GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 27 - February 2014

REVEALING YOUR STRENGTH TOO EARLY “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem in- active; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.” – Sun Tzu The trick to nailing the World Cup is tim- ing. Ideally, this means ranking in the highest possible position for the transac- tional phrases the day before the opening kickoff for your target country’s first game of the tournament. Achieving these positions too early re- sults in escalation of competition as your competition jostles for position. This year I expect negative SEO to make up part of many SEOs’ strategy in the lead-up to that golden moment. TARGETING THE WRONG COUNTRY – SERIOUSLY, IT HAPPENS! This should be obvious, but you’d be surprised how many SEOs are targeting countries which failed to qualify for the World Cup. This will attract the more sophisticated players. These punters are playing to win. These are not mass-market punters making emotional bets. As I say, it’s obvious but still a common er- ror based on what I am seeing. You know who you are! DON’T JUST LOOK AT VOLUME OF QUERIES It’s a big world out there, so you need to get into the mindset of the local punters. Consider that player values, available vol- umesandpromiscuitydiffermassivelyfrom country to country, so don’t be influenced entirely by local historic search volume. Google Trends is your friend; it will pro- vide you with all the historic search query data by country. Use common sense to de- termine aspects of lifetime value, includ- ing promiscuity. In territories where the mainstream advertising is saturated with betting brands, expect promiscuous play- ers to jump from brand to brand. Remember . . . • This is the greatest sporting event on earth! • Enjoy the ride! Paul Reilly is the founder of MediaSkunkWorks, which dissects the traditional agency model, building world-class, hand-picked specialist teams either in house or as an outsourced think tank and creative problem-solving service. MediaSkunkWorks has built its reputation on innovation and optimized methodologies that really do deliver results. With over 13 years’ experience in Search Engine Optimization, Paul is among the most experienced and influential professionals in the industry. If you have any specific questions e-mail me directly at paul@mediaskunkworks.com or follow me on http://twitter.com/paulreilly or stalk me on http://foursquare.com/user/paulreilly 45 Top-five World Cup SEO mistakes