The document is a magazine for the SES Toronto conference being held June 11-13, 2012. It includes articles on topics related to digital marketing such as breaking out of the "+1" mindset in Canada, the impact of US internet laws on Canadian businesses, and the state of Google+ one year later. It also advertises workshops from ClickZ Academy on topics like social media, SEO, and email marketing to help attendees maximize their learning at the conference.

1. Sneak Preview
SES Toronto
June 11–13, 2012
SESConference.com June 2012
Download the
SES mobile app.
Breaking Out of
the “+1” Mindset
Canada is Losing the Digital
Innovation Race. How Can It
Become More Competitive? 6
The Impact of US
Internet Laws on
Canadian Site Owners 9
Make Your Client-Agency
Relationship Work 10
The State of Google+,
One Year Later 12

2. LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE
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Academy provides practical
knowledge and hands-on
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potential in this industry.
COURSES:
Online Marketing Foundation
Search Engine Optimization
Paid Search Strategies
E-Mail Strategy
Social Media
...and more
Enroll today: www.clickzacademy.com

3. contents Follow SES at
twitter.com/SESConf
COVER STORY COLUMNS
6 BREAKING OUT OF 9 BEYOND THE BORDER 12 THE STATE OF GOOGLE+,
THE “+1” MINDSET The Impact of US Internet Laws ONE YEAR LATER
Canada Is Losing the Digital on Canadian Site Owners Google Hasn’t Yet Carved Their Niche
Innovation Race. How Can It in Social, but Do They Even Need To?
Become More Competitive? 10 MAKE YOUR CLIENT-AGENCY
RELATIONSHIP WORK 14 THE CONVERSION
CONFERENCE INFORMATION Three Considerations When OPTIMIZATION LIFE CYCLE
Choosing a Partner Which Advice Should You Follow, and
3 SPONSORS & EXHIBITORS Which Should You Avoid, in Structuring
11 DOING FORENSICS ON FRUIT SALAD Your Optimization Program?
16 SAMPLE SESSIONS The Challenge of Developing
AT SES TORONTO Practical, Client-Friendly
Strategies in the Unpredictable
Social Media Environment
June 2012 Cover art via Shutterstock
How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You
Workshops, Online and In-House Courses, and Recorded Sessions Suit Every Schedule and Knowledge Level
by Paul Fegan
S
ES conferences are a great place to Also, a large number of practitioners are self-
learn about the digital marketing taught. Formal training to provide a solid Onsite Training Workshops
industry, but how do you get the foundation and clarify industry best prac- SES Toronto—Weds., June 13
most out of them if you are new to tices is vital in this environment.
Hyatt Regency Toronto
the business? To help you maximize your Since pre-conference workshops are
time at SES, ClickZ Academy offers work- not convenient for everyone, ClickZ Acad-
shops on the Monday preceding every con- emy offers a suite of online courses. With 8:00am–12:00pm
ference. Running in the morning and after- a library of over 40 e-learning modules, it •• Online Marketing Foundation—SEO
noon, these four-hour workshops provide a covers every aspect of digital marketing. •• Email Marketing:
thorough introduction to the various ele- The foundation course discusses the various Driving 51% Engagement
ments of digital marketing, and are included disciplines at an introductory level; the five
in the SES All-Access Pass. specialist courses explore social media, paid 1:00pm–5:00pm
ClickZ and SES are both part of Inci- search, SEO, web analytics, and email. You •• Social, Local, Mobile (SoLoMo)
sive Media. ClickZ is the largest resource can take the courses at any place that has Marketing
of interactive marketing news, information, Internet access, and at your own pace. You •• Link Building to Get Rankings!
commentary, advice, opinion, research, and can purchase modules individually or in bulk.
reference in the world, online or off. With At the end of a course and after success-
over 400,000 visitors a month, it has become ful completion of an assessment, you will Register
an indispensable tool for marketers. ClickZ receive a certificate and be able to network
Academy’s faculty are drawn from the pool of through the ClickZ alumni group on Linked­In.
ClickZ contributors and SES presenters. The Membership in this group will show in your
instructors are the same industry experts LinkedIn profile, so anyone searching for you
who shape our conference program and con- will see that you have been formally trained
tribute articles to SES Magazine and ClickZ. in online marketing.
At one end of the spectrum are individu-
Sharpen Your Skills with e-Learning als working for small to medium-size busi-
and In-House Classes nesses who want to fine-tune their skills or
In this constantly evolving business, keeping
up with recent developments can be difficult. continues on page 15

4. staff about SES
Matt McGowan
MD, North America Welcome to the Toronto issue of SES Magazine. This issue features a roster of Canadian
writers, several of whom will be speaking at the SES Toronto Conference & Showcase. SES
Mike Grehan
Toronto, to be held on June 11–13 at the Hyatt Regency, will consist of three days of break-
Global VP, Content
through sessions covering search, social, mobile, and display, and will include these Canada-
Sharon Morabito specific sessions:
Head of Events, Americas •• Made in Canada: Marketing Online Worldwide
Program Development
•• Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing Industry
Conference Program manager Laura Roth
Conference Producer Anna Lee In addition to bringing back the very popular Meet the Experts Roundtable Forum, we’re
Operations inaugurating the SES Eliminator Quiz, a networking event in which participants will compete
Operations Manager Kim Kiedaisch to see who is the savviest marketer while enjoying an informal pub atmosphere.
Registration Associate Charisse Rosales See pages 16–17 for sample sessions.
ClickZ & Search Engine Watch To make the most of your time in Toronto, be sure to download the SES Toronto app. The
Executive Editor, ClickZ Anna Maria Virzi most up-to-date agenda can also be found on the conference website, SESToronto.com.
Director, SEW Jonathan Allen
And don’t forget these upcoming events:
Senior Editor, News Kate Kaye
Staff Writer Christopher Heine
•• SES San Francisco, August 13–17, Moscone West (SESSanFrancisco.com)
Copy Editor Caitlin Rossman •• SES Hong Kong, September 10–12, The Mira Hong Kong (SESHongKong.com)
Asia Desk Editor Adaline Lau •• SES Berlin, October 10–11, Kosmos Berlin (SESBerlin.com)
Sales & Marketing
•• SES Chicago, Hyatt Regency (SESChicago.com)
Sales Directors Andrew Katz
Elaine Mershon SES Toronto will provide a singular opportunity to learn actionable strategies and mingle
Elaine Romeo
with over 1,000 C-level executives, directors, marketers, and engineers from leading brands
Peter Westerholm
Account Executive Elizabeth Huston
such as Google, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, and Bell Canada. See you there!
Director, Client Services JoAnn Simonelli Best regards,
Marketing Director Angela Man
Marketing Manager Amy Xu Mike Grehan, Chair Matt McGowan
Marketing Associate Ploy Tangtrakul SES Advisory Board Chair Managing Director,
Web Designer Rebecca Holz Global VP, Content North America
Incisive Media Incisive Media
Online Operations manager Louise Laberge
Online Operations associate Aleksey Gershin
Magazine SES ADVISORY BOARD
Editor Dawn Cavalieri Comprised of both industry thought leaders and real-world practitioners, the SES advisory
Contributors Julie Batten
board brings together top players in the field of interactive media and search. The team works
Dave Davies
Paul Fegan to deliver continually cutting-edge search techniques, more integrated and relevant content,
Andrew Goodman and professional development resources to SES attendees.
Jim Hedger
Miranda Miller Mike Grehan, Chair Bryan Eisenberg Jon Myers
Garry Przyklenk Global VP Content Bestselling Author Head of Account
SES/Search Engine Watch/ bryaneisenberg.com Management
Corporate ClickZ Yahoo! UK & Ireland
Chief Executive Tim Weller
Jonathan Allen Paul Fegan Lee Odden
Group Managing Director James Hanbury Director Head of e-Learning CEO
SearchEngineWatch Incisive Media TopRank Online
Marketing
Matthew Bailey Andrew Goodman Giovanni Rodriguez
President President Digital and Social
SES: Volume 6, Issue 3 | June 2012 Site Logic Marketing Page Zero Media Strategy, Deloitte
© 2012 Incisive Media plc Consulting LLP
To subscribe, contribute, or view past issues, visit Chris Boggs Bill Hunt Laura Roth
www.sesconference.com/ses-magazine Director, SEO, Rosetta President Conference Program
Back Azimuth Consulting & Training Manager
SES Conference & Expo
To advertise, contact sales at sales@sesconference.com
or +1 (212) 457-4993. Mikel Chertudi Aaron Kahlow Crispin Sheridan
Sr. Director, Online & Chairman & Founder, Sr. Director of Search
Comments? Want to unsubscribe? E-mail us at Demand Marketing Online Marketing SummiT Marketing Strategy
magazine@sesconference.com Adobe SAP
Eddie Choi Anne F. Kennedy
Incisive Media, U.S. Incisive Media, head office Managing Director International Search
55 Broad Street, 22nd fl. 28-29 Haymarket House Frontiers Digital Strategist
New York, NY 10004-2501 London SW1Y 4RX, UK Beyond Ink USA
tel +1 (646) 736-1888 tel +44 (0)20 7316 9609
fax +1 (646) 390-6612 fax +44 (0)20 7930 2238

