Search engine strategy introduction Wednesday, 19th August 2009

Version 1.0

Discussion

•  Search introduction •  Search engine marketing

−  Measuring search engine marketing −  Bringing a campaign to life

•  Search engine optimisation •  Key take outs •  Summary

Search introduction

What does a search engine do?

•  From a user’s perspective: −  Ask a question −  Receive an answer

•  From a search engine perspective: −  Get asked a question −  Find all the answers −  Give you the best ones…RANKED −  Measure the human interaction with it’s logic

If you are not the answer, someone else is

Visited Google & searched for digital cameras

Paid placements outlined in green: top & right

Natural placements outlined in green: centre

Search statistics

•  Information & Communication Technology sector (ICT’s) is expected to increase search budgets: −  57% of Consumer ICTs to increase their search budget

•  47% increase it by 10-30% •  29% by 30-50%, •  6% will increase it more than 90%

−  43% of Business ICTs to increase their search budget •  54% increase it by 10-30% •  15% by 30-50% •  8% will increase it by more than 90%

•  Of these extra budgets the planned allocation is as followed: −  62% increase search engine keyword budgets −  31% increase online directory budgets −  28% increase contextual search budgets −  16% increase mobile search budgets

Source: Frost & Sullivan (Australian online search study 2008),

Searcher strategy

•  Search is more than just campaign activity, it needs to focus on all aspects of a client: their products, offerings & brand.

SEO SEM

Products Accessories

Offers Retailers

How most businesses approach search?

Campaign activity

Most clients view search as being very on/off, but consumers don’t just search because our clients have a campaign in market. It is a key driver, but not when they are out of market

How businesses should approach it?

Base line activity (consistency & presence in market 365 days)

Campaign activity

Search must be on 365 days a year. With insurance, consumers search on average for two weeks a year, but not all consumers are searching at the same time. This means insurance companies need to be there 365 days a year.

Keyword bible

Brand terms (Canon, IXUS, PIXMA, EOS, sub-brands)

Generic terms (Camera, digital still camera, DSLR, video, etc)

Cam

pai

gn 1

Pho

to5

Cam

pai

gn 2

IXU

S T

ell y

our

stor

y

Cam

pai

gn 5

Cam

pai

gn 3

MD

S

Cam

pai

gn 4

Bas

elin

e ac

tivity

C

amp

aign

A keyword bible should be developed for all clients. It should cover a range of their specific brand & sub-brand terms, as well as generic terms. The campaign activity will come in & out dependent on the offers & T&Cs attached.

Google’s Golden Triangle

Note: Google Eyetracking study prior to recent updates & the introduction of Google Universal

Prior to Google introducing Universal search, eye tracking studies suggested that the users eyes always went up to the top left. Meaning that it was extremely important to try to get the top position.

Google Universal

Note: Google Universal was introduced in late 2007

As soon as Google introduced Universal search, it pulls in images & content from a variety of different sources (YouTube, maps, images, reviews, etc).

Google’s Universal Eye Tracker

Note: Google Eyetracking study showing that most people focus on the image before looking at text.

After Google Universal was introduced, the eye tracking studies suggested that the users eyes went to the images first & then the copy next to those images & above then below.

Google’s Universal Eye Tracker

Note: Google Eyetracking study shows the image is the first visual reference and then the eye is directed up to the content above.

The ideal placement now is for anything above the image. User’s eyes are drawn to the image & then they are pushed up.

Google Flights

Google are always looking to introduce new things & Google flights has been on the cards for a year now. It allows users to search for flights within a specific time frame & check the travel sites for prices – everything is updated automaticaly.

Google Teleporting

Google teleporting is also called ‘search in search’ & this is dictated by the site map & the structure of the site.

Miserable Failure

For over two years, Google had miserable failure connected to George Bush’s profile in the search results. Unfortunately this has changed, but it’s a great example of creating a word/phrase, creating content & owning it online.

