There was the Search Insider Summit in Captiva, Fla., which Gord Hotchkiss hosted a panel/ clinic on eye-tracking analysis of Web sites.  His focus was on post-click optimization.

Gord Hotchkiss

The importance does not need to be underscored:  marketers are looking for ways to show a higher return on investment for spending in SEO, PPC and other online channels.

If there was one single takeaway, it was this: enable this type of testing early in the discovery and design process of Web site and landing page development, testing multiple creative comps, architecture, and messaging on groups that represent targeted users, in addition to testing the pages with a paid search campaign.

• Paid Search: Most effective types of pages were specifically targeted landing pages
• Using Own Page Sites is common when: many brand and DR marketers use their site pages as landing pages for very large spends, even though many of these sites were developed without the search user experience and conversion process in mind. Generic approach for multipurpose use.
• Paid Landing Page: Difficult to scale from an enterprise level standpoint; additionally tough to tweak down the road.

Takeaways from the overall discussion regarding development:

• Set up a testing lab, or hire someone to do it for you.
• Get media stakeholders involved early in the development process.
• Test multiple creative comps, architecture, and messaging with your target group, for both direct navigation experience, and also effectiveness in paid search.
• Use prior performance knowledge to inform redesign or landing pages.
• Build in the ability to test and change.

You can find the article in it’s entirety over at MediaPost

Susan Boyle video virality

We reside in an interesting times.  This has nothing to do with the economy or government, although these days any conversation seems to be tied to one of those two culprits.  This is about the unbelievably grey transition of technology in its most modern, potent form.

We have come a long way, and I often tout that the best technology is truly ubiquitous; it seamlessly and naturally blends in with our lives as if it were there all along.  Cell phones are certainly a fortuitous example.

But where are we now?  We are at a time where a never heard of British phenomenon has received more attention and awareness than what Superbowl ads strive for at millions a pop.  Yet… YET, YouTube has still yet to find a way to monetize this monumentally mammoth sensation.  Ironically, sensation is the name of the game.  Where’s the capture?  Modern news media focuses on sensationalism daily; gotta go for the attention-getters.  Sex sells, etc.

So where does this all leave us?  Well, a gap for one.  We are at a turning point where conventional media is turning to social media.  The burdens of overhead are shifting to outsourced expenses for services, to sacrifice the silver lining that contributes to the bottom line.

It is time to innovate.  It is time to stick our heads forward, confidently.  I am not a large proponent of ‘2.0′, as I believe the term to be thrown around so loosely, much like HD and going Green.  Yet, we are emerging on business 2.0, across all spectrums.  Much like the industrial revolution inherently set the landscape for the 20th century, we are now embarking on a new journey.

We have set foot on the technological revolution; the digital revolution.