5. sponsors &
Download the app or visit SESToronto.com. exhibitors
Sponsor Showcase Hours: Monday, June 11, 10:00am–6:30pm | Tuesday, June 12, 10:00am–3:00pm
PLATINUM SPONSOR EXHIBITORS
Google Engage with Agencies AdLeads
www.google.com Table 4
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people www.adleads.com
around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by AdLeads is the industry’s first self-serve mobile signup ad platform.
Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is With AdLeads, businesses of all sizes can run ads on top iPhone,
a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted iPad, and Android apps. They only pay when someone signs up to
advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measur- hear from them—and never for wasted clicks or impressions. Hun-
able results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. dreds of businesses and agencies like children’s publisher Paper Hat
Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout Press, Brooklyn-based restaurant Nita Nita, and Australian mobile
the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www. marketing agency Mobile Marketers have used AdLeads to get new
google.com. customers and grow their businesses.
GOLD SPONSOR ClickZ Academy and Recruitment
Table 10
Bing www.clickzacademy.com
Sponsored Sessions ClickZ helps develop the careers of professional marketers, either
www.bing.com through its education program or its recruitment web site. This
Search advertising with Microsoft helps you efficiently reach your builds on its position as the largest resource of interactive market-
next best customer—within your budget and with the support you ing news, information, commentary, advice, opinion, research, and
need to get started and optimized and measure your results. reference in the world, online or off. From search to social, technol-
ogy to trends, our coverage is expert, exclusive, and in-depth.
SILVER SPONSOR
gShift Labs Web Presence Optimizer™
The Search Agency Table 7
Table 5 www.gshiftlabs.com
www.thesearchagency.com gShift Labs’ industry leading SEO software system, Web Presence
The Search Agency is a global online marketing firm that combines Optimizer™ (WPO), helps marketers and agencies more efficiently
high-tech and high-touch online marketing strategies to deliver and effectively monitor and report on SEO campaigns. gShift’s
new customers and measure ROI beyond a reasonable doubt. Ser- patent-pending WPO software provides insight into an entire web
vices include paid search, SEO, landing page optimization, display presence—website, blogs, press releases, social media and analyt-
media, social media, and affiliate program management. As the ics—by reporting organic rank data, backlinks, social signals, and
largest and fastest-growing independent search marketing agency competitive intelligence, all of which contribute to the goal of rank-
in the US (Advertising Age May 2012), and among Deloitte’s 2011 ing higher organically in the search engines.
Technology Fast 500, The Search Agency is now bringing over a The fundamentals of SEO still matter; however, SEO in 2012 is
decade of experience and expertise to Canada. Founded in 2002, The about social signals (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+,
Search Agency has grown to more than 200 employees worldwide and Pinterest) and fresh content (blogs and press releases).
with Canadian headquarters in Toronto, and additional offices in Los Track, manage, measure, and report web presence analytics
Angeles, San Francisco, East Greenwich, Baltimore, Tampa, London, data all in one place using gShift’s SEO monitoring and reporting
Sydney, and Bangalore. For more information, go to http://www. software. Organizations of all sizes benefit by reducing the time
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gShift Labs can be contacted at 1-866-743-5960, by emailing
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sesconference.com • SES 3

