53 percent of adults use the internet in Ireland, the figures make for a compelling argument for Marketing Your Online Business.

"The internet is now a dominant communications and entertainment channel for 1.7 million Irish consumers, and looks set to match tv and radio for reach by the end of the decade," said Gerard O'Neill, chief executive of AmArach Consulting.

Searchcreations signs contracts with 2 new clients from the Building and the Investment & Pensions industry to provide the structure, navigation and ultimately improve the online results of their existing website's. Both clients had made an previous investment on the design of their web site with little return but now understand the Need to Market your Online Business as indeed you market the offline aspects of your business.