Google introduces ‘+1’ buttons on paid and organic search results

The world of search marketing and social media is constantly changing.  Google has recently announced that it is now attempting to make search more social by introducing ‘+1’ buttons on both paid and organic search results. The ‘+1’ button has already been in operation in the US for several months now. The feature goes global today.

Analysts have predicted that the Google ‘+1’ will eventually be merged into Google’s larger social project - Google +. Google ‘+1’ will become the equivalent of Facebook ‘like’ buttons. The ‘+1’ project began in March and released the button for webmasters to add to their website earlier this month. Since then, Google has added ‘+1’ button to product pages and blogger widgets. The ‘+1’ counts have also been localised in some instances and have appeared in search results. With the introduction of ‘+1’, Google and Facebook are turning direct rivals. Recent reports from ComScore state that Google now has a whopping one billion users every month! Facebook is not far behind with over 700 million active users globally.

Developers and webmasters interested in adding the ‘+1’ button to their websites may refer to Google’s online guide. If you still need further help, you may choose to contact us. At Pipon Solutions, we endeavour to stay on top of the latest happenings in the world of paid search and SEO.

UK Online Spending Increases Again

For those of us in the digital marketing world, it is no secret that online is the place to be to sell your products.  This view has, once again, been supported by a latest report on trends in the online industry.

In latest figures released in a report by the Interactive Media in Retail group, online spending increased by 18% in the month of May compared to the same time a year before.  Much of this has been credited to the retail and alcohol industries, both of whom saw significant gains during the month in question.  According to the study, £5.3 billion was spent alone on the retail industry whilst online liquor sales increased by 25% in May compared to the previous year.

It is therefore clear that online sales continue to dominate certain industries and that it is ever more important for businesses, in particular retailers, to take advantage of this trend whilst it is at its peak.  It should be noted, however, that marketing and selling products online is not always as easy as it seems and that a few golden rules should always be followed to ensure that you are getting a return on your online investment.

Firstly, it is important that you have a basic search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy in place in order to increase natural traffic to your website.  With the majority of internet users using search engines such as Google to find their products it is imperative that your online campaign addresses this.

To coincide with your SEO campaign it is also important that a pay per click advertising campaign, however small, is conducted.  PPC will help you get quick leads, particularly since SEO is a long term strategy that can take months to generate a suitable ROI.

And lastly, to build trust with your online customers you have to ensure that as much product information as possible is provided on your website.  Due to the fact that your customers do not get to interact with you as much as they could if they were buying your products in person, it is important to give them as much detail as possible about what your product offers and the benefits it will give. This can be achieved through image and video marketing for your products.

At Pipon Solutions we are experts in conducting online marketing campaigns to ensure that your business does not miss out on the increases in online sales.  For more information about our digital marketing packages or for more information about how to optimise your online campaigns, feel free to contact us or visit or blog.

Youtube gives bloggers a boost

Youtube is the world’s largest video sharing website, with more than 2 billion views a day and 24 hours of videos uploaded every minute.  It is now offering its loyal users three new features – a logoless player, HD preview images and a new segment – ‘As seen on’.  This post will highlight these new features and assess what it means for the digital marketing world.  

Logoless player: Now you can remove that Youtube logo at the bottom-right of embedded videos. This move will definitely benefit digital marketers and corporate users who may wish to use Youtube videos on presentations and blogs. You just need to add this code (without quotes) at the end of the video – “?modestbranding=1”.

HD Preview: Currently, the preview image displayed shows only a snapshot of the low quality video. No matter how high quality the video was when you uploaded it, the preview image remained the same. From now on, anyone who uploads a video with 480p or higher resolution will have their HD image as a preview.  

“As seen on” pages: Youtube is coming out with “As seen on” pages – pages that show a playlist compiled out of the content that has been posted on a given site over a period of time. This feature will definitely be a boost for dedicated bloggers, whose loyal readers might prefer previewing videos posted on the Youtube website itself.


It will come as no surprise that these three new features will be seen as an advantage by the large numbers of businesses and digital marketers who, like Pipon, have been using YouTube extensively to market products and interact with customers.  For more information on these features and the social media marketing packages that we can offer at Pipon Solutions please feel free to contact us.  

PPC tips you need to know

As a marketer looking to promote your products through paid search, you will need to understand the workings on Pay-per-click (PPC) first. At Pipon Solutions, we’ve always focused on getting our paid search strategies right. As a step in this direction, we’ve outlined some key pointers for you to fine tune your PPC strategy.

Don’t bid on broad keywords: Broad keywords are not only too generic, they are also too competitive. In paid search, you will be much better off setting narrow or targeted keywords such as ‘XYZ tubeless tyres’ (including brand names) or ‘clear glass computer desks’ (being very specific).

Test your ad copy: PPC advertising is very similar to traditional advertising wherein you have to compete for eyeballs with other competitors. Hence it is very essential that you use the right ad copy to attract your potential customers. Use at least two variations within each ad group. When you perform such experiments, you will learn which ad copy works better. You will then be able to optimise your future ad campaigns better.

Don’t use advanced settings without adequate data: Analyse data before using advanced settings such as display network, enhanced CPC and so on. Do not use these features unless you understand their workings correctly.

At Pipon Solutions we have experience in building successful PPC campaigns that generate a solid ROI for small to medium sized businesses.  For more information about our PPC strategies please feel free to contact us, or keep visiting this blog for more PPC tips and techniques.