the science of search - how smbs can leverage search to grow their business

CEDAR CREEK PROPOSAL | JUL XX, 2012 1

T H E S C I E N C E O F SEARCH MARKETING

How Small Businesses Can Use Search Marketing to Drive Customers

SCIENCE OF SEARCH MARKETING FOR SMB| JULY 2014

Elasticity >  Top 25 fastest growing companies in St. Louis >  Focused on search marketing, social media,

public relations, and creative services

About Me >  10+ years of working in search and digital

marketing field >  Worked with businesses of all sizes, from

startups to Microsoft, Visa and the Federal Reserve


TODAY

WHY DIGITAL MATTERS

HOW SEARCH WORKS

HOW TO LEVERAGE SEARCH

TOOLS & RESOURCES

1234

THE ROLE OF DIGITAL MARKETING


YOUR AUDIENCE


INTERRUPTION MARKETING

TV Radio Print Direct Mail Outdoor Display

86% Skip TV Ads

44% of direct mail is never opened

14% Of people trust advertisements

61% Lower CPL from

inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing

90% Of Radio ads are

not profitable


INBOUND MARKETING

Marketers align themselves with their audiences, earning attention and drawing customers into their sales funnel.

" Search Marketing " Content Marketing " Blogging " Email Marketing

" Social Media " Lead Nurturing


75% SEARCH MARKETING

PERCENTAGE OF MARKETERS THAT FEEL THAT A

MARKETING CHANNEL HAS A GOOD OR EXCELLENT ROI

41% SOCIAL MEDIA


Search is the De Facto Way People Navigate the Internet.


80% OF INTERNET TRAFFIC BEGINS AT A SEARCH ENGINE


50% OF LOCAL

SEARCHES ARE ON

MOBILE DEVICES

THE VALUE

I want what you sell, please!


ANATOMY OF A RESULTS PAGE

SEARCH STARTS WITH THE WEB. IT’S MADE UP OF OVER

PEOPLES BANK UNIVERSITY | JULY 2014

Carousel Local

Results

Organic Search

Listings

Local Results

Map

Paid Search

Ads


ANATOMY OF A RESULTS PAGE

PEOPLES BANK UNIVERSITY | JULY 2014

Paid Search

Ads

Organic Search

Listings

THE BASICS (IN FIVE MINUTES OR LESS)


HOW GOOGLE WORKS

SEARCH STARTS WITH THE WEB. IT’S MADE UP OF OVER

60 TRILLION INDIVIDUAL PAGES

AND IT’S CONSTANTLY GROWING



HOW GOOGLE WORKS

Google navigates the web by

CRAWLING Software called “spiders” follows

links from page to page.



HOW GOOGLE WORKS

Google then stores the crawled pages in an

INDEX Capturing a wide range of information about the page


It’s over 100

million gigabytes


HOW GOOGLE WORKS

When a search is entered, Google uses

ALGORITHMS To rank the results and deliver users the most relevant results.


We use +200 factors to rank

the results


THE ROLE OF SEO

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Enquiro (2007)

Chi9ka (2010)

Slingshot (2011)

CTR BY POSITION


TO BE AN SEO SUPERHERO

GET MORE LINKS


GOOGLE: NO LONGER FOOLED

>  In 2011, Google launched major updates designed to stop spammers – specifically unearned links

>  As more updates rolled out, tactics that had been effective became a liability

>  As a result, SEO has become an earned media approach


So, what? Can this help my business?

FOUR KEYS TO SEO SUCCESS


Know the Keywords That Matter 1


WHAT ARE KEYWORDS?

Keywords are simply a word or phrase that searchers enter into a search engine. By using keywords in content, a site is deemed more “relevant” for those searches.


KEYWORD RESEARCH

Brainstorm Quan9ta9ve Sources Analysis Op9miza9on

" Think like your audience – how would they search for your offerings?

" Develop an initial list of search terms.

" Use online tools, analytics data to expand your keyword list.

" What keywords is your competition using?

