Jonny Artis, Director of Search at Stickyeyes, discusses how Google's approach to search is fundamentally changing the way in which brands position themselves, their service and their product.

1. How Google is
forcing brands to
reassess their entire
business model.
Jonny Artis,
Director of Search, Stickyeyes.
Online: www.stickyeyes.com or call: +44 (0)113 391 2929
@stickyeyes stickyeyes stickyeyesTV

2. pg 2 Google forcing new business model
Stickyeyes is an independent, full service digital
marketing agency that combines world-class
creative thinking with innovative insights to deliver
success to some of the world’s biggest brands.
Established in the 1990’s, before Google even
existed, we have more than 120 staff in Leeds and
London, providing services including Search Engine
Optimisation (SEO), Paid Search (PPC), Content
Marketing, Social Media, Online PR, Blogger
Engagement, Insight & Digital Consultancy and
Design & Development.
We service international businesses in 17 countries,
cover 22 languages in-house and count some of
the world’s best-known brands amongst our clients,
including GlaxoSmithKline, Hertz, Hilton, ghd,
Ladbrokes and Staples.
Recently named by RAR as one of the top 10 most
recommended agencies in the UK and in the top 15
Elite Agencies in The Drum Digital Census, we’ve also
won a number of other major industry accolades in
recognition of our digital excellence. These include
Best Social Media Campaign, Best Use of Search in
Gaming, Best use of PR and the Grand Prix Award for
our work with GSK-owned Maximuscle.
About
Stickyeyes

3. pg 3Google forcing new business model
Jonny Artis is Director of Search at international
digital marketing agency Stickyeyes. He has worked
in search marketing since 2003. Recently, he has
played an influential role in the creation and ongoing
development of our multi-award winning Roadmap
tool; a truly game changing development in natural
search.
About
the Author
As featured on:

4. pg 4 Google forcing new business model
Contents
page
Pg02 - About Stickyeyes
Pg03 - About the author
Pg05 - The Shopping mall effect
Pg06 - The Undemocratic System
Pg07 - Business solutions to a digital age
Pg09 - Iteration over innovation
Pg11 - Taking advantage of the algorithmic diversification
Pg12 - What does it mean for search professionals?
Pg13 - About Roadmap

5. pg 5Google forcing new business model
The shopping
mall effect
Picture yourself in a shopping mall - a big one,
anywhere in the world. As you wander through the
frenetic maze of glitzy storefront displays, busy
escalators and stony-eyed manikins, your eyes are
drawn to the glowing insignias of the mall’s largest
stores.
With their palatial interiors, huge entrance ways
and floor spaces spanning multiple floors, they’re
unmissable. Most importantly, they’re front of
house, in the most prominent areas of the mall – the
areas packed with consumers champing at the bit to
spend their hard earned cash. They’re the big guys,
the commercial juggernauts, the household names,
and they’re there because they can afford to pay
the substantial price for the very best spots.
Then there’s the small guys (or at least, the ‘smaller’
guys). Make no mistake, they have great products,
they’re well priced and their stores are tastefully
decorated. They’re just harder to find; their smaller
units are tucked away in the darker corners of the
mall, away from the main thoroughfare of shopping
traffic. They pick up fewer sales than the big guys
because their prospective customers are less likely to
stumble across them. Why? Primarily, they lack the
financial firepower of their bigger rivals.
This commercial landscape is in many ways the
bricks and mortar embodiment of Google’s organic
search listings in recent years. Those with the
deepest pockets secured the best, most prominent
positions. Those without? Good luck.

6. pg 6 Google forcing new business model
There were, however, some problems with this
arrangement; and not only for those lagging behind
or those championing a fair and equal economic
ecosystem.
The biggest problem, it seemed, belonged to
Google. For almost as long as it has existed, the
ethos of the search giant’s ranking algorithm was
built on a democratic system – a system based on
votes, or specifically in this case, links. The trouble
of course, with any embryonic democratic system, is
it’s susceptibility to manipulation.
And so for all the money changing hands, it wasn’t
changing with Google, but rather with a growing
link buying ‘black market’. Not only that, but this
manipulation of Google’s organic rankings posed a
threat to the company’s primary source of income
– Google Adwords. Rankings shaped by corporate
budgets, rather than what’s best and most relevant,
could conceivably have a negative impact on user
satisfaction and the integrity of its results, and in
turn threaten Google’s market share. A smaller
market share equates to reduced AdWords revenue.
Naturally then, something had to change. And
whilst it may have taken some considerable time, it
seems that Google has finally fulfilled its ambitions
of accurately and successfully identifying and
chastising those attempting to exploit algorithmic
loopholes, and conversely reward those following
a nobler path of adding richness and value to the
web. For years Google has appealed to webmasters
and SEO professionals alike to take off the black
hat and ‘create quality content’ – only now are we
seeing consistent and tangible evidence you’ll be
appropriately rewarded for it.
The Undemocratic
System

