Nick Baggott's CRM and Digital Marketing Blog

Who voted for who in the UK election? A great data profiling case study

As I am sure you are aware, the Conservative Party, led by Boris Johnson, won the recent UK government election comfortably. But who voted for them and where did Labour lose out? 

Traditionally, in the UK, you would expect the Conservatives to appeal to wealthier voters and Labour to the working classes, but Brexit and the appeal of the party leaders obviously had a huge impact on who voted for who. In the Times newspaper today, there was a fascinating article profiling the voters of the main parties and I thought it demonstrates perfectly the power of data analysis. Here are some of their charts: It seems class didn't have the impact that you would expect:

But age was the key differentiator as this demonstrates:

The most astounding analysis I have seen, is what the outcome would have been if only certain ages had been allowed to vote. You can see why Labour wants to lower the age range to 16:

Just to highlight the points at the bottom of this picture (it is a screen shot from my phone, so sorry it is a bit fuzzy):

• If only 18-24s voted: Lab 600, Con 0
• If only 25-49 voted: Lab 407, Con 171
• If only 50-64 voted: Con 354, Lab 215
• If only 65+ voted: Con 575, Lab 25

Finally, did the remainers all switch to Labour and Lib Dem who were campaigning for a new referendum or to leave? Actually, not as much as those parties needed:

If you ever wondered if data could tell a story and explain a complex situation more clearly, surely this is all of the evidence you need to see the power of data analytics. 

 

Hey Siri, how does voice search affect SEO?

How does voice search affect SEO? That is probably the most common question that I am asked in digital marketing training courses at the moment. Surprisingly, Google is using the same algorithm for both text and voice based searches, but voice queries are impacting significantly however you search. So, I decided to have a look for myself. Naturally, the first thing I did was ask Siri! This is what Siri came back with: 

So, I have had a read of some of these results and done some research of my own and firstly here are some stats:

1) According to Google, 20% of all searches are voice 

2) 65% of 25-49 year olds talk to their voice enabled device every day

3) 55% of households are expected to own a smart speaker by 2022 

4) People use voice search to ask questions. 20% of all voice search queries use one of these 25 words:

5) Teens use voice search for calling their friends: 

So, what does all of this mean to marketers?

Here are my thoughts on how marketers should respond to the growing movement towards voice search:

1) The voice and text algorithm is the same, so keep doing what you are doing. Focus on making pages load quickly, having mobile enabled web sites, generating external links and all of the other typical SEO tactics

2) People search using different language when it comes to voice - we are more conversational. For example, on text based search we may search for "best local coffee shop", but when we talk to our voice activated device, like Alexa or Siri, we may say "where is the best place to get a good coffee around here?" So, when you are writing copy, try to include some Q&A style content on the page. Frequently Asked Questions could be a really important part of your web design strategy. 

3) People tend to use voice search more for local searches, so make sure your web site is optimised for local search. The example I gave in point 2 is a typical example of this. According to this useful Forbes article, 22% of voice searches are for local content.

4) Can you create content that could become a Google "Featured Snippet" that is a short piece of content (less than 29 words) , that answers a query, such as "What is a Featured Snippet". See below as a perfect example....

How to Boost Your Recruitment Strategy Using Google Ads Campaigns

This is a guest post written by Chris Anderson of Recruitment Traffic 

Online recruiters, like many companies, regard Google Ads campaign as the best form of online advertising. They are useful for obtaining quick results and quality traffic. The challenge is how to show the paid ads to your target market at the right time. When clients or job candidates are searching for recruitment services or job boards, Google will show the ads.

The difference between SEO and Google Ads

Compared to search queries and the number of visitors, organic search engine optimisation (SEO) can deliver nine visitors compared to a paid ad’s one. So why bother running Google Ads campaigns when you can get more traffic from SEO? Well, it turns out that paid ads can convert more visitors to leads or clients than organic results.

While online ads increase your chances of increased quality traffic, they will require:

• Strategic thinking.
• Proper planning.
• Constant monitoring.

However, even with all the hard work, the campaign may not work out as you expect. It’s also frustrating if you don’t know why the Google Ads campaign isn’t working. Fortunately, you can still recover by searching and modifying the sections that are hindering your campaign’s success. To do so, consider performing the following.

