Just as last year, Google succeeded in predicting the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Based on an analysis of search queries Google was able to point out that Lena, the German contestant, would win Eurovision by a landslide.

Next year, remind me to put my money where Google’s mouth is…

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When evaluating the traffic sources in your web analytics tool you should particularly pay attention to the list of search terms your visitors used to find your website. Not only is it important to look at the top keywords, also the type of keywords (breadth) and the length of the list (depth) indicate how well you score in terms of search visibility.

During recent analyses I found that brands:

1. rely too much on brand-led terms in search.
2. mistakenly attribute these keywords (e.g. “brandname” and “brandname.com”) to their natural and paid search efforts, whereas in fact this should be counted as direct traffic.
3. aren’t fully aware of the context in which customers use, need or search for their products.

Or in the words of Epiphany’s Director of Search, Andy Heaps:

It’s not necessarily that big brands are complacent when it comes to search - it’s more that the potential of search isn’t always understood, so isn’t seen as a priority. Brands are also often blinkered by the comfort that comes from brand traffic they receive, that they often neglect the fact that larger exposure is available through more generic search terms.

That is why the search marketing agency now challenges the list of UK superbrands by exploring their visibility within the search landschap. You will notice that their ranking of B2C brands differs greatly from the standard list.

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