Web Wise: Search Overview Sage Nonprofit Webinar

Web Wise Series:Intro to Search Engine Optimization & Marketing for Nonprofits

Katie McNally, Account Supervisor - Sitewire Marketspace Solutions ([email protected])

Dan Gonzalez, Web Manager - Sage Nonprofit Solutions ([email protected])

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What we’ll cover today…

Search’s role in your overall interactive marketing mix

Search basics – what is organic and paid search

Holistic search – how search campaigns work together

High level best practices for organic optimization

High level best practices for PPC managementand optimization

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What is “Organic Search”

• Organic Search is “natural search” which means it is not “paid for advertising”

• Organic search can be used for “Response Marketing Campaigns”

• One of the most cost-effective forms of online marketing

• Difficult and Time Consuming• Great Value = Huge ROI

Sitewire Marketspace Solutions, LLC 3

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Organic SearchOrganic Search ResultsOrganic Search Results Paid Search ResultsPaid Search Results


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Search Engine Breakdown


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Demographics• Yahoo! = Younger Generation• Google = Higher Spending


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What is “Organic Search Optimization”?

• Organic Search Optimization– The process of optimizing a website to achieve high search

rankings for specific targeted keywords– Google uses over 120 factors in their ranking algorithm


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Ranking Positions

11

22

33


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Organic Search Myths

Myths– You can just pay Google/Yahoo/MSN to be number 1 organic

listing– “I know a guy that says he can guarantee me number 1

position”– It’s easy to get the top organic position– You can just optimize once and forget it


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2 Methods of Optimization

1. On-site Optimization– These are changes you can make to the target website to

optimize it for strategically selected keyword phrases

2. Off-site Optimization– This is the optimization work (link passing) that you can do to

affect the rankings for a small group of strategically selected keyword phrases


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Example: Off-Site Optimization

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Optimization Process

Initial Optimization1. Obstacles Analysis

2. Keyword Research

3. Keyword Selection

4. Organic Optimization Plan

5. On-site Implementation

6. Off-site Optimization

7. Ongoing cycle (see right)

Ongoing Optimization


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Obstacles Analysis

• Use CSS

• Clean Code is Important

• Build it Scalable, regardless of what code you use:– HTML/XHTML– PHP– ASP– ASPX

• Meaningful Page Names

• Intuitive Directory Structure

• Alt-tags

• XML and Traditional Sitemap

• Utilize Text Based Navigation (when possible)


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Keyword Research and Selection

• Find all relevant keywords– Keywords that you think someone would type in as a search when

looking for your business/service/product

– Utilize keyword research tools to define search volume


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Organic Optimization Plan

• Methods to eliminate obstacles– Examples:

• If flash, then utilize more standard HTML coding and text content on the page, rather than flash

• If doorway entry page, simply remove this page and have a full index.html page resolve

• If utilizing on-page javascript, simply use external .js files

• If “hidden” white text over white background


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• On-site Keyword Optimization– Primary Importance:

• One or Two keywords per page focus• 300+ words per page• Keyword Density 3-5%• Page Titles

– Descriptive page title including the keyword phrase• Page Content

– Multiple repetition of the keyword phrase– A lot of content– Bulleted lists

• Navigation– Text based navigation, not images

• Create XML and Normal Sitemap


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Organic Optimization Plan• Off-site Website Optimization

– Primary Importance• Google PageRank

– Google’s measure of the importance of a website

• Links pointing to your website– Number and Quality

• Keywords in links– Must be relevant

• Type of site linking to your website


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• Off-site Website Optimization– Good sites to consider:

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Blogs

• Forums

• LinkedIn

• Wikipedia (although no-follows now)

• DMOZ.org

• Infinite list of others, just find ones that make sense for the your industry


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Ongoing Optimization Process


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Measure Results

• Use Analytics to determine total organic traffic• Use a keyword ranking tool (or search by hand) to

determine ranking position for each optimized keyword• Keep track of all data to compare against future months


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Measure Results

Google AnalyticsGoogle Analytics

Trend DataTrend Data


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Measure Results and Determine Strategy

Keyword Current Position Last Position Change

Keyword 1 10 16 6

Keyword 2 4 6 2

Keyword 3 13 13 0

Keyword 4 22 24 2

Keyword 5 1 1 0

Keyword 6 2 2 0

Keyword 7 3 5 2

Keyword 8 6 2 -4

Keyword 9 7 6 -1

Keyword 10 4 6 2

Keyword 11 9 14 5

Keyword 12 3 6 3

Keyword 13 18 23 5

Keyword 14 3 27 24

Keyword 15 6 7 1

Optimized Keyword Rankings - Google

Find out whatneeds to be improved withoptimizationfor these twokeywords.