6. sponsors &
exhibitors SES Toronto | June 11–13, 2012
Marin Software Reprise Media
Table 1 Table 3
www.marinsoftware.com www.reprisemedia.com
Marin Software is a leading provider of online advertising man- Reprise Media Canada is a full-service search marketing agency.
agement solutions, offering an integrated platform for managing Our core business is based on search engine marketing (pay-per-
search, display, and social marketing. The company provides solu- click), search engine optimization (SEO), and social media market-
tions for advertisers and agencies of all sizes, enabling them to ing. Reprise Media Canada offers best-in-class search marketing
improve financial performance, save time, and make better deci- strategies employed by a team of industry-recognized talents and
sions. Marin Enterprise, the company’s flagship product, addresses applies an agenda of innovation to produce breakthrough results for
the needs of online marketers spending at least $100,000 per our clients. Come see us at Table 3 on June 11/12!
month on biddable media. Marin Professional delivers the same
power and ease of use as Marin Enterprise, through an application Search Engine People Inc.
designed for marketers spending less than $100,000 per month on Table 2
paid search. Headquartered in San Francisco, with offices worldwide, www.searchenginepeople.com
Marin’s technology powers marketing campaigns for over 850 cus- Search Engine People Inc. is one of Canada’s oldest and most
tomers managing more than $2.5 billion of annualized ad spend in respected search agencies. Since 2001, SEP has helped a wide range
more than 160 countries. of clients (from Fortune 500 to small and medium-size companies)
secure business from the web. SEP is a Google Adwords Qualified
9th sphere Company and Yahoo! Search Marketing Ambassador, and is Micro-
Track Sponsor soft adExcellence certified. The company was also named one of the
www.9thsphere.com “Top 25 Up-and-Coming Canadian IT Companies” by the Branham
9th sphere is a full-service web design and Internet marketing solu- Group in 2006.
tions provider, focused on delivering a strong ROI for our clients. SEP’s services include search engine optimization (SEO), paid
Since 1997, they have put their award-winning expertise to work, search management (PPC), social media marketing (SMM), online
earning recognition for effectiveness in design, development, and reputation management, usability, and more. Whether you’re look-
marketing results–driven websites. 9th sphere is proud to offer top ing to compete in an ultra-competitive space, or to dramatically
industry experts, state-of-the-art technology, and exceptional cus- increase your local presence, SEP can help.
tomer care that produces smart and powerful website solutions and Stop by our booth and talk to our knowledgeable experts.
real results for a wide variety of businesses. This ultimately pro- Get Found™!
vides a solid service value from which clients prosper. Learn about
the 9th sphere Advantage at http://www.9thsphere.com. SEMPO Canada
Table 8
NVI Solutions www.sempo.ca
Sponsored Session SEMPO is the largest nonprofit trade organization in the world,
www.nvisolutions.com serving the search and digital marketing industry and marketing
NVI is a full-service digital marketing agency. We leverage our professionals engaged in it.
internal tools, our broad and diversified experience, and the larg- Whether you are a search or social marketing professional or
est bilingual staff of experts in the country to serve our customers. use search and social as part of your profession, SEMPO provides
NVI is known for its resourcefulness and business ability to execute the programs and resources to help you succeed.
strategic plans that are performance-centric. Our activities center on education, networking, and research. To
NVI relies on the ingenuity of its web marketing strategies and support our educational mission, we provide a professional webi-
the collective energy of its employees to offer the best return on nar series, 101 webinar series, and quarterly education programs.
investment to its customers. Our local groups provide opportunities to network throughout the
world, and we also conduct the industry’s most respected research.
Page Zero Media We provide members with discounts to training programs and
Reception Sponsor industry events, and a robust job board.
www.pagezero.com Learn more at www.SEMPO.org / info@SEMPO.org.
Page Zero Media is a full service digital marketing agency focus-
ing especially on paid search (SEM), display advertising, and other SEMRush
forms of effective audience targeting. Led by founder and president Badge Booklet Sponsor
Andrew Goodman, the company is headquartered in Toronto, Can- www.semrush.com
ada. Clients include Postmedia Digital, Canon, Direct Energy, Wave SEMRush provides users with invaluable competitive intelligence—
Accounting, and Nuts.com. Page Zero is a Google AdWords Certified tracking the top 95 million keywords and 42 million domains.
Agency. SEMRush data currently includes 10 of the most popular regional
4 SES • June 2012 {Toronto}

7. product & service guide Table #s on right.
Affiliate & Performance-Based Internet Associations Organic Search Marketing Search Marketing Software
Marketing Solutions Society of Internet gShift Labs Web gShift Labs Web
The Search Agency............................. 5 Professionals.................................... 9 Presence Optimizer™.....................7 Presence Optimizer™.....................7
Training Business Pros..................... 6 9th sphere................................ Sponsor Marin Software....................................1
Link Building NVI Solutions.......................... Sponsor SEMRush.................................. Sponsor
Display Advertising Search Engine People Inc................ 2 Page Zero Media................... Sponsor
Marin Software....................................1 SEMRush.................................. Sponsor Reprise Media...................................... 3 Specialized Search Engines
Page Zero Media................... Sponsor The Search Agency............................. 5 (Multimedia, Mobile, Shopping,
Local Search Marketing Search Engine People Inc................ 2 International, etc.)
General Search Engines Services & Directories Bing............................................ Sponsor
Bing............................................ Sponsor Bing............................................ Sponsor Pay-Per Click Networks &
Management Services Training Courses & Certification
Interactive Marketing Agencies Marketing Optimization NVI Solutions.......................... Sponsor in Search Marketing
9th sphere................................ Sponsor Solutions Search Engine People Inc................ 2 ClickZ Academy and
Marin Software....................................1 Recruitment..................................... 10
Interactive Marketing Training Business Pros..................... 6 Search Marketing Agencies Training Business Pros..................... 6
Associations & Publications 9th sphere................................ Sponsor
SEMPO Canada................................... 8 Mobile & Rich Media NVI Solutions.......................... Sponsor Web Analytics
Advertising Solutions page Zero Media................... Sponsor gShift Labs Web
AdLeads.................................................. 4 Reprise Media...................................... 3 Presence Optimizer™.....................7
The Search Agency............................. 5 Reprise Media...................................... 3
SEMRush.................................. Sponsor
Google databases, as well as US Bing, and returns extensive met- As part of our 14th anniversary celebrations, attendees of the
rics relative to both organic and paid traffic (both AdWords and SES Show who sign up at www.sipgroup.org will be eligible to
AdSense), as well as backlink info. receive a discount of 50% for the first year of Professional Member-
SEMRush can reveal just what keywords your competitors are ship dues.
ranking for, what campaigns they’re running, what their budget For more information and to become a member, visit www.
looks like, and what kind of traffic they generate. Thus, it can pro- sipgroup.org.
vide all the ammo one needs to effectively optimize, run impactful Contact: Max Haroon, President, tel (416) 891-4937 (info@
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Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) Training Business Pros
Table 9 Table 6
www.sipgroup.org www.trainingbusinesspros.com
The Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) is an international not- Training Business Pros is Canada’s leading internet market-
for-profit association based in Canada. Since 1997, SIP has upheld ing training company offering over 100 intensive business train-
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sesconference.com • SES 5

