Get More from Search - Trends in Search & Social Media

Vortaloptics Inc. has obtained a patent for its vertical search engine software. premise of the search invention is a Net-native administrative interface that gives users instant control over search results, enabling specific keywords to be associated with specific URLs within a search database.

David Gosse, CEO of Vortaloptics and co-author of the patent, assigned the patent rights over to Vortaloptics shortly after it being officially awarded on October 21, 2008 by the U.S. Patent Office. He explains how a genuine need for controllable search software prompted him to invent the software: “I wanted to create search engine software that could be controlled. The search engine that I wanted to embed into my websites and client websites needed a way to administer the results and change them so that they were more relevant for the site. So I co-invented a controllable search algorithm.”

The unique control mechanism provides flexibility to customize each URL in a search database and thus, every keyword assigned to that website.

Search results returned to users are prioritized based on relevancy (keyword match) and the total relative score of the search terms used to conduct the query. Additional relevancy and priority controls are provided via the administrative interface.

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We know that search is the #1 tool that consumers use when researching products and services but it’s interesting to see that other media continues to facilitate the motivation to search.  

In a survey conducted by BIGresearch for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, it was found that consumers are often motivated to search after interacting with other media outlets including magazines (47.2%), reading an article (43.7%), watching television (42.8%) and reading a newspaper (42.3%). Men are more likely than women to start a search after listening to the radio (34.4% vs. 24.9%) while women are more likely to respond to receiving coupons than men (41.8% vs. 29.0%).

Which outlet deserves more attention from your budget? It depends on your audience’s media patterns. Market research and studies will help you drill down the particular areas you need to focus on, but the new purchase pattern of consumers and businesses involves a multiple media approach – and that means that your business must adopt the same pattern for your marketing campaigns.

While many forms of advertising are beneficial, such as product reviews in magazines, radio ads, and relevant TV commercials, it is unlikely that the prospect will act on that information immediately. Over time, repeated exposure or a genuine need will drive your customers to a search engine where they’ll begin their decision-making process in earnest.

While we’ve been reading about this paradigm shift for a few years now, the connection is still far from seamless in the minds of so many marketers. Yet, the new reality is that advertising is a means to drive traffic to your website or to vertical sites that foster the research/purchase cycle - and that actuality can take some getting used to.

Crossing the chasm to capture the purchase cycle interest requires that you always feature online activities (search, website, communities) in the call to action in all ad campaigns. Based on the knowledge that the majority of your customers are going to look in search engines for you or visit your site directly when you’ve caught their attention, then you must gear everything you do toward that behavior.

If you’re running a magazine ad for a new high-tech add-on to an existing product, prominently feature a micro-site for that product. That micro-site can do more for conversions than 1000 full-page ads ever could. It’s about delivering the complete decision-making package to the prospect instantly: text, video demonstrations, customer testimonials, and if applicable, outgoing links to retailers/reviews/social networks that support your product. And don’t stop with creating micro-sites, practice best SEO techniques to get the most relevant content into the search engines ASAP.

Additionally, you should customize the online destination for each campaign for the audience and the product. Sometimes, a favorable product review might be the best landing page for a campaign. Or, if you have an active blog community that engages a loyal readership and creates a transparency with your brand, that might be the best scenario for a buyer demographic that thrives on casual but intelligent repartee. 

Another important realization is that your consumers will communicate with each other after they have purchased your product.

Joe Pilotta, Vice President of BIGresearch says, “Retailers must realize that online communities are now producers and through their stories are able to extend the distribution of traditional media with a trust and truth not even approximated by mass media.”

Word of mouth is a powerful tool and even online consumers are most likely to communicate about a product or service face-to-face (68.9%), but bear in mind that consumers do utilize other methods for communicating their experiences: email (53.1%), telephone (50.9%), and cell phones (30.0%). Young adults are more apt to use new media sources to communicate about products and services they have purchased, including instant messaging (37.5%), text messaging (23.7%), and online communities (20.6%).

In summary, a diverse advertising strategy is important, but it has to: 1) communicate to your audience within the media that they’re most likely to interact with; 2) drive potential customers to the Web where they will search for your brand, make their decisions and communicate with other consumers post-purchase.

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Ok, we all know we can setup an account and buy PPC advertising from Google, Yahoo! and MSN, but wouldn’t it be great if we could buy search engine positioning in hundreds of unique website search engines across the country and in industry specific markets where are users are?

Just think of it. What if there was one central website that you the advertiser could use to pick-and-choose the hundreds of sites, and specific keywords, you would like your URL to be displayed in? And they would be static URL’s. Not dynamic rotational AdWord content network partner sites which typically display irrelevant ads, but top tier websites with high page rank and low Alexa rankings. Buying a search listing in these sites means a static link to your site from hundreds of top sites on the web related to your business.

Finally, advertising in hundreds of engines all on unique domains with major SEO value and ROI for each link you buy. Hundreds of inbound links instantly created to promote your product or service – all easily administered from one site.

Sound too good to be true? Well, soon it will be a reality.

Vortaloptics is pioneering the roll-out of custom vertical search engines on thousands of websites across North America. Each search engine can be completely controlled by the website administrator to position links, advertisers and affiliates under the exact keywords the administrator or advertiser chooses. Currently the Vortaloptics network is comprised of over 500 individual websites but is growing daily with new customers in new markets.

Users win, because the search results of these websites are “shaped” to provide the exact content users are searching for. Advertisers win, because they have new vertical outlets from which to buy advertising. Site owners win because they have a better functioning website, relevant results in their own engine and revenue being generated from the links they sell.

Like newcomer PayPerPost, which enables advertisers to pay bloggers to post write-ups for a fee across national blog networks, Vortaloptics intends to empower advertisers with a single source for national advertising across a network of diversified website search engines. Combined, the anticipated traffic from these thousands of websites would equate to more then the major engines and the sites would all be vertical in nature – not generic. Better ROI for the advertiser, and better SEO for your efforts.

Stay tuned for the big announcement of a new search network with benefits that go beyond click-throughs. Visit our home page to get your own vertical search engine and become part of the network.

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Distinguishing between various makes of search engines these days requires more than just a casual knowledge of search technology. With so much focus on the big search players and their related search advertising, it can seem that there exists just one important type of search: Web search. Familiarizing yourself with the benefits of other search technologies such as vertical site search will help you get the most out of your searches, your customer relationships and your advertising dollars.

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Think you’re getting the most out of search marketing by staying loyal to the likes of Yahoo! and Google? A new study by JupiterResearch reveals that 40% of search marketers are missing out on acquisition customer opportunities with vertical sites by only buying placement in the major engines. While it may seem that you’ve just begun to unearth some keys to successful search marketing campaigns with the major search engines, it just might be time to consider what lies beyond.

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