Sem Workshop 201008 (Tin180 Com)

Search Engine Marketing 101

October 2, 2008

• Internet strategy• Website structure• A/B, Multivariate Testing• Traditional Media• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)• Search Engine Marketing (SEM)• Web 2.0, Social Media

Agenda

Your Takeaways

• Better understanding of the power and potential of the internet to grow your business

• New internet tactics to grow your business

• Tools to drive more website traffic covert that traffic to sales

• Conversion

The Inernet

The Internet has and is rapidly changing the way we

communicate.

We Communicate

• Email• Online Newspapers• Digital magazines• E-newsletters• Blogs• Video Conferencing• Digital Television• Social & Web 2.0

We Do Business

The Internet is changing the way we do business.

How We Do Business…

• How we prospect• How we sell• How we deliver information• How we research• How we service customers• With whom we work• Without borders• Shifting work to customers

The Internet in Perspective

“2/3rds of respondents to a recent survey said offline ads such as TV and direct mail drive them to search for a company online”

Internet Retailer Magazine

“…Officedepot.com conversion rate of 29.6% is more than a fourth larger than No. 2 1-800-flowers.com, at 20.9%”

Neilsen Online, July 08

“Web sales account for 36% of total revenue this year, up from 31% for companies that mainly sell through catalogs.”

Direct Marketing News

Gap Inc. “ Web sales rose 11% while total sales fell by 5.44% and comparative store sales fell by 10%.”


“ With product videos on www.shoeline.com boosting conversion by 44% in a test, the retailer plans to expand the program this fall.”


“Six-Year-Old News Story Causes United Airlines Stock to Plummet”

Google placed the wrong date on the news release. The stock plummeted 75% in minutes

Sept 7, 2008

“Google recognizes 1 trillion unique URLs and adds more than 2 billion new pages of content every day.”

Google Press Release

Your Internet Strategy

• Study internet leaders and innovators

• Apply tactics to your business• Make it easier for customers to do

business with you• Customer centric• Integrate on-line and off-line

The Internet is changing our lives more dramatically and faster than

virtually any other technology development in the history of the

world

Where are you going?

“Would you please tell me which way I go from here?” asks Alice to the Cheshire Cat.

The Cat grins and answers, “That depends on where you want to get to.”

“I don’t much care where” says the lost Alice.

“Then” says the Cat “it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Internet Strategy

• What is your business strategy?• How does it relate to the internet?• Study internet winners• Research your competition• Aim to be the best• Innovate• Integrate with off-line strategy

Internet Strategy

Your internet strategy defines how you build and manage your

website and integrate SEM into your overall MARCOM program.

Website Goals

• Brochure-ware website• Leads• Sales• Cut sales cycle time• Cut cost of sales• Distribute literature, manuals• Make it easier to buy• Raise money

Traffic Driving Tactics

• Traditional Media• Search Engine Optimization• Search Engine Marketing• Viral and Gorilla marketing

Traditional Media

• Print advertising• Broadcast advertising• Direct mail• Yellow pages• Trade shows

There is direct correlation between traditional media advertising and website traffic.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is the art and science of designing web pages so search engines can find and rank them,

ahead of your competition.


SEO is time consuming and requires skill and experience not found in most companies, including web

development companies.


A well strategized and tactically implemented SEO program will pay

for itself many times over.

Search Engine % of Market

Google, Yahoo and MSN make up the lion’s share of the daily search volume.

Google 56.5% US share of search volumeYahoo 23.3% US share of search volumeMSN 11.3% US share of search volumeAOL 4.5% US share of search volume

95.6%

In Google We Trust

Google is the number one ranked trusted company in the US

2008 Edelman Trust Barometer

Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient Survey

July 08 – Google recognizes 1 trillion unique urls and is adding several billion new pages per day

Google was incorporated on Sept 4, 1998

SEO – On Page Factors

• Website platform • Website design & content• Meta keywords• Website description• Page titles• Alt tags• Same site hyperlinks• Site map

SEO – Website Platform

Website Platform• ASP.Net, PHP, HTML SEO friendly• Flash, ColdFusion… not SEO

friendly• Must be linear• Must be scalable• Content Managed System (CMS)• SEO-able• w3c standards

SEO - Website Design

• Targeted to audience• Different design rules than print media• Key information above-the-fold• Easy to navigate- user friendly• Fast loading• Minimal clicks• Consider using video