8. focus COVER STORY
Breaking Out of the “+1” Mindset
Canada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race. How Can It Become More Competitive?
by Andrew Goodman
C
anada has weathered the economic Unfortunately, many of the traits that less, and would dissent from this obvious
downturn better than any other G7 help entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted point. In their view, because more of us have
nation. With a high level of eco- in the US aren’t baked into Canadian culture. broadband, use Facebook, send text mes-
nomic, cultural, and technological As a result, it’s harder to develop a critical sages, etc., we’re more digitally savvy than
development and a favorable trading rela- mass of digitally savvy companies, tech tal- other countries, including the US. Sure—but
tionship and cultural integration with the US, ent, investors, and other elements that cre- that’s like saying that buying a cute new gym
it can hardly be described as hurting. Since ate clusters of innovation and dynamism. If bag makes you a fashion pioneer. It’s nice to
nothing’s terribly broken, creating a sense of you massage the data enough (as Richard enjoy what’s made available to you, but it
urgency around living up to our true poten- Florida does), you can refer to the broader doesn’t compare at all with, say, investing in
tial is hard. region around the Greater Toronto Area a company that grows into a global fashion
Some of us feel a constant urge to do bet- as a creative cluster. However, this region label. (On that note, kudos to Lululemon, a
ter; most of us do not. The most likely way to is punching well below its weight when it wildly successful Canadian brand that is one
propagate this feeling is to deliberately and comes to the je ne sais quoi of creating great of the exceptions that prove the rule.)
systematically push one’s peers to improve. growth companies. This ultimately causes Canadians, all too often, like to partici-
That’s how it is in organized sports. That’s relative backwardness in a whole range of pate in the excitement of advanced trends
how it is at SES conferences. And that’s how interrelated realms, from soft skills needed and taste the fruits of others’ innovation,
Canadians ought to behave when it comes to staff up fast-growing startups, to con- but wouldn’t have a clue how to spearhead
to technological innovation and business sumer expectations of online retailers. The anything. Nor do they quite understand why
competitiveness. commonality is expectations and standards: you would need or want to. That’s the kind of
unless they’re raised, they stay too low—if mindset that develops during a century and
Caution Rather Than Competition there are any at all. a half of living in a branch-plant economy.
Canadian caution is dangerously close to an A November 11 article from IBM (cit-
insidious disease: complacency. For over a The e-Commerce Lag ing Forrester research) notes that Canada is
century, we’ve contentedly enjoyed the ben- Where do Canadians shop when we do buy behind the US in e-commerce spending, and
efits of our “+1” relationship with the pow- online? One of our largest homegrown growing more slowly. The percentages—5.4%
erful innovator to the south. We’ve sat back retailers—Canadian Tire, which absorbed of total retail sales in Canada versus 6.0% in
and waited while dynamic enterprises and apparel and sporting-goods giant Forzani the US—make the two countries seem fairly
innovations were created in the US. Instead Group, forming a retail empire of a decent close, but 6% of $3.2 trillion is immense com-
of competing, our businesses have often size—only recently relaunched its website pared to 5.4% of $370 billion. Since ad spends,
dawdled, watched, and withered as compa- with the capacity to order items online. The website infrastructure, and consulting time
nies like Target, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot company had taken a two-year hiatus from don’t make economic sense below a certain
moved in and took over. e-commerce, reverting to a website that size, a chicken-egg problem sets in: custom-
In high technology, the decline of a sin- offered information about products avail- ers aren’t served as well, research isn’t done,
gle leader like Research in Motion (RIM) is able in physical stores, and various episodic ads and content aren’t crafted well, check-
enough to throw the entire country into a microsites (see article in The Globe and outs don’t work as they should, and so on.
panic. Without the Blackberry, what have we Mail). Frankly, management is living in The domestic Canadian e-commerce market
given the world? Sidney Crosby and maple the same time warp that many other top poses a huge challenge for all but the largest
syrup? (Ok, a few other things, like insulin managers of large Canadian enterprises are players. This makes it all the more frustrat-
and the telephone.) in. Slow growth in a high-growth area like ing that those large players, at least, don’t
The situation isn’t that bad. But it is a e-commerce is unacceptable if Canadian- recognize the need for urgency and invest-
function of a complacent culture that others’ owned companies want to survive; it opens ment. Instead of comparing themselves to
successes (the successes of bold, non-Cana- up the playing field to US companies that are their peers, they should compare themselves
dian tall poppies) are claimed as one’s own as good at plugging in their existing, highly to strong players around the globe.
long as it’s convenient, with very little done optimized operations.
to create an atmosphere that fosters innova- Retail may not be the only measure of the Weak, Unprofitable Online
tion—until it becomes painfully obvious that health of a nation, but online retail is surely Marketing Strategies
a single flagship high-tech success story isn’t the bellwether for the state of a digital nation. Only a handful of Canadian retail web-
going to cut it. Here again, average Canadians couldn’t care site owners and managers know the key
6 SES • June 2012 {Toronto}

9. COVER STORY focus
to reaching the big leagues: after testing (citing research by the Council of Canadian new telecommunications equipment jobs
and optimizing your model, you can power Academies). in Atlantic Canada. This attitude has also
your way into the top-grossing elite largely resulted in the bankruptcy of companies
through an aggressive, targeted online mar- Unfortunately, many (like Mitel) that could have become global
keting spend. That’s no sales pitch; that’s how of the traits that help leaders and precursors of other successful
the math works. Many businesses appear to companies.
forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-
entrepreneurs feel
ture and overhead that get them to the table. relatively accepted in What We Can Do
Once they are at that already expensive table, the US aren’t baked into If government won’t make the right moves,
the investment is wasted if the resulting Canadian culture. As how can Canadian companies improve on
revenue remains pitifully low because the our own? We must leave behind the old +1
method for actually getting new customers
a result, it’s harder to instincts and the peer pressure to do just
is “hope, pray, and DIY on-page SEO.” develop a critical mass of well enough. Here are some suggestions:
Winning online businesses have grow- digitally savvy companies,
ing revenues (and, to be sure, marketing tech talent, investors, •• void the grand narratives. Coverage
A
spends) that eventually reduce overhead of traditional monopoly sectors such
and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-
and other elements as financial, mining, and telecom­
ally, trivial) proportions. Losing ones build that create clusters of munications dominates the Canadian
a large infrastructure and do nothing with innovation and dynamism. business media, and only obvious
it. Since only a few companies are getting it successes are deemed noteworthy. In
right, there is a very small pool of exemplars Certainly, government has played a terms of trends in advertising and digital
to show the way, and wishful thinking sub- role in allowing Canadian companies to culture, little insight or encouragement
stitutes for action. be weakened, largely through inaction and is to be found in traditional media.
We don’t find a Canadian company on the misappropriation of subsidy funds. All gov- Look for validation elsewhere: in your
Internet Retailer’s Top 500 Guide (as of late ernments sit on and distribute—in the aggre- peer group, at industry events, among
April 2012), which ranks B2C retailers in the gate—large pools of business development your customers, and yes, even in other
US and Canada based on online sales, until capital and research funding, and Canada is countries.
number 152: The Shopping Channel, owned no exception. Yet funds often trickle out to
by Rogers Media. Lululemon Athletica is laggard players or subsidize the operations •• Quit scoffing at data. Yes, our clients’
at 229 now—for them, the sky’s the limit. of established, noninnovating companies. customers really do buy pecans,
ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip- Powerhouses like RIM return far more to switchplates, furniture, dishwasher
ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props the economy (in the form of jobs, spinoffs, parts, soil remediation equipment, and
at 390 and 395, respectively. Unfortunately, R&D, and tax revenues) than any breaks and paella pans, online. Canadians—even
many Canadian entrepreneurs—to say noth- incentives they receive. A business colum- those making digital marketing their
ing of large retailers—aren’t aiming at mak- nist recently described the high-ROI govern- career through formal certification
ing lists like this; many haven’t even heard ment incentives that help create blockbust- courses—have a nasty habit of
of them. ers like RIM as “federal largesse.” Largesse? assuming that because people like them
To Research in Motion? I think we got our “would never click on that” or “would
Government’s Share of Blame money’s worth. never buy something like that online,”
Canada is falling behind in the global innova- The lack of similar “largesse” to identi- it’s helpful or insightful to share this
tion race because “Canadian business itself fiable, very tall poppies has led to repeated preconceived notion. The easy work
… choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi- missed opportunities and the lack of role is to hop onto the coattails of some
ness strategies that rely on innovation, as models and good jobs in manufacturing, large, hip brand and recommend very
there [are] easier ways of making profits.” So R&D, and software. The denial of incentives gradual approaches to budgeting the
argue Marcel Côté, founding partner of stra- to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a marketing spend, despite the millions
tegic management consulting firm SECOR, salient example (see Donald J. Savoie’s 2009 in sunk costs (infrastructure, office
and Robert Miller, engineer at École Poly- book I’m from Bouctouche, Me: Roots Matter);
technique de Montréal, in a recent report the deal would have created thousands of continues on page 8
sesconference.com • SES 7

