This week was the first of our Digital China training sessions that my agency (Regroup Media) will host around major Cities in the UK.
We plan to run similar sessions every quarter under the banner “Regroup 4 China – Digital Futures for the World’s biggest online market” which we will run with partner agencies based in China, training UK retailers on all things digital marketing for this ever growing market.
Our first session was a great success, largely thanks to the incredibly knowledgeable Cyril Drouin, who runs Bysoft China, who ran the training session at the CBBC’s offices in Victoria, London.
A big thanks to Cyril and the CBBC for what proved to be a very enjoyable and informative session.
Full details on future events can be found here on the Regroup web site:- http://www.regroup-media.co.uk/seo-ppc-and-social-training/e-commerce-training-for-china/
There are uncertain times ahead for Google and other Western giants, such as Facebook, in Russia, in the wake of increasing restrictions on Internet freedom.
Google is closing its engineering office in Russia, in what appears to be a direct response to recent laws in Russia requiring foreign firms to store Russian users’ data on servers located locally. Russian authorities say the move is designed to improve data protection, critics conversely suggest it is a veiled encroachment on foreign firms.
This is the latest ruling that is likely to affect the spirit of openness on the Internet in Russia, bloggers with more than 3,000 followers for instance are now required to register their personal information with the government, a regulation that has been described as an intimidation tactic.
So what does the future hold for Google in Russia?
Short term, Google continues to flourish in Russia.
A recent poll carried out by Morgan Stanley showed that Google is increasing its market share against Yandex, Russia’s leading search engine, with a suggested 51% of mobile users in Russia stating they frequently used Google, over 41% using Yandex.
Google’s increases on mobile may be partly attributable to the widespread use of Android in Russia, but it is estimated that Google now has c34% of the overall search engine market share in Russia. (Source liveinternet.ru – Q1 2014).
Is Russia likely to go the same way as China, in restricting Google’s modus operandi? Eric Schmidt seems to think so:-
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/12/google-closes-engineering-office-russia
We wait to see.
Regroup to run an E-Commerce in China Training session in London, on 28th November, in conjunction with China Britain Business Council, and Bysoft China.
What you need to know to successfully market to China online 1 Day Training Session.
Summary
The Chinese e-Commerce market is the largest in the World and predicted to grow exponentially in the coming years.
The digital landscape in China is very different to the West and understanding how to tap into this ever-growing market is now a necessity for Western Brands and businesses alike.
Whether you are a brand or a merchant, this training session will help you to understand the market in China and what are the steps involved to tap into this market.
Training Goals
This 1 day training session will help you understand the following:-
– Key Digital Channels – What are the key digital channels in China?
– Consumer Behaviour – What is a typical Chinese Internet users behaviour when buying online?
– Local Strategy – Why your digital strategy has to be localised for China
– Budgeting for this market – What are the key considerations?
– Logistics – How to manage online operations in China
For more information, visit the Regroup website at:-
http://www.regroup-media.co.uk/seo-ppc-and-social-training/e-commerce-training-for-china/
Rising Media’s annual Conversion Conference at London’s Olympia looks to be a belter this year, with a great line-up of speakers, and with keynote speeches from
-Tim Ash, CEO & Founder Site Tuners, and
– Scott Brinker, President & CTO i-on interactive
Looking forward to the session with Unbounce, we will be there on 29-30 OCTOBER, 2014, OLYMPIA, LONDON
Click here for early registration
http://conversionconference.co.uk/
So there has been a few weeks since Google’s latest major algorithm update- Panda 4, rolled out in May. What has been the impact?
The key thrust of Panda 4 has been a side-swipe at sites with low quality content. Nothing radical there, given that has been a key part of Google updates of late. There have been some major scalps in the process – notably eBay and Ask.com, with some commentators suggesting that outward signals suggest eBay may have just lost up to 80% of its’ organic traffic – ouch!
Some may argue that this has been coming for some time. It wasn’t uncommon to see eBay and other giants lording it up with 2 or 3 organic rankings on the same searches on Google, crowding out other specialist retailers. We know that recent Google updates have favoured the silo-ed more specialist sites, so this news isn’t altogether surprising. We believe at Regroup that this latest update may be favouring smaller sites, though still early days.
Alongside the theme of penalising sites for poor quality content, sites that have heavily used syndicated content in the past may find themselves on the receiving end of a Panda 4 punch.
Commentary suggests there have been some winners in the process – such as glassdoor.com, emedicinehealth.com, and shopstyle.com to name but a few.
We continue to watch this space.
I had the pleasure of attending the SMX conference in London this year at Stamford Bridge.
SEO events of late have been curious affairs. An air of confusion and anxiety prevails – What’s Google going to do next? How can future algorithm changes be pre-empted. In agency land, what does this mean for our Clients? All these questions and more were raised during the 2 day event.
The key thrust from an SEO viewpoint, rather reassuringly, was that SEO protocol by and large remains the same as it has for some time:-
– Content driven strategies are key
– On-page indexation protocol is key
– Link building still has a role, but quality and relevance is everything.
Nothing new there then.
Of course there was talk of Google’s next major update. See the presentation below from David Naylor on link building and what to do to future proof link strategy going forward, to avoid any issues when Google does update its algorithm next.
Also see the link below to access a good presentation by James Perrott regarding SEO tools – must haves.
Getting closer to this years SMX event at Chelsea FC on 13 & 14 May, 2014.
Here is the bulletin from SMX:-
Lenovo Vice President and General Manager Keynotes at SMX London 2014
Ajit Sivadasan manages a team spanning 10 countries worldwide, focusing on driving online and digital demand generation and brand campaigns integrated with social media, SEO/SEM, retargeting, advanced segmentation and affiliate marketing strategies. He also spearheads several marketing optimization strategies using advanced analytics and big data concepts.
Danny Sullivan Headlines at SMX London!
Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Land
SMX Chief Content Officer, Danny Sullivan, is coming over to SMX London 2014. Widely considered one of the leading search experts in the world, Danny will share his wisdom with you whilst also spending time with the delegate throughout the event discussing the burning issues.
Click here for more info:- http://searchmarketingexpo.com/london/
Scott Muir is an official blogger for SMX
I had the pleasure of attending Social Media week in NYC in February, which was combined with the Chinwag/ UKTI organised NYC Digital Mission.
During the week long stay in a snow covered NYC, key learnings from both events are summarised below:-
– Watching US television, it struck me how much more important Instagram is to US advertisers compared to their UK counterparts, with ads often directing users to Instagram instead of Facebook/ Twitter.
– Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp is intriguing, and made me think if it is truly worth $19 Billion, then what does that make China’s (equivalent) WeChat worth, with their user base of 600M (and growing)?
– I was very impressed with the Unruly lab session at Social Media week, and am convinced they have nicely cornered a potentially huge market with their analytical tools/ Social predictive methodology – here is the Unruly story:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6fmsXaBQdw.
– I was similarly impressed with a Mission visit to the Huge agency, in DUMBO (down Under Manhattan Bridge), in Brooklyn. Huge are one of the leading digital agencies in the US and clearly have an impressive set up. The ethos of open plan/ laid back exterior (dogs roaming the corridors) contrasts with the work ethic, and business acumen that has secured their place as a market-leader.
– At Regroup we have a firm view on international expansion, and I was very interested in cost-effective shared offices that we toured with the Digital Mission in the upcoming DUMBO area of Brooklyn (think Shoreditch).
All in all a great trip, and thanks to Chinwag and the UKTI for arranging such a great and informative event.For more info on the event – http://www.slideshare.net/Chinwag/digital-mission-nyc-2014-companies