SEO – Website Design 2

• Creates an overall feel without calling too much attention to itself

• Enables visitors to easily perform tasks

• Reinforce your brand without seeming like an ad

• Pay attention to keywords • Use consistent wording• Use benefit text and offers• Use call-to-action (CTA) verbs• Use logical, CTA page conclusions• Place CTA’s where eye-path ends

SEO - Content

SEO Content 2

• Make CTA balloons jump off-the-page• Be tasteful• Use text hyperlinks• Keep it clean – don’t overdo hyperlinks• Use Ariel or other “web safe” typeface y• Print writing rules do not applyContent is why visitors are coming to your website

Multivariate Split Testing

• Simultaneously test multiple variables for highest response.

• The test tool automates the process by auto swapping each option and tracks results.

Multivariate Website Testing

• Can simultaneously test web page factors to boost sales, leads, opt-ins.

• Makes use of statistical Taguchi methods to accelerate the test results.

• Let the market decide your best web page options. No need for guesswork.

• Click traffic can be expensive. Make the most of your website by boosting conversion.

• Can be used to test off-line advertising before going to print.

Test Elements

• Headlines• Sub-headlines• Offers• Body Copy• Bullets• Guarantees• Lead Forms• Calls to Action• Order Pages

• Testimonials• Price• Bonuses• Images• Graphics• Video• Audio• Fonts• Colors

Statistics Identify Winners

Track confidence intervals and conversion percentage to find best options.

Multivariate Test Case Study

Project Goal: Perform multivariate split testing to boost the web lead conversion rate for client website landing pages. Increase the lead conversion rate from less than 3% to 6% to 10% through text and graphics changes to optimized landing pages.

Actual MV Test Results

Click to Lead Conversion ratesBefore After

City/website A 3.19% 6.53%City/website B 4.06% 6.52%City/website C 2.42% 5.58%City/website D 3.92% 10.35%

Actual MV Test Results

Time Period 1/1 – 8/6 8/8 – 9/28 Clicks 22,179 4,992 Leads 707 326 Conv. Ratio 3.19% 6.53% Cost/Lead $49.80 $23.77

Lead costs decreased by 52.27%

SEO - Meta Keywords

• Use them in text• Use multiple words for the same

product, e.g. pants, trousers, slacks, breeches…

• Devote page to high traffic keywords• Don’t make keyword assumptions• Research keywords• Code keywords properly

Developing Keywords

• Words that describe your business, products & services

• General vs. specific• Short and Long tail• Study competitor websites• Use keyword search tools

http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Phrase Match Keywords

Phrase Match keywords will trigger your ad for any query that includes your keyword or phrase in the exact sequence you specify.

Example: “used book” – will appear with “used book dealer” query but not “used paperback book”

Exact Match Keywords

Exact Match is the most precise method for targeting keywords. Queries have to precisely match your keyword.

Negative Match Keywords

Negative Match keywords prevent your listing from appearing when a search includes a keyword that you don’t want and is not relevant to your business.

Embedded Match Keywords

Embedded Match is a sophisticated form of keyword matching that allows you to prevent your ad from appearing in relation to certain phrases or exact matches.

Example: When an advertiser sells merchandise related to a movie or book but not the actual book or movie.

Broad Match Keywords

Broad Match is the default setting for your keywords. This means that your word will appear when other words are included in the query.

Example: used book will show up in “buy used book”, “used and rare book” etc. searches.

Keyword Matching Options

For more information go to:www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter

Keyword toolshttp://adwords.google.com/select/

KeywordToolExternal www.wordtracker.comwww.vretoolbar.com/keywords

Short vs. Long Tail Keywords

Short KeywordHigh search volumeIncreased visibilityLess qualified traffic

Lower conversion ratePotential higher cost

Long Tail KeywordHighly qualified trafficHigher conversion rateLower cost

Low search volumeIdentifying right

keywords

Same-Site Hyperlinking

Google believes that when one page links to another page it is effectively casting a vote for the other page. The more votes cast the more relevant a page must be.