10. focus COVER STORY
Breaking Out of the “+1” Mindset
continued from page 7 to reach the next level. You do have to Canadians should at
have the entrepreneurial, 24-7 mindset.
least be benchmarking
space, website buildout, etc.) that make
the operation wildly unprofitable on •• Embrace digital jobs as normal. If ordinary
themselves against the
the whole (though seemingly cautious Canadians don’t become conversant Internet Retailer’s Top
when only the variable costs are taken with the leading edge of technology 500 rather than the
into account). Do the hard work, and and digital enterprise, the best minds
semi-successful company
stop dismissing what is in fact real will continue to drain away due to a
consumer behavior screaming for lack of both opportunity and peers. Our
down the street. The real
granular analysis. industry needs to be normalized and problem, of course, is that
valued as simply a part of the economy. the comfort level of doing
•• Know the role models. Many young Today we’re still seen as representing
“just so well” is tempting.
Canadians I’ve encountered in formal either of two extremes—taking insane
business courses were not aware of risks and living in a cardboard box, or The driven minority,
Techcrunch, Yelp, Zappos, and many lucking into lottery-like wealth—as
though, seek to have
other mainstays of digital business if the profession is worth discussing
culture. This is inexcusable. The best only for its financial upside, not for its
something more impressive
students are the self-taught exceptions. substance. Until people get it, it’ll be up than “+1” engraved on
There’s no guarantee that these self- to us to evangelize the merits of things their tombstones.
starters will get great jobs out of the like search and display advertising
gate, but over time, they usually prevail. (better targeting), online procurement levels of success far ahead of what is needed
(reducing friction in the economy), and to maintain a great lifestyle.
•• Look for smart partners and communities. all of that good stuff. Yes, it was obvious The driven minority, though, seek to
Canada is full of half-baked digital in 1999, but that doesn’t mean people have something more impressive than “+1”
companies that go nowhere, fueled by are quite comfortable with it yet. engraved on their tombstones. If and when
family money and vanity investments. they do succeed, you can bet that the aver-
Dumb money loses out to savvy, skill, age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-
and passion. Conclusion ratives will be only too happy to take partial
Not everyone is going to create the next credit … not to mention taxing the bejeesus
•• Risk your own money. Funding at the Radian6. The Internet Retailer’s Top 500 is out of them.
appropriate stage can be an important pretty rarefied territory and represents more
accelerator, but the founders of success than the vast majority of startups— Andrew Goodman is founder
companies like FreshBooks, Acquisio, let alone well-known, established retailers— and President of Toronto-based
PlentyofFish, and HomeStars put in can attain. However, Canadians should at Page Zero Media, a full-service
their own money, perhaps with the least be benchmarking themselves against marketing agency founded in
support of family and friends, before these success stories rather than the semi- 2000. He is also co-founder of
they did formal fundraising. It’s not successful company down the street. The Traffick.com, an award-winning
always possible to bootstrap, but real problem, of course, is that the comfort industry commentary site, and author of Winning
companies like these prove that you level of doing “just so well” is tempting. It Results with Google AdWords.
don’t have to raise huge sums of money may even seem irrational to want to reach a
Don’t miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto:
•• Made in Canada: Marketing Online Worldwide—Monday, June 11, 2:00pm–3:00pm
Register
•• Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing Industry—Tuesday, June 12, 3:00pm–4:00pm
8 SES • June 2012 {Toronto}

11. MARKETING
INSIGHTS focus
Beyond the Border
The Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners
by Dave Davies
I
f you live and work in Canada, you may in mind that since you don’t own your .com websites across Canada passed through the
think of the Internet as a free space in domain, the US government could confiscate US at one point or another. Net neutrality
which to share ideas, sell products, and it, however unlikely that may be. legislation would have an influence on these
interact with others, with no restrictions paths.
other than those imposed by the Canadian SOPA and PIPA
government for the protection of its people. You’d be wrong to think that the Stop Online Data Security
It’s reasonable to believe that if you com- Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act Many of us collect data on our sites; many of
ply with these laws, you will maintain the (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi- us store this data on our servers. Under the
health of your website. Unfortunately, this ness. If you use or provide resources (or, let’s law, the US government can seize or review
isn’t entirely the case. The United States gov- be honest, are believed to provide resources) this data at any time if your site is hosted at
ernment has significant power over how the that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov- a US hosting facility.
Internet functions, right down to how you ernment, your site could be blocked, your You may ask, “But I’m not storing any-
use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s search traffic eliminated, and more. Although thing illegal, so who cares?” Your clients
on which your site travels are treated. neither bill has passed, similar legislation may. If you’re a lawyer or doctor, or if you
probably will. store any other information on your server
Domain Name Ownership “I’m not worried. I don’t run an illegal that may be deemed confidential, you may be
Many people don’t realize that they don’t actu- torrent site,” you may say. The laws as they violating the law in hosting it in an environ-
ally own their own domain names; they rent were drafted apply to any copyright infringe- ment that is subject to seizure.
them. It’s a subtle difference, but when com- ment and designate the website owner as the
bined with the fact that the US government culpable party. For example, if you operate a What You Can Do
owns and controls the .com top-level domain forum and one of its members posts content The purpose of this article isn’t to scare you.
(TLD), it brings up a whole new set of con- from, say, a movie script, your site could be I’ve done business primarily in the US and
cerns, as the owners of Bodog.com discovered. blocked and search engine traffic eliminated. hosted the Beanstalk site there since the
Bodog.com was a Canadian-owned online This would be a big punishment for adding a company was formed, and I haven’t had any
gambling site. In February, the US Depart- forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi- issues stemming from these laws. That said,
ment of Justice and Homeland Security tors. While I’m not stating that the US gov- it’s extremely important to understand and
Investigations seized the domain name, ernment would go to this extreme every time, monitor the direction that legislation is tak-
while a US federal grand jury charged its four a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site ing and the potential impact, and to safe-
owners with conducting an illegal sports a target, however innocent your intentions. guard yourself against litigation, embarrass-
gambling site and conspiracy to commit ment, reduced or eliminated traffic, slower
money laundering. The indictment alleges Net Neutrality Legislation speeds for your visitors, etc. Knowing what’s
that Bodog moved at least $100 million from While I hold the unpopular opinion that happening and how it affects your website
offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland. ISPs have a right to charge what they like will help you react quickly.
“Sports betting is illegal in Maryland, and for their bandwidth and that the free market For example, if network neutrality legis-
federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout- should sort out what this means, there is no lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom
ing that law simply because they are located doubt that US rules and regulations regard- in how they charge for bandwidth, ensuring
outside the country,” stated US attorney Rod ing net neutrality would have a major impact that you’re hosted on a network with priority
J. Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today). on Canadian site owners. The speed of your should be step one. And you might as well
As this case shows, the US government site is dependent on the speed of the Inter- buy that .ca domain as a backup. After all,
can seize any .com site regardless of the loca- net between your web host and the visitor. If just because you’re being paranoid doesn’t
tion of the business operation or its hosting your visitors are in the US or if your site is mean you’re wrong.
provider. This principle of government own- hosted there, you would be affected.
ership is logical for country-based domains You may point out, “My site is hosted Dave Davies is CEO of Bean­ talk
s
(such as .ca), where the issuing government in Canada and my clients are in Canada.” SEO Services, an organic SEO
can take control of a domain rented by one of Unless your clients are in close proximity to firm in Victoria, BC. He wrote the
its citizens, but .com is the Internet go-to for your host, your data is going to take various second edition of SitePoint’s s
countless non-US businesses. You may think, routes between the site and visitors. Many Kit and hosts a weekly radio
“That’s OK. I don’t run a poker site.” Just bear tests I ran from my office in Victoria, BC, to show on Webmaster Radio.
sesconference.com • SES 9