7. pg 7Google forcing new business model
The answer, in my opinion at least, does not lie
within the confines of your SEO strategy per se but
rather, at the heart of your digital business model.
The importance of a unique proposition.
Let’s just get this out of the way – links still matter.
A lot. The following graph is an excerpt from our
‘Roadmap’ search technology suite. You can find
the methodology in the appendix at the bottom
of this article, but in top-line terms, Roadmap looks
at more than 300 potential ranking factors with a
view to identifying trends in performance. In this
case, we can see quite clearly that a higher Domain
Authority appears to correlate with better rankings
– the higher the DA, the better a site tends to rank.
So links in general are by no means obsolete in the
SEO mix; just the crap, cynically manufactured links
that fail to add any value. Take a look at the following
graph, which plots ranking correlation with total
linking root domains linking to a given subdomain.
Business solutions
to a digital age
75
72.5
70
67.5
65
62.5
60
57.5
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 0
Position
DomainAuthority
Mean values for Domain Authority
18k
17k
16k
15k
14k
13k
12k
11k
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 0
Position
DomainAuthority
Mean values for Root domains linking to subdomain

8. pg 8 Google forcing new business model
I don’t think it’s necessary to evidence that when
people share or link to something online in a
natural, unsolicited fashion, they do so because
it is remarkable in some way. Why would anyone,
of their own free will, share something entirely
unremarkable?
One method of encouraging that kind of unsolicited,
natural linking pattern is of course creating bespoke
content for the cause. We’re talking here about
content of all kinds; the written word, videos,
interactive infographics and so on. Every day, digital
marketers are creating and promoting these kinds of
initiatives; some successfully, others less so.
But instead of just making remarkable content, why
not make your business remarkable at its core? Why
not have a proposition or a brand story that makes
you truly unique?
Let’s briefly examine some of the places natural links
to commercial web sites commonly originate:
The first question to ask yourself is why any of the
above sources might refer to your business (in a
positive sense, crucially) over and above any of your
rivals. What makes you stand out? What makes you
remarkable? If the answer doesn’t immediately
spring to mind, it’s unlikely that they will – at
least consistently. And if you do have an answer,
is it robust enough? If you were to promote your
business’ standout feature (or features) through PR
or above the line, would you expect people to readily
talk about it (and crucially, link back)? Honesty is the
key here.
››News publications
››Online magazines
››Consumer guides
››Blogs
››Forums

9. pg 9Google forcing new business model
If,inthecoldlightofday,yourbusinesscurrentlylacks
this kind of standout and substantive distinction, it’s
important to note that the answer may lie more
down the path of iteration than innovation.
Innovation implies the creation of something new
and unprecedented. Of course, creating a brand new
marketplace that is, for the time being at least, can
be highly effective but of course, if carries incredibly
high risk. Will any new market be large enough to
sustain your ambitions? Unprecedented initiatives
are also, by default, unproven.
Moreover, search is not typically a useful vehicle
for a new and innovative proposition. For example,
‘smartphones’ might well be big business today,
but search volumes were understandably low at the
point of their entry into the market.
The premise of iteration meanwhile is more about
taking something already in existence and making it
different; making it better. Perhaps the best resource
on tackling this potentially tricky task is Kim and
Mauborgne’s Blue Ocean Strategy.
Their basic framework rests on taking propositional
components taken for granted by an industry and
increasing, reducing, eliminating and introducing
certain elements to your business’ proposition. One
such example highlighted in their excellent book
is that of Cirque du Soleil. Its creators took on a
rapidly declining circus industry by removing animal
performances (a point of contention amongst
an increasingly morally aware consumer pool),
introducing a theatre-style storyline, artistic dance
and music, grander venues whilst substantially
increasing ticket prices.
The ‘strategy canvas’ (a graphical representation
of one or more business propositions) below
demonstrates how Cirque du Soleil’s offering
deviated from the traditional values taken for
granted by the industry.
The result? Cirque du Soleil soared from its humble
beginnings in 1984 to revenues of over $850m in
2010.
Iteration over
innovation
2005 2007 2009 2011 2013
Search interest in keyword “smartphone”