All segments search on generic terms

It doesn’t matter what the age, gender of socioeconomic profile of consumers, they all search on generic terms & keywords (eg camera, mobile, insurance)

Different types of Search Engines

Shopping Search Engines

Kids Search Engines

News Search Engines

Multimedia Search Engines

Specialty Search Engines

•  Answers Searching •  Computer Search Engines •  Domain Searching •  Financial Search Engines •  Government Search •  Invisible Web •  Legal Search Engines •  Mailing Lists •  Medical Search Engines •  Newsgroup Search •  Science Search Engines •  Shopping Search •  Travel Search Engines •  WAP Search Engines •  Other Specialty Services

Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2156351

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEM Methods

•  There are a two different search engine marketing methods: −  Paid for Performance (P4P) −  Contextual placements

•  P4P is what we have already touched on

P4P Search Listings

•  P4P is also known as Pay Per Click (PPC) or Cost Per Click (CPC) search listings.

•  They appear at the top & right-hand side of the search results.

•  Benefits −  High level of control & security −  Low level of click fraud −  Highly accountable −  Great ROI

•  Disadvantages −  Poor venue for some industries −  Not suitable for branding campaigns −  Increasingly competitive with inflating CPC’s

Contextual Search

•  Contextual search takes your search listing beyond the search engine & onto sites with matched content.

•  Benefits −  Few…

•  Disadvantages −  Lack of control −  Expensive −  Most exposed to click-fraud

Bringing a Campaign to Life

Basic Search Strategy

•  The key elements in setting up a basic search strategy: −  Refine customer goals −  Select methods (P4P, PI, SEO) −  Keyword Research −  Tracking set-up −  Rules based bid-management −  Creative rotation & optimisation −  Landing page strategy −  Organic site review & recommendations

Travel News Provider

Travel News

Travel

Rewards programs

Transport

Accommodation

Airlines

Competitors

General KWs

Destinations

Airport Codes

Airport Names

Hostels

Airline names

Classes, tickets

Car Rental Cos

General terms

General terms

Reward names

General terms

Bus / Train Cos

Hotels

Ad Groups (copy)

syd

lhr

gtw

jfk

etc

Cheap flight

Discount flights

Train to

Car hire

Travel guide

What does a campaign look like? Keywords (brand,

campaign) Campaigns (brand,

campaign) Advertiser (campaign) Creative (test 1, test 2)

Source: Downstream www.downstreamonline.com.au

keywords bid price ad copy landing page

sourcing

categorising

matching

testing

purging

position

CPA

ROI

volume

testing

headline

kw insertion

brand integration

offer

call to action

product specific

general

education

navigation

relevance

tact

ics

conversion tracking

combine, test and learn

optimal rule implementation

What is involved in developing a SEM campaign?

Source: Downstream www.downstreamonline.com.au

Average CPC within the industry

Keyword CPC (Rank 1-3)

Searches /day

Broadband $6 - $9 4,250

Coke Zero $5 2

Home Loans $10 - $16 5,000

Hotel $4 8,500

Skin Care $2 2,000

Used Cars $2.40 1,500

Credit Cards $7 - $15 7,000

Note: Figures are only approximate and from early 2008

Brand Terms: Do you buy your brand name?

•  Benefits: −  Integrated Marketing messages

- Tag lines - Price or offer changes

−  Control over top placement −  Search Volume grows with brand awareness

•  Disadvantages: −  Cost when you have “built” that term eg Nike. −  Engine doing a good job then you should be the most relevant right? −  Competitor terms

Key times to buy: Strong offline brand campaigns. New product launch or offering.

While SEO is poor

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search Engine Optimisation

•  Definition −  The process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and

ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases are part of a web search.