12. focus MARKETING
INSIGHTS
Make Your Client-Agency Relationship Work
Three Considerations When Choosing a Partner
by Julie Batten
S
earching for a new digital agency is for in an agency, and consistently apply that ensure that projects are delivered within
a lot like searching for a mate: you as a filter when evaluating potential part- budget and timelines. They should also be
spend a lot of time seeing other peo- ners. It is critical that you choose an agency able to demonstrate that they have sufficient
ple (the RFP process); you eventually based on a realistic evaluation of your needs resources in place to deliver on multiple con-
narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the and whether their core competencies align current work streams.
short-list); and eventually you think you’ve with these. If you’re looking for a digital
found “the one” (the winning agency). After agency that can offer innovative solutions Does the Agency Play Well with Others?
much wooing and negotiation, you agree to to engage your audience, don’t let yourself Relationship Buster: Most clients have mul-
move in together (onboarding), and the real get wooed by a flashy creative presentation tiple agency partners—typically, at least a
“getting to know each other” officially begins unless you’re sure that they have the chops creative/offline agency and a media agency
(the client-agency relationship). to deliver on the technology side. Alterna- in addition to their digital agency. Clients
The first couple of months are usu- tively, if you already have a skilled IT team sometimes assume that all partners will
ally pretty blissful: both parties are filled in house and really need a strong strategic work towards a common goal and that inte-
with hope and positivity about the excit- and creative shop, be sure that they can bring gration will naturally take place. However,
ing adventures (programs/tactics) to come. their creative A-game. some agencies tend toward a protective or
But you inevitably find out things that you even combative nature when working with
didn’t know before and that you may not Have a clear understanding other agencies, creating a host of problems
like. Things get a bit bumpy, and you start of what you need and when interdependencies are present between
to become disenfranchised with your part- both agencies’ initiatives.
what you’re looking
ner. Gradually everything starts to unravel
—all of a sudden a year has gone by and
for in an agency, and Relationship Saver: Prospective partners need
you’re threatening to break up if your mate consistently apply that as to be able to demonstrate the ability to get
(agency) doesn’t get his or her act together! a filter when evaluating along with others. Your agency should be
It doesn’t have to be this way. There is able to point to specific examples of how they
potential partners. It is
a way to maintain the honeymoon period have worked with other agency partners in
indefinitely. It really starts with choosing the
critical that you choose an a harmonious and mutually beneficial way.
right partner in the first place. Onboarding a agency based on a realistic They should demonstrate the ability to take a
new agency is a huge investment, so make evaluation of your needs. leadership role in coordinating cross-agency
sure that the agency you choose is going to collaboration and integration, and have an
work out in the long term. Ask the following Does the Agency Have the established process for helping to define and
questions about a prospective agency before Proven Ability to Deliver? document roles and responsibilities among
making your decision: Relationship Buster: Clients sometimes under- agency partners.
estimate the importance of delivery in digi-
Do the Agency’s Skills Closely tal programs. It is easy to get distracted by There are many other factors to take into
Align to Your Needs? cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider consideration when choosing a new digital
Relationship Buster: While this may seem whether these programs can realistically be agency partner, but avoiding the pitfalls
obvious, often client-agency relationships deployed on time, on budget, and at a high- above should increase your chances of a long
fail due to mismatches between the cli- quality level. and successful union. Happy hunting!
ents’ needs and the agencies’ competen-
cies. Agencies do a good job of downplaying Relationship Saver: Verify agencies’ track Julie Batten is VP strategy,
their weaknesses and selling their strengths, records in deploying similar solutions in a digital media, at Klick
sometimes giving clients distorted represen- timely and efficient manner. They should be Health, focused on online
tations of their capabilities. Clients can also able to provide case studies of similar work media and digital. She
become enamored of specific strengths that successfully delivered for other clients, and brings a wealth of experi-
aren’t even top priorities for the firms. clearly articulate their process for taking ence in search marketing,
a high-level solution/strategy to detailed digital media, and all facets of digital strat-
Relationship Saver: Have a clear understand- tactical implementation plans. Strong proj- egy to bear, helping Klick’s clients develop
ing of what you need and what you’re looking ect management competence is critical to innovative digital solutions.
10 SES • June 2012 {Toronto}

