Speed is one of the most important ranking factors in technical search-engine optimization (SEO). Besides search rankings, pagespeed directly or indirectly influences Quality Score in AdWords (and thus to click prices), and, perhaps most importantly, to the usability of website. Better usability, more conversions. PageSpeed Insights is a free service by Google to score the […]
Argument: Personas lose to ‘audience of one’
Introduction. In this post, I’m exploring the usefulness of personas in digital analytics. At Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), we have developed a system for automatic persona generation (APG) – see the demo. Under the leadership of Professor Jim Jansen, we’re constantly working to position this system toward the intersection of customer profiles, personas, and […]
Kuinka Google toimii? Keskeiset lähteet.
Googlen algoritmin tarkka toiminta on liikesalaisuus. Siihen, mitä tiedetään, paras lähde on Googlen oma sivusto. Tässä keskeisimpiä linkkejä: How search works? https://www.google.com/insidesearch/howsearchworks/thestory/ (lue kaikki alasivut) How Google works? https://www.slideshare.net/SearchMarketingExpo/how-google-works-a-ranking-engineers-perspective-by-paul-haahr (katso sisäpiiriläisen kuvaus) Googlen kolme opasta: Webmaster guidelines, Content guidelines, Quality guidelines: https://support.google.com/webmasters/topic/6001981?hl=en&ref_topic=3309300 (lue kaikki ohjeet) Hakukoneoptimoinnista löytyy paljon spekulointia – parasta on nojautua Googlen viralliseen […]
First experiences with startup user studies (ca. 2010)
I was reading through old emails while backing up my Gmail inbox with Gmvault, an open source command-line tool. Among other interesting trips to memory lane, one message was about the first startup user study I was involved with. It was for a life-coaching startup that eventually failed. In retrospect, it’s interesting to reflect on […]
Thoughts on Remora’s Curse
Remora’s curse takes place when startup attaches itself to a large platform in the attempt to solve the chicken-and-egg problem of getting users. The large platform then exercises its greater power to void the investments made by the startup into the platform, essentially causing more or less deadly delays and needs for re-design. The idea […]
Machine learning and Facebook Ads
Introduction One important thing in machine learning is feature engineering (selection & extraction). This means choosing the right variables that improve the model’s performance, while discarding those reducing it. The more impact your variables have on the performance metric, the better. Because the real world is complex, you may start with dozens or even hundreds […]
How to do political marketing on social media? A systematic process leveraging Facebook Ads
This post very briefly explains a process of using and scaling Facebook advertising for political marketing. It might not be clear for all readers, but professional online marketers should be able to follow. The recipe for political marketing by using Facebook Ads: Create starting parameters (Age, Gender, Location, Message) Create total combinations based on the […]
The Role of Assumptions in Startup Pitching
More than truthfulness of the numbers, investors evaluate the assumptions underneath a pitch. They are not asking “Are these numbers real?” but “Could they be real?”. The assumptions reveal the logic of thinking by the founders. When examining them in detail, one should get logical answers to questions like: How many sales people are needed […]
Startup due diligence: Some considerations
We had an interesting week with the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) that had invited several high-profile entrepreneurs from the US to evaluate the technologies of Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend all the sessions, but from what I saw I picked up a few pointers for due diligence […]
Social media marketing for researchers: How to promote your publications and reach the right people
Today the Social Computing group at Qatar Computing Research Institute had the pleasure of listening to the presentation of Luis Fernandez Luque about social media marketing for researchers. Luis talked about how to promote your publications and personal brand, as well as how to reach the right people on social media with your research. Luis […]