−  Source: www.marketingterms.com

•  The process has two major components: −  “On page” optimisation

•  site technology & accessibility •  site content

−  “Off page” optimisation •  link popularity •  link reputation

“On page” optimisation Site accessibility

•  Make the site accessible to search engine crawlers −  HTML is better than Flash

•  Multiple files rather than one large file

•  The absolute minimum: −  Robots.txt file −  Correct HTML coding −  Meta tags with relevant information −  “use text” visible information should be in text (html) not embedded in

graphics such as .jpg or flash −  Site navigation that the crawler can follow i.e. site map

•  For dynamic (database driven or Flash sites): −  Ensure the URL structure is crawlable by the engine −  Have a browse function as well as a search function −  Consider static pages for key content (terms)

“On page” optimisation Site content

•  Start with researching which terms that you want to get found for. •  Build genuinely useful content relevant to someone searching for that

topic. •  Make that content accessible & readable. •  Meta tags

−  i.e. keyword = car insurance are important but the search engines check for “visible” text that is relevant, not just the html source code.

•  Consider offering additional content other than that which is strictly required to sell your product i.e. mortgage calculator, hotel information & facilities, whitepaper’s on industry etc.

•  The more useful your content & the more that consumers appreciate it, then the more that the search engines will want your site to rank well for relevant terms.

“Off page” optimisation

•  In order to provide more relevant results, the search engines look further than the content of a particular page/site.

•  Google led the trend, they measured “link popularity” −  If lots of other sites have links to a site then the site must have some

value to consumers •  The more recent extension of this is “link reputation”

−  If sites link with a tag that includes terms, then the page is more likely to be relevant for those terms:

•  For example, “click here if you want information on car insurance”

•  Beware artificially boosting link popularity is now being monitored by the engines & will be penalised. −  Use a genuine strategy of contacting relevant sites and request

appropriate reciprocal links.

Best Practice SEO: Design

•  Several on page elements are taken into account by Spiders (not limited to):

•  Page Titles •  Meta Description & Keywords •  Page Copy (Body Content) •  Image Alt Text •  Internal Link Anchor Text •  File names •  Search Friendly Navigation •  Site Map •  Heading Tags

•  A clearly distinguishable site architecture & navigation structure can help with inclusion & improving rankings.

Best Practice SEO: Content

•  Content is King! −  The Internet is mainly a source of information & that is what search engines

look for. So the more content the better.

•  Consider how people would find information −  By brand −  By product capability −  By Issue

•  Develop content around the selected keywords −  (Or Augment the existing content to cover target terms)

•  Fresh content is favored by search engines −  Blogs, Press Releases, community areas

Content tab

Keyword in H1

Keyword body spread

Hyperlinked text

Keyword meta tags

Keyword in title

Keyword in directory

Measuring Search

Tracking Paid Search What to look for from the Media Company?

•  From Search Tool: −  Actual term clicked −  Click count audit (click fraud filter) −  Site side conversion event (count, dollar value, id) −  Search portal (ninemsn or Yahoo?)

•  What does this tell you? −  The conversion rate of the term, creative & landing page −  The ROI on the term, group of terms, Search Engine or campaign −  Audit trail to check search engine costs

•  What can you do? −  Optimise bids, creative & buy type −  Compare Search Engines

Tracking Search What to look for with organic listings?

•  No data from Search Engines (in most cases) •  All tracking is site side (log files) or SEO tags •  Manual log file tracking ok for very low traffic sites •  80%+ of the time a tracking tool will capture:

−  Search portal −  Search term that led to the visit.

Tracking Paid Search What is the end result of this tracking?

•  Useful & meaningful reports •  Campaign strategies can be informed by the data &

optimisation strategies implemented •  Bid management can be automated for so that the ROI of

individual terms can be maximised

Closing thoughts

Things to remember

•  Google doesn’t automatically reference offline patents, TM or R brands online. −  All clients must registered their TM & R status with Google if they want to

exclusively own the terms.

•  Ask you clients if they have done this?

Register your trademark

Submit your site

Five key Search take outs

1.  Constant −  Search isn’t just a campaign, it must be on 100%

2.  Nurture −  Search must be nurtured, whether it is paid or organic

3.  Integration −  Search must be integrated into campaigns. Only 2% of people remember

URLs shown in TVCs or other activity. 4.  Optimisation

−  Search can be optimised real-time, campaigns can be tested & learnings taken out immediately

5.  Measurement −  What does success look like? What were the take outs from the

campaign (ATL elements)?

Thank you!