Using Search Engines to Market your Consultancy. What are Search Engines?

Using Search Engines to Market your Consultancy

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What are Search Engines?


The search engine is the focal point of the online experience for Internet users across the spectrum


Why Search is so important1 trillion documents on the world wide web250 million searches per dayOver half of all online purchases start at a search engine28% of all searches on Google are for product names35% of all searches are commercial 73% of searches end in a purchase


Market Forecasts


Search Engine Marketing


Jargon Busting MarketerConsumer


Natural visibilityCrawler-based automated technologySpiders are launched by the search engines to crawl the internetResults returned to the engine and ranked on relevancy Can take weeks to be found

Relevancy is determined by:Quality and quantity of website contentWebsite build and architectureSpeed of page download Link popularity


Natural Search25 million competing pages


Natural Search17 million competing pages


Benefits of Natural VisibilityCost EfficiencyTraffic IncreaseEasier site navigationAccountability6060


Pay-for-Performance ListingsReal-time auction of keywordsOverture, MIVA, MiragoGoogle (slightly different to real-time auction model)Paid for on Cost per Click basisPrice driven by the marketThe higher you bid the higher up you appearProne to bidding warsCopy (titles and descriptions) optimised / changed regularly


Pay-for-Placement Opportunities


Awareness of Paid ListingsWhat do you think the listings circled in the above search results pages are?83% of the sample went on to say they would use paid search listings


Instant and Guaranteed Traffic Paid Search A Paid Search Campaign can go live in days

Low risk only pay when a user clicks

Qualified traffic users are actively searching for content relevant to your site

Tactical


Understanding DemandIn 2005 there were:

102,000 searches for Management Training

28,000 searches for Management Consultant


Search Volume and Seasonality2003 record: 10,753 searches on Tuesday 11th February 2004 record: 16,389 searches on Tuesday 16th March; almost as many on Thursday 18th March


Managing Paid SearchAdvertisers can also use 3rd party tracking tools e.g. Dart Search / Atlas Search allow:

CPA targetingBid updates of 12 times per dayRule groups to avoid bidding wars


Managing Search


Developing Search strategiesROI or visibility?Do we need to be ranked #1?Is your brand strong enough not to be top of listings?

A tactical or long-term vehicle?Ongoing lead generationTargeting new audiencesPromoting new productsPurely direct response?Search is increasingly used as a branding toolthe majority of consumers expect leading brands to hold top search listings, with 33% believing that those found in top spots ARE the big brands (iProspect)


Example Search StrategyTactical or Campaign SpecificGenerating Additional VolumeLong Term PresenceTrusted Feed


ManagementIn-house: SEO internal technical resource requiredPFP credit card and direct search engine relationshipDependent on campaign size

Agency: SEO consultancy or implementationPFP access to auto bid managementSpecialists: e.g.Understand how people searchCan assist with copy writing (knowing what works well)Dynamic market forcesAgency discount


Integration


Putting Search at the heart of the Communications MixSearchCustomerExperienceRetailAdvertisingWebsiteSearch has a significant impact on other channels and vice versaAlign Search with clients other marketing & advertising channelsDovetail web development, usability & accessibility for a complete understanding of your customers online needsMaximising ROI for multiple marketing & business units (Retail, Brand, Direct)


Leveraging offline advertising

14016001-Oct-0304-Oct-0307-Oct-0310-Oct-0313-Oct-0316-Oct-0319-Oct-0322-Oct-0325-Oct-0328-Oct-0331-Oct-0303-Nov-0306-Nov-0309-Nov-0312-Nov-0315-Nov-0318-Nov-0321-Nov-0324-Nov-0327-Nov-0330-Nov-0303-Dec-0306-Dec-0309-Dec-0312-Dec-0315-Dec-0318-Dec-0321-Dec-0324-Dec-0327-Dec-03Searches for product xVolume Daily SearchesTV ActivityPress Activity


The Future of Search Market proliferation and sophisticationLaunch of MSN Paid SearchIncreased targeting optionsAnother buying point

Local Search

Pay-Per-Call and Pay-Per-TextMIVA first to launch in UK

Mobile Search


Golden Rule of Search MarketingUnderstand your audience and how they look for your product or relevant information onlineDont restrict efforts to keyword buyingEmbrace Search as a marketing mediumDevelop a strategy that capitalises on other advertising & marketing Be in control of your BrandUnderstand latent and indirect response


(Jupiter & Nielsen Netratings 2004)

1-This coloured slide has the client logo and the divisions banner, footer and date applied to the face of the slide, not the master. This is because the colour sits on top of the master data and therefore hides it from view.2- Please make sure to copy the relevant logo, footer, date, etc to the face of your slide being sure to keep it in *exactly* the same position as the previous slides you can do this by cutting and pasting.

1-This coloured slide has the client logo and the divisions banner, footer and date applied to the face of the slide, not the master. This is because the colour sits on top of the master data and therefore hides it from view.2- Please make sure to copy the relevant logo, footer, date, etc to the face of your slide being sure to keep it in *exactly* the same position as the previous slides you can do this by cutting and pasting.Carry messaging from offline mediaAnd ensuring that you have sufficient media budgets to capitalise on all footfall off the back of other advertising is likely

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Using Search Engines to Market your Consultancy. What are Search Engines?