" Use keyword popularity from Google

" Balance popularity with relevance

" Prioritize the list " Begin optimization of

content


KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOLS


Get the Basics Right 2


BUILD A STRONG FOUNDATION

1.  Use a search-friendly CMS 2.  Create unique title tags for every page 3.  Draft unique description tags for every page 4.  Use keywords for internal links within your site 5.  Incorporate keywords into your copy 6.  Use descriptive URLs


TITLE TAGS

>  Title is the most important element of on-page optimization

>  Integrate keywords into title tag as well as your brand

>  Limit to 70 characters >  Unique for each page

<title>Rally Saint Louis | Join Us Today And Help Build a Better Saint Louis</title>


DESCRIPTION TAGS

>  Does not impact rankings, but can influence CTRs

>  Limit to 160 characters >  Unique for each page

<meta name="description" content="The Rally Saint Louis project is a first-of-its-kind crowdsourcing and crowdfunding platform that generates ideas and uses funding from the region’s residents…" />


Athletic Shoes

Dress Shoes

Boots Those

Toe Shoe Things

INTERNAL LINKING


URL BEST PRACTICES

>  URLs are a critical part of both the end users decision to click and the search engines ability to access content

>  Use descriptive words in URLs >  Avoid dynamic URLs and session IDs >  Use rewriting when necessary >  Separate words with dashes

(underscores work, too) >  Brevity is a virtue


Become an Authority 3


MYTH:

You Can Short-Cut Your Way To SEO


REALITY:

Start With Your Audience’s Needs, Not Simply With a List of Keywords.


PENGUIN & PANDA CAUSE CHAOS

" Google’s new algorithm rewards sites with loads of original, high-quality content.

" Sites such as Answers.com, eHow.com and many others saw dramatic drops in referrals from Google.


SO, WHAT MAKES CONTENT “GREAT”

Original Simple Valuable &

Useful Entertains Emotional


ABOVE ALL, CONTENT MUST BE

RELEVANT

TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE


" Content must be built to be shared

" We live in an attention economy " Complex topics must be distilled

to reach the masses " Video, infographics and

interactive graphics are vehicles for mass understanding

PROSPECTIVE

CUSTOMERS ARE

SEARCHING FOR

INFORMATION THAT

HELPS THEM MAKE AN

INFORMED DECISION

BUSINESSES THAT

PROVIDE THAT USEFUL

INFORMATION WILL WIN


KEY CONSIDERATIONS

Who is the audience that you need to reach?

Why will they care about you?

What are you doing to earn their interest?

What incentive do they have to share?

Finding Topics

>  Ask your sales team >  Map the buying cycle >  Q/A Sites – Quora,

Yahoo! Answers, etc. >  Mine social media >  Follow industry, peers


Think Local 4


7%

13%

16%

23%

42%

Mobile App

Internet Directory (Yelp)

Yellow Pages (Print)

Referral from Friend or Family

Search Engines

How do Consumers Find Local Merchants?


30% Or 7.6 billion per month of searches have local intent


OPTIMIZING YOUR LOCAL PRESENSE

1.  Claim and verify your business 2. Optimize your listing 3. Build citations 4. Get the basics right


CLAIM AND VERIFY YOUR BUSINESS

> Google.com/business/ >  Follow process to locate,

verify your listing

> Use GetListed.org or Yext.com to scan and submit your business to other directories

1


OPTIMIZE YOUR LISTING

> Use the same NAP – name, address, phone - across all listings

>  Listings should be as complete as possible: »  Description »  Categories »  Hours »  Contact Details »  Photos/Videos

2

»  Status updates »  Discounts or specials


BUILD CITATIONS

> Citations are listings in other directories that signal authority or credibility to Google

> Use the whitespark local citation tool to find potential citations

3

www.whitespark.ca/local-‐cita9on-‐finder


GET THE BASICS RIGHT

> Monitor reviews of your business. Respond when appropriate

> Do not submit fake reviews >  Include separate pages on your

website for each of your locations > Clearly include your name,

address, and local phone number for each location

4


Buy Your Way to the Top 5


IMMEDIATE VISIBILITY

> Get immediate visibility with potential customers

> Measure and optimize


GEO-TARGETTING

> Adwords enables advertisers to target specific regions

>  States, cities, zip codes, DMAs, etc.

TOOLS & RESOURCES


GOOGLE KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOL

www.google.com/AdWords/KeywordTool




Getlisted.org (MOZ Local)

LOCAL CITATIONS TOOL



hXp://moz.com/beginners-‐guide-‐to-‐seo

SEO 101 RESOURCE



SearchEngineLand.com

SEARCH NEWS & UPDATES



hXp://www.google.com/business/

GET LOCAL LISTINGS ON GOOGLE


THANK YOU.

@andybarneX

www.goelas9c.com

[email protected]