Use Hyperlinks to: visit other pages, view images, download files, run media, activate Javascripts

Hyperlink Tutorial

http://www.ironsider.ca/format_text/hyperlinks.htmhttp – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

WWW – Host name, World Wide WebIronsider – SLD Second Level Domain.ca – TLD Top Level DomainDescriptive text

<ahref=“www.ironsider.ca/format_text/hyperlinks.htm”><Creating Hyperlinks</a>

Page Titles

• Like book chapter titles• Help search engines better

understand page content• Maximum recommended length is

70 characters• Title every page for optimal results

Font Tags & CSS

• FT’s not critical for Google• Good practice – other search

engines• Use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

to separate your website’s content from its appearance

Alt Tags

• Photo and image descriptions• Search engines can’t see images• Alt Tags assign text to an image• Give search engines a way to

classify and validate content

Site Map

Site Map - blueprint of your website. Your developer can create it using a

software programSite Map is part of the Google

algorithmwww.google.com/webmaster/tools/en/

sitemap-generator.html

Blogs

• Are popular now but are falling in popularity, on B2B sites

• Costly and time consuming to keep up

• Most have little readership or participation

• Blogs help optimization

RSS Feed

• RSS feeds allows users to subscribe to your blog

• Uses: weather, stock market, commodity prices, sports scores, news events, announcements

What Not To Do

• Don’t use hidden text• Don’t use doorway pages, cloaking

and deceptive redirects• Don’t use automated submissions• Don’t use keyword stuffing• Don’t use content repetition• Don’t join link farms

Don’t get blacklisted

SEM – Off-Page Factors

• Inbound links• Pay-Per-Click• Google Maps• Affiliate partners• Directories

• Article syndication

• E-press releases• Banner Ads• Blogs• Social media

Google PageRank (PR)

Google uses an extremely sophisticated and ever changing algorithm to rank websites and

assign them a PageRank (PR rank) from 1 to 10.

Google PageRank (PR)

PR 0 – 3: New websites and websites with minimal links

PR 4 – 5: Popular websites with a fair amount of inbound links

PR 6: Very popular websites with hundreds of quality links

PR 7 – 10: You need to be Amazon, Ebay, NY Times

Organic Search Traffic

• Over 70% of B2B buyers use a search engine at the start of their buying process

• About 75% of B2B prospects click on organic results

• Less than 19% of B2B buyers click on paid search ads

• 77% of B2B prospects prefer Google

Machine Design Magazine Study

Organic Search Placement

Organic search clicks by SERPS page placement chart

Position Percent1 22.58%2 6.36%3 4.50%4 3.22%5 2.59%6 2.12%7 1.80%8 1.59%9 1.51%10 1.58%

11 0.35%

No Click 46.59%

Directories Free and Paid

• Dmoz.org• JoeAnt.com• Jayde.com• Gimpsy.com• Illumirate.com• Skaffe.com• Xoron.com• Somuch.com

• Websavvy.com• Dc2net.com• Re-quest.net• Netinsert.com• Galaxy.com• Mavicanet.com• Bizweb.com• Yeandi.com

Inbound Links

• Search Google for search terms• Find your competitor websites\Find

websites linking to themwww.competitor-domain.com

• Email them and ask for a reciprocal link exchange

Inbound Links cont.

How many links do I need?• You need to have more inbound

links than your competitor websites to outrank them

• For one client we added more than 30,000 links in 12 months

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

• Sponsored Listings• Live Auction• Position determined by bid price &

number of clicks• Set up and manage campaigns• Run Google Analytics

Geo-Targeting

• By mile radius• By city, county, state• By zip code

• Demographic targeting

3rd Party Websites

• Text ads on 3rd party websites• Google 3rd party ad program• No control over where ads appear• Lower quality clicks / leads

E-press releases

• Use to build links• Must be newsworthy• Use digital pr service• Which services depends on the

release market: financial, sports, manufacturing etc.

Syndicated Articles

• aka article marketing• Generic, non-sales articles• Published articles create links• Traffic generating• Helps PR Rank

Affiliate Partners

• Pay partner per click to your website

• Pay per transaction• Examples:

– Amazon– Flowers.com

Banner Ads

• On 3rd party websites• Pop-up ads• Pay on a CPM basis• Use for reach only• Low volume leads• Low quality leads

Conclusion

It takes training, experience and time to do SEM right and to

harness the Power of the Internet

SEM is part art and part science

Conclusion

Download the PowerPoint at www.brandspringsolutions.comContact me:

[email protected]

Phone: 952-345-7262