10. pg 10 Google forcing new business model
This, naturally, is very much an offline example with
its beginnings in a very different era to the one
we operate in today, however its principles remain
as valid as ever in the modern online arena. Retail
monolith Amazon is one excellent example of this
kindofstrategicapproachinactionwithaproposition
which could easily be mapped contrastingly against
the competition on a similar canvas.
In particular, Amazon dramatically reduced prices
andthecomplexityofbuyingonline,raiseditsproduct
range well above anything available elsewhere and
created an integrated seller marketplace so that
potential competitors worked for them, rather than
against them, further increasing Amazon’s product
range in the process.
Today, Amazon.com is the fifth most visible site in
organic search results in the US, according to Search
Metrics – only behind social behemoths Facebook
and Twitter and web institutions Wikipedia and
IMDB. Evidently, the sheer depth of Amazon’s
product portfolio is a key piece of that jigsaw,
however its dominance is equally reliant upon the
325m+ links pointing at the domain (source: Open
Site Explorer).
Crucially, those links exist primarily because the
site has, since its inception, remained distinct from
its competition, offering a wealth of tangible and
substantive benefits. It has a clear and meaningful
proposition, and it delivers it with precision.

11. pg 11Google forcing new business model
Of course, Google’s algorithm has long since been
entirely about links. A richer and more diversified
algorithm inevitably makes its results less
manipulable – a long-stated inferred goal of the
search giant.
One of the major developments we have seen in
our own data sets is an increase in consideration
for on-page engagement factors. The following two
graphs, again taken from our Roadmap technology
suite, show that healthier average visit durations
and bounce rates correlate well with top rankings.
Taking advantage
of the algorithmic
diversification
Additionally, a recent post by Bing’s Duane Forrester
drew attention to the importance of returning
visitors.
Naturally, the matter of enhancing user interaction
metrics on site is a complex one. However, the
effects of multivariate testing, conversion funnel
analysis and other related tactics will only be aided
by a foundation of a distinctive proposition that
strikes a chord with your target audience.
270
260
250
240
230
220
210
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 0
Position
AverageTimeSpentonSite
Mean values for Average time spent on site
43
42
41
40
39
38
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 0
Position
BounceRate(%)
Mean values for Bounce rate (%)

12. pg 12 Google forcing new business model
These changes don’t necessarily move the
responsibility of SEO into the remit of those with
strategic control of the business, but it does mean
that search considerations now must move beyond
the traditional basics and start asking questions at
the boardroom table. This is now an issue of how
brands operate and sell themselves, how they set
themselves apart and how they bring their brand
story to life.
Clearly, this challenge is much greater when
working with larger, more bureaucratic and less
agile enterprises than with smaller, less complex
businesses. But in an environment where pressure
comes not only from the likes of Google, but also
a more savvy and cautious society on the back of
economic turmoil, it remains an imperative nut
to crack. You don’t have to be a footwear brand
that supports children in some of the world’s most
impoverished countries, nor do you have to be a
retailer committed to customer service and fairness,
but you do have to be different and you do have to
be worthy of discussion; you have to be remarkable.
What does it mean for
search professionals?

13. pg 13
Roadmap is a proprietary tool developed by
Stickyeyes to help shed light on the specifics of
Google’s algorithm. Specifically, it considers over
300 potential ranking factors covering metrics such
as link data, on-page engagement and social factors
across a keyword set in excess of 2,000 terms.
Data is then correlated for each factor in order to
assess the apparent influence it has upon search
engine ranking. The stronger the correlation and
fewer the anomalies, the greater the likelihood the
factor in question is a key ingredient in Google’s
ranking criteria.
Development is currently underway to take
Roadmap’s capabilities a step further and uncover
the mysteries surrounding cause and effect.
About
Roadmap

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