mn ama search101

MN AMA & MIMA—Search Engine Marketing 101 Raise Visibility & Drive Traffic

May 5, 2009

We Will Cover

» Background on Search Engines

+ How, Why and Who

» Search Engine Marketing

+ Organic Search Engine Optimization

+ Search Advertising

+ Case Study

+ Future of Search

Placement Test

Do You Know Your Acronyms?

Placement Test: Do You Know Your Acronyms ?

» SEO+ Search Engine Optimization – Practice of optimizing a website or web

presence to achieve high organic rankings in search engines

» PPC+ Pay Per Click – The placement of advertisements within search results. You

only pay for those ads when they’re clicked

» SEM+ Search Engine Marketing – Umbrella term for the practice of SEO and PPC

search advertising

» CPC+ Cost per Click – What you are paying each time someone clicks from your

PPC ad to your landing page or site

» CTR+ Click Through Rate – Percentage of people who are exposed to your PPC

that are clicking through to your landing page or site

» KPI+ Key Performance Indicator – web analytics measurements

Brief History of Search Engines

Search 101

What is a search engine?

» A software program that searches a data set (such as the Web) and gathers and reports information that contains or is related to specified terms

Global Search Volume

» Global Percentage of Volume+ Google: 77.4%+ Yahoo: 12.5%+ Live Search (formerly MSN): 5.9%+ AOL: 2.1%

» Over 400 Million U.S. Internet Searches Per Day

The Players

The Web Dominated by Two Engines

» Google:+ Powers nearly 57% of all U.S. Internet Searches+ The Google Network includes:

» AOL» Ask» Netscape» Lycos» Excite

» Yahoo:+ Powers nearly 40% of all U.S. Internet Searches+ The Yahoo Network includes:

» Yahoo Properties» Alta Vista» Alltheweb.com

Search Growth

Search is quickly approaching email as #1 Internet activity

» 41% (60 million) of Internet users search every day+ 90% of all internet users use search

» 52% (76 million) of Internet users email every day+ 91% of all Internet users use email

Source: Forrester Research

Online Spending Comparison

Universal Search

» "The ultimate goal of universal search is to break down the silos of

information that exist on the web and provide the very best answer

every time a user enters a query."

Search Engine 101

Understanding a Search Results Page

Organic Listings “Free”

Pay-Per-Click Listings “Paid Advertising”

Google - Organic Rankings

#1 Organic Ranking

#2 Organic Ranking

#3 Organic Ranking

Google - Paid Rankings

#1 Paid Ranking

#2 Paid Ranking

#3 Paid Ranking

#4 Paid Ranking

#5 Paid Ranking

Search Engine Listings

+ Have seen stats saying 80 to 90% of all

users are clicking through on organic listings,

but this varies by topic and relevance to

what the searcher is looking for.

How Users See a Listings Screen

Search Engine Optimization

Search 101

Organic Search - How it works

» Starts with Search Engine “Spiders” (aka: Robots, Crawlers)

+ Spiders follow links to searchable web pages (Crawling)

+ Spiders identify content, and put it in context based on the other information

around it. (e.g., apple vs Apple)

+ Spiders store “relevant” pages in database (Index)

» Rank by relevance

Organic Search - How it works

Once indexed, a page’s relevance is determined by the engine’s algorithm

» Metadata (Page title, keywords and descriptions)+ Does this matter? + Search engine “Road Map”+ The “main themes” of a website or page+ Control content displayed on search results page

» Content+ Where on page, where within site, surrounding words, clarity+ Aligned with page title, keywords, and descriptions

Metadata

Content Alignment

Organic Search - How it works

A page’s relevance is also determined by…

» Inbound Links+ Links from 3rd party websites to your website+ How many and from which sites

» URL - what is your website address?

» Frequency of page refresh - are you publishing content often?

» Website code - does the code prevent search engines from spidering your content?

PPC Search Advertising

Search 101

PPC Search Advertising

» Advertisers bid for positioning (think online auction)+ In most cases, the higher the bid, the higher the placement+ “Relevance – Click Index” factor is applied to algorithm

» Advertiser pays only when text ad is clicked (PPC)

» Two major distribution methods + Search match - Ex: search directly on Google.com or Yahoo.com+ Content match - Ex: PPC ads displaying on partner sites

PPC: Search Match

#1 Search Match#2 Search Match#3 Search Match

#4 - #7 Search Match Listings

PPC: Content Match

#1 Content Match

Previous #3 Fidelity.com loses placement in Content Match

#2 Content Match

PPC: Content Match

#1 Content Match #2 Content Match #3 Content Match

Search Distribution Networks

» Google: 59% of all search advertisements+ Engines: Google, AOL, ASK, Excite, Lycos+ Publishers: AOL, New York Times, About, Weather Channel, iVillage

» Yahoo: 35% of all search advertisements+ Engines: Yahoo, Alta Vista+ Publishers: Yahoo, CNN, ESPN, National Geographic

How Search Marketing Effects campaign & Website Planning

Sanarus Site Development - BreastLumpInfo.com

Sanarus Example

» Problem

+ Gain awareness for a new non-surgical treatment for Fibroadenomas, patients to clinics

that perform the treatment with Sanarus’ Visica 2

» Goal

+ Intensify awareness of the Visica 2 minimally-invasive procedure among

patients, educate them on its benefits, and accelerate the adoption and

implementation of the procedure

+ Increase the number of patients to six per month at each of eight breast health

centers that are using the Visica 2 system, in two geographic areas (Michigan

and Florida)

Sanarus Example

» Tactics

+ Unbranded, optimized direct-to-patient website

+ Radio advertising

+ Referral marketing

+ Print advertising

Using Search Marketing to Help Planning

Integrating Search in the Marketing Process

» Step 1: Brainstormed and researched keywords target audiences would search

on to find information on Fibroadenomas to determine highest value and

trafficked words

» Step 2: Picked URL (domain name) to align with keywords we felt we could rank

on – www.breastlumpinfo.com

» Step 2: Aligned new website structure and copy to work with keyword alignment

» Step 4: Develop new web site for SEO

» Step 5: Launched PPC campaign to gain visibility earlier than we could with SEO alone

Keywords

KeywordsAdvertiser Competition

Approx Search Volume: July

Approx Avg Search Volume

breast pain 0.93 165000 201000

breast surgery 1 165000 110000www.breastlumpinfo.com/breast-surgery-alternatives/

breast symptoms 0 40500 49500www.breastlumpinfo.com/breast-lump-symptoms/

breast lump 0.86 40500 40500www.breastlumpinfo.com/breast-lumps/

breast biopsy 0.8 33100 40500www.breastlumpinfo.com/breast-biopsy-procedure/

sore breasts 0.66 27100 27100

breast health 0.8 33100 27100

breast cyst 0.66 22200 22200

breast lumps 0.86 22200 22200

lumps breast 0.26 22200 22200

breast lumps 0.73 22200 22200

breast cyst 0.66 22200 22200

breast mri 0.6 22200 22200

breast disease 0.6 22200 22200www.breastlumpinfo.com/breast-disease-treatment/

breast ultrasound 0.73 18100 18100

breast tumor 0.93 12100 14800www.breastlumpinfo.com/breast