13. SOCIAL
INTEGRATION focus
Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad
The Challenge of Developing Practical, Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment
by Jim Hedger
S
ocial media is public relations. Social beginning to understand the fuller implica- From studying how
media is inclusionary. Social media tions of UGC on search and the web.
Facebook alters user
is necessary to compete with your Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will
competitors. Social media is today’s address social media measurement, engage- behaviors to finding
big thing. ment, and techniques. Each of the speakers correlations between social
Social media is also tomorrow’s next big addressing social media has developed his signals and search engine
thing. More appropriately, some form of or her own techniques and tactics based on
placements, social media
social media application is tomorrow’s next personal experience and shared knowledge.
big thing. Yesterday’s appears to have been Each of them will say that every social media has dominated search
Pinterest, which is threatening to displace experience is unique. Each will maintain that marketing discourse by
Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places. the very best social media experience is one becoming a more popular
As digital marketing experts, we are calling that promotes authenticity and earnest con-
form of public directory.
on our clients to invest increasing amounts nection over marketing and promotion.
of time, staff, and money in an area that is As the digital marketing environment To say that you understand
evolving too quickly for us to fully under- changes, so must the priorities of digital
the impact of social
stand. The benefits of increased traffic are marketers and the clients we serve. While
obvious, but the return on investment on a it’s always about driving good traffic, the media on search would
wide spread of social media profiles can be digital marketing landscape is transforming be a vaguely worded lie.
somewhat harder to quantify. more rapidly than ever before. Social media
is continuously extending frontiers, and new marketers when trying to convince small
The Changes in Social Media areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be businesses and corporate clients that bud-
With over one-third of the adult population created and user intent can be ascertained geting time and money for social media is
using Facebook, Canadians constitute one of and harnessed. important.
the largest national social media footprints To say that social has had an impact To be authentic in the truest sense, cli-
in the world. Being early adopters, Canadian on search would be an understatement; for ents would do the work in house. However,
Internet users became amazingly social search marketers, this shift has not been in-house SEO/SMM is often impractical for
amazingly quickly. Unfortunately, many, if subtle. Moving away from its fascination the smaller businesses that make up the
not most, Canadian businesses have not kept with search, SEO has for the last two years vast majority of clients. This means that
up. This isn’t just because Canadian compa- focused on social. From studying how Face- the service must be either outsourced to a
nies don’t fully grasp the social part of the book alters user behaviors to finding cor- third party or performed by a digital market-
medium; it’s also because the budgeting and relations between social signals and search ing agency. It is a huge challenge for digi-
planning necessary to create an effective engine placements, social media has domi- tal markers to help clients be authentic in a
social media presence is daunting on paper nated search marketing discourse by becom- constantly evolving environment that none
without a clear understanding of benefits. ing a more popular form of public directory. of us fully grasp.
Social media applications have existed To say that you understand the impact of Digital marketers face a number of other
for almost as long as the commercial web. social media on search would be a vaguely issues when guiding clients in the social
Early social media applications such as worded lie. Nobody understands exactly how sphere. It is really difficult to know whether
Classmates and Friendster acted as basic social meshes with search. Witness Google+. the plethora of random information linking
connectors. They weren’t great for commu- to clients’ websites is beneficial or detrimen-
nication among users, but they provided an Getting Clients to Be Social tal. We have to push our clients into actively
ideal foundation on which all subsequent Trying to figure out how to integrate social participating in an arena that they don’t
social media applications could build. Web into search is akin to integrating apples with fully understand, or we have to try to recre-
2.0, which came on the scene in 2003, was oranges, kiwis, strawberries, grapes, cottage ate their voices ourselves, and authenticity
a breakthrough that allowed users to inter- cheese, and bananas. It’s easy to spot, iden- is very hard to engender in the second- or
act with websites and with each other. This tify, and describe the effects of an apple; it’s third-party voice. Lastly, we have to quan-
was the dawn of the user-generated content not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad. tify a return on investment that translates to
(UGC) era. Nearly ten years later, we’re just This creates yet another problem for digital
continues on page 13
sesconference.com • SES 11

14. focus SOCIAL
MEDIA
The State of Google+, One Year Later
Google Hasn’t Yet Carved Their Niche in Social, but Do They Even Need To?
by Miranda Miller
A
s the first birthday of Google’s latest anticipation around the launch. In the weeks services under one umbrella. They said that
baby draws near, the organic search following, however, Google+ would struggle this would be better for users. Many dis-
and paid advertising behemoth con- to connect with brands; their brands, in turn, agreed, some agencies threatened to inves-
tinues to struggle to find their would struggle to connect with a user base tigate, and users protested, yet perhaps the
niche in social. A year ago, Google+ was just worth marketing to within the Google+ widest-ranging and most important change
a rumor; Google would deny the existence of network. in Google’s policies went off as planned on
a social project until the very day it launched April 1.
in late June. Google doesn’t need to seek Also in January, a month marked by a
In that year, they’ve launched, expanded, out partners, who offer flurry of announcements from the search
experimented, and redesigned the service, services users might opt giant, Google changed the sign-up process
incurring the verbal wrath of competitors for many of their services. Those signing on
Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-
into, to share data back and for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-
sions. It’s been a whirlwind for Google+ and forth. They already have matically assigned a Google+ account. Prom-
all fifteen of its loyal users. the data; they’re collecting inent markers appeared in the navigation bar
I kid. To be fair, there is a small but dedi- it from millions of websites every time users visited a Google property,
cated group of core users in the Google+ net- urging them to check out their notifications
work. Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Vic Gundotra,
and user actions. on the social network.
and the rest of the crew have become old Whereas Facebook’s data
pros at dodging questions about the num- Why Engagement Is Incidental
ber of actual active users, but we can safely
pool shows more intent Only Google knows how effective this was at
assume that it’s nowhere near Facebook’s on the part of users, actually getting people to the site, although
850 million. Does it need to be? Google reigns supreme in I suspect that user engagement was only
the low-intent market. a secondary goal at best. In response to a
Google’s Busy Year scathing WSJ.com article ticking off the
What Google has accomplished with Google+ As Google began integrating brand Page “mounting minuses” at Google+, I wrote an
in under a year is nothing short of amazing. results in seemingly dominant positions in article explaining why low user counts and
June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a the organic search listings, other compa- engagement might not matter to Google.
social network. Over the summer, tech jour- nies began to cry foul. Hot on the heels of Facebook has had to find outside partners,
nalists and analysts were positively wooed, that development, Google made their latest nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-
keeping a watchful eye on every indicator foray into social search, Google Search Plus ronment, and build out their ecosystem over
(precise or not) of increasing traffic and Your World (SPY World, anyone?), in early a period of years in order to gain access to
user activity on Google+. The Washington January. Twitter, for one, lost it quite pub- the type and depth of user data they need to
Post even announced in August that “Google licly, announcing, “We’re concerned that as a power their advertisement business. Google
Plus could be the fastest-growing site in result of Google’s changes, finding this infor- is transitioning the other way: from an
history.” In all of history! Well, as long as mation will be much harder for everyone. We advertising and data powerhouse to a social
we’ve had websites, anyway. (The original think that’s bad for people, publishers, news platform. They already have an incredible
comScore report noted that it was the fast- organizations and Twitter users.” Their con- reach, largely through their DoubleClick ad
est site to reach 25 million unique visits. In cern stemmed partly from the possibility network and dozens of properties.
what can only be described as a bizarre game that Google might have been abusing their They don’t need to seek out partners, who
of cyberjournalism, this report morphed into dominance in their core industry, search, to offer services users might opt into, to share
Reuters’ claim that Google+ “attracted 25 excel in the realm of social, largely Twitter’s data back and forth. They already have the
million users” and The Washington Post’s and Facebook’s territory to that point. The data; they’re collecting it from millions of
assertion that “Google has 25 million old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced, only websites and user actions, often without the
users.”) to peter out again within a few months. users’ explicit knowledge that they’re being
Google+ launched business Pages on Later in January, Google again stunned tracked at the time. Whereas Facebook’s
November 7. Pages were already popu- users and analysts with the announcement data pool shows more intent on the part of
lar on Facebook, and since Google+ hadn’t of an amalgamated privacy policy, one that users—they liked something, they shared
included them at the start, there was a lot of would bring user data from all 60+ of their something else—Google reigns supreme in
12 SES • June 2012 {Toronto}