Improve your quality score

When running Google Adwords, ensure that your ads have the highest quality scores possible. Google gives the high points to online recruiters whose ads, keywords and landing pages are all relevant to their service offers. So, if the ads provide positive user experience and are also relevant, the quality score goes up. As a result, Google will help lower your Google Ads costs. This is the main reason why high-quality scores are of utmost importance in any Google Ads campaign.  

To boost your quality score, Google recommends improving the following elements:

1. Click-through rate

The click through rate (CTR) measures the number of clicks online recruiters receive on their ads based on the people who’ve seen them. It’s also essential that you achieve a high CTR since every click can cost money. To help recruiters obtain such a goal, they need to ensure:

• Proper matching of keywords with search queries from their target audience.
• That the Google ads contain quality and engaging text.
• That the ad’s content and keywords are the ones used by prospective clients and job candidates in their search queries.

1. Ad relevance

Recruiters can improve the impact of their ads by ensuring that:

• The keywords used in the ads are directly related to the search queries.
• They regularly update the keywords and ad text to match any new search queries.
• They use negative keywords to prevent the ads from appearing in unrelated search queries.

1. Landing page

Recruiters must recognise the value of landing pages since they are the first step in the conversion process. To improve them, ensure that:

• The page’s loading speed is optimised.
• Visitors have an easy time navigating between pages.
• The headlines can grab the attention of potential clients.
• The images and videos are engaging.
• Every page is responsive and compatible with various devices, including mobile.

Learn and make use of negative keywords

Google Ads  campaigns aren’t cheap, so it’s vital to keep the budget within acceptable limits. One way to save money is to incorporate some negative keywords in your campaigns. Once users type a search term in the negative keyword list, your ads will not appear in their searches. It won’t get clicked on by people unlikely to use your products. As a result, your quality score improves, while keeping advertising costs low.

Make sure the ads are relevant to the search terms 

It’s vital that your ads are relevant to the search terms used by your target customers. If needed, improve the ads by adding text or keywords that your prospects and leads will be likely to use. Once you adopt this strategy, your campaign will improve its chances of turning leads into customers.

Compare your campaign with the competition

By periodically checking their competitors, recruiters can:

• Assess their strategy.
• Study their strengths and weaknesses.

Any information obtained will enable them to upgrade their Google Ads campaigns and boost the conversion rate. To conduct a successful analysis, recruiters will need reliable information about their:

• Most successful rivals.
• Service offers.
• Strengths and weaknesses.
• Threats that they pose to their business.

Only by collecting pertinent data about their competitors can an organisation establish a viable plan against their Google Ads campaigns. They can manually analyse their competitor’s campaigns or use a software tool, such as SEMrush or Adbeat.

Consider targeting previous visitors

This feature allows the ads to appear to previous visitors to their site. Its purpose is to increase customer conversion for the various services they offer. Since the users have already shown interest, they will be likely to do so again.

Convince your visitors with your landing page

The web page where visitors arrive is called the landing page. Its main objective is to convert them to leads or potential clients. To do so, a recruiter has to:

• Create a straightforward headline that will entice readers immediately, since many people have an average attention span of fewer than 10 seconds. With that in mind, the title should be short and precise.
• Remove any distractions, including unnecessary images, menus, sidebars and videos.
• Make the call-to-action (CTA) persuasive enough to convert visitors to customers. A CTA is a specific action you want the visitor to make. Without it, you’ll be unlikely to convert them as clients.
• Make sure that CTAs are placed where visitors can easily see them.

On the landing page, recruiters can engage their visitors using content, images or videos. However, remember that most potential clients use mobile devices to connect online. So it pays for recruiters to optimise their landing pages for mobile devices. Also, since Google is prioritising mobile sites over desktops, this is a big incentive to do so. Another essential feature of a landing page must-have is quick loading time. Studies show that many people will be likely to leave a website that takes more than four seconds to load. So, one of the most effective ways to increase conversion is to optimise the landing page’s loading speed.

Conclusion

You shouldn’t get discouraged if your Google Ads campaign isn’t performing to your expectations. Instead of abandoning it, consider improving your strategy. You can focus on various issues and loopholes that are making your campaign underperform. Replacing irrelevant keywords and content, and optimising the best-performing ones, can give your ad campaign a boost. Also, consider optimising the keywords and text. 

Written by Chris Anderson, head of Recruitment Traffic.

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