Find out whatneeds to be improved withoptimizationfor these twokeywords.


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Implement Adjustments

• For those two keywords:– Example Problems:

• Title did not contain keyword

• Too many keywords on the page

• Someone had removed 2 paragraphs of copy from the page

– Example Adjustments:• Correct title to include keyword

• Remove keyword from the page

• Add back in enough relevant copy to compensate


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Resubmit

• Resubmit the page to Google, Yahoo! and Bing *(if necessary, depending on indexing)– http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl– http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit– http://www.bing.com/docs/submit.aspx


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Question: Which of the following automotive brands do you remember seeing in the search results page you just viewed?

Side Sponsored

TopSponsored

Top Sponsored & Top Organic

Top OrganicListing

2.2x

1.5x

x

Honda

Other0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Query: Unbranded (i.e., “fuel efficient cars”)

Aided brand recall increases by 2.2x when a brand is in the top sponsored and top organic results

Holistic Search: Builds Brand

9/25/2009 25

**Data is from a Google conducted study

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What is “Paid Search Advertising”?

• Paid Search Advertising– The process of running advertisements that show for particular

keyword searches– Objective is to get qualified visitors to your website to take an

action– Actions can be:

• Completing a lead form

• Completing a sale

• Registering for something

• Reading something

• Anything other key metrics for success on a site


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Paid SearchOrganic Search ResultsOrganic Search Results Paid Search ResultsPaid Search Results


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Ad Positions

1122

33

44

55


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How do I get to the best results?

• Strategy – set a goal and measure against it• Campaign Management – need to do this every day• Myths

– You can just pay Google/Yahoo/MSN to be number 1 paid search listing

– PPC is easy– I will be great at this right from the start


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Paid Search Process

Initial Setup1. Site Conversion Analysis

2. Setup A/B Testing

3. Define Targeting

4. Keyword Research

5. Keyword Selection

6. Keyword Match Types

7. Write Ads

8. Set Initial Bids

9. Set Daily Budget

10. Setup Conversion Tracking

11. Launch Campaign

Ongoing Management


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Site Conversion Analysis

• Perform an analysis on website to determine if it is conversion friendly– Ask yourself:

• Is the site easy on the eye? • Does it follow a simple visual flow?• Does it resonate with the potential donor?• Is there a compelling call-to-action on the website? (a

reason for someone to take action on the website)


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A/B Testing

BA


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Multivariate Testing

A

B C

D

B

D

A C


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A/B & Multivariate Testing

• Google Optimizer– Free and Easy to Setup


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Geo Targeting

– The whole world?– US Only?– State Only?– Metro Only?– City Only?– A particular zip code?


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Keyword Research and Selection

• Pick all relevant keywords at this stage, you can pause, delete and bid down any keywords later


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Best Practices for Ad Copy

• Ad Writing Tips– Accurate– Compelling– Informative– Match keywords– Qualify visitors– No excessive punctuation

• Write multiple ads to test against each other

SUBWAY® Phoenix$5 FRESH VALUE MEALS6" sandwich + chips + drink.www.subwayfreshbuzz.com

Verizon Wireless™ PhonesOfficial Site - Cell Phones up to50% off. Only at Verizon Wireless!VerizonWireless.com


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Set Daily Budget

• Daily Budget is the maximum amount you are willing to spend

• It does not mean you WILL spend this, rather that this is the maximum amount you could spend

• The amount you spend each day will vary on the number of people searching, and the number of clicks you get

• You can change this budget anytime


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Set Initial Bids and Bid Strategy

• Bids should be high enough to show on the first page - almost no one clicks on an ad on the second page

• You’ll need to have a good ad, that is relevant to the keyword, and gets clicks to get a high position – even if you bid a lot

• Day part bidding turn ads on or off, and increase and decrease budget during times of the day

• This is useful for certain companies. For example:– A company is only open during the day– A company has a call center that only answers during the day– A company knows that most people order their products between 6am and 10am


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Setup Conversion Tracking

• Example:– To track this, you would put a little snippet of code on the “thank you”

page that confirms an action has taken place

– This code will track which keyword led to the sale from your ad campaign

– This is critical to allow management of budget = shift more budget towards keywords that convert better, thus lowering cost per sale


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Ongoing PPC Management Process


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Measure Results


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Search within the Online Marketing Mix

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Q&A

Katie McNally, Account Supervisor - Sitewire Marketspace Solutions ([email protected])

Dan Gonzalez, Web Manager - Sage Nonprofit Solutions ([email protected])

Join us for our next webcast in the Web Wise Series:

How to Leverage Social Media to Raise Funds


Documents

Web Wise: Search Overview Sage Nonprofit Webinar