15. SOCIAL
MEDIA focus
the low-intent market. They know when and working group aims to define first and third and all manner of things are being shared, or
where you check your email on your Android. parties. Advertisers will not be satisfied withovershared, on the front end of Google+, the
They know the types of videos you search for poorly targeted paid search and display ads, real action occurs behind the scenes. Google
and watch on YouTube. so Google and other ad companies need the doesn’t really need you hanging out on the
This is a fantastic thing for advertisers. data. However, users need their privacy. Google+ site all day long; they just need you
For users … not so much. Yet users sign up to have an account and do everything you
for Google accounts in droves, opting into Conclusion would normally do on the web in the course
Google+ without a second thought. Track- What we are seeing in the current online of a day—and don’t mind if they tag along
ing goes beyond the actions users take while advertising environment is a precarious while you do it.
signed in to a Google service; interacting balancing act, with Google perched square Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best
with a +1 button on a website, for example, in the middle, teetering from side to side. in September when he proclaimed that
could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Everyone in the industry and even in the “Google+ is Google itself.” Indeed.
Google properties for a period of time. mainstream media has their eyes on Google+.
The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec- Google has certainly given us plenty to talk A staff writer with Search En-
tion Working Group will have huge ramifi- about: Hangouts with Obama, seemingly gine Watch, Miranda Miller co-
cations for the online advertising industry, constant updates and new features, and even ordinates the annual Translit-
especially for Google. If users click a +1 a recent redesign, complete with new naviga- eracy Conference for Ontario
social icon, is that really an interaction with tion and profile pages. educators, manages a small
Google? Have they really indicated the intent We can’t forget, though, that Google+ is number of social media cam-
to share data with Google for the next 24, 36, just one cog in the wheel that drives Google’s paigns through an agency, and serves on the Ca-
or 48 hours, from every website they visit 44% stake in the $486 billion global adver- nadian Hemophilia Society’s Advisory Board for
that might show Google ads? These ques- tising market (see report by ZenithOpti- their Code Rouge awareness project.
tions have no answers right now, but the media). While slick photos, funny updates,
Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad
continued from page 11 the big three, we still end up chasing clients social media learning curve. By sticking
to convince them to monitor and maintain to the most trafficked social networks and
common sense better than to the dollars and their social networks. We do recommend deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-
cents that our clients’ creditors understand. secondary social networks such as LinkedIn, sary, my company believes that we’ve found
In practice, my firm generally limits our Pinterest, and Foursquare as they apply to a balance our clients can live with.
recommendations to the big three of Face- clients and as clients can afford our training SES Toronto will provide a valuable
book, Twitter, and Google+, placing other and application rates. forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-
social networks into an “advisably optional” We know that we are missing traffic, but cuss the problems inherent in social media
category. Our clients have enough difficulty we balance this drawback by being practical. marketing.
wrapping their heads around Facebook and In cases where we have to act as social media
Twitter without worrying about other net- coordinators for our small to medium-sized Jim Hedger is a founding part-
works. We include Google+ in the mix only business clients, exposing them to only the ner of the Toronto-based
because of the “rel=author” support, and big three limits our need to bill for out-of- search and social media mar-
because we believe that Google actively control charges for allotted work time. It keting agency, Digital Always
favors websites associated with Google+ also helps to ease clients into expanding Media. He has an extensive
profiles. their own social media participation and background in SEO dating to
Training businesses to promote their interaction. the late 1990s. He leads the SEO and content cre-
ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ ation teams at Digital Always Media.
is relatively easy, and teaching them Twit- Conclusion
ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly Digital marketing professionals have to make
harder. Even though we limit our advice to a lot of choices as we steer clients along the
sesconference.com • SES 13

16. focus CONVERSION
& ROI
The Conversion Optimization Life Cycle
Which Advice Should You Follow, and Which Should You Avoid, in Structuring Your Optimization Program?
by Garry Przyklenk
C
onversion optimization has been 4. Test product and service recommendations. across the rest of your site may com-
around for a while, but its benefits The art of the upsell is best exhibited by promise new visitors’ trust and result
are hard to ignore. These include e-commerce giants such as Apple, Ama- in higher abandonment.
reduced cost of acquisition through zon, GoDaddy, and Dell. If you’re able to
digital marketing, increased customer satis- measure cart abandonment on your site, 3. Tip to avoid: Add trust marks to your land-
faction and retention, increased average rev- you’re ready to start testing product and ing pages. While I certainly can attest
enue per order, and improved search engine service recommendations to increase to the conversion lift that trust marks
rankings. In order to reap the rewards of an your average revenue per order. can provide on an e-commerce site,
optimization program, you need to know landing pages are somewhat different.
where to start, what to avoid, and how to 5. Evaluate pathways from top entry pages. In most cases, getting visitors to click
develop your program for long-term success. Entry pages to your site are a bit harder on links deeper in your site to privacy
to optimize because referred traffic statements and certificates can be a
Getting Started through search or other websites isn’t more powerful way to convert skeptical
Do-it-yourself small business owners, digital always continuous or predictable, but prospects.
marketers, and web analysts tend to inherit it’s usually free. Measure common path-
a lot of excess baggage, so focusing on only ways from entry pages to determine 4. Tip to avoid: Boost your brand with tes-
one or two sore spots on a website is often how content can be changed to reduce timonials and client logos. In B2B cam-
difficult. Consider these top five places to bounce rate; you may just improve your paigns, association with large-scale
start: search rankings at the same time. brands with which you do business can
boost conversion, especially for start-
1. Optimize paid search landing pages. Look- Growing the Base ups, but do your due diligence by seek-
ing for big impact right away? Optimize Once you’ve started building quick wins ing written approval for logo usage and
those paid search landing pages and in your conversion optimization program, recommendations. The last thing you
start counting the money you save on you’ll want to maintain that momentum and want is conflict with a long-term lucra-
search marketing immediately. Vary expand your effort to other areas of your site. tive client.
your value proposition, urgency, pricing, Unfortunately, many marketers fall into the
product mix, and form length. trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice, 5. Tip to avoid: Incentivize your prospects
so try to avoid or at least question the fol- with freebies, calls for urgency, and pro-
2. Examine internal search results pages. lowing five optimization tips that can hurt motions. While these tactics can elicit
Searches performed on your website conversion rates: a strong positive reaction among first-
often yield the best (and cheapest) way time visitors, they can have very unde-
to judge the voice of the customer. 1. Tip to avoid: Keep your copy short, sharp, sirable effects on lead quality. Many
These searchers are committed visi- concise. It’s hard to argue that trimming visitors are conditioned to perform
tors who probably aren’t finding what the overall content on a landing page microconversions such as lead forms
they want intuitively. Look at queries would be anything but successful for without reading anything else on a
with no results, top queries that should most campaigns, as it reduces the prob- landing page. Don’t be afraid to lose a
be satisfied through navigation, and ability that a landing page will over- few cheapskates on your landing pages
perhaps synonyms you didn’t consider whelm a prospect. However, providing who would otherwise sacrifice your
when writing creative. less information may hurt overall con- profitability.
version rates over time or, worse still,
3. Enhance your help sections. Areas on a lower average revenue per order. Planning for the Future
website dedicated to helping people are Now that you’re well on your way to optimi-
most often frequented by loyal custom- 2. Tip to avoid: Remove or de-emphasize zation nirvana, you’ll want to expand your
ers who would rather solve problems primary and secondary navigation from program beyond online impact and start
on their own than cost you money by the template of your landing page. Fewer leveraging your online success for dramatic
calling or emailing support staff. Help escape routes make prospects more cross-channel maturity. Here are five things
them help you by optimizing help docs, likely to continue along your chosen to consider when bridging conversion opti-
downloads, and public service messages. path. However, a lack of consistency mization to business process optimization:
14 SES • June 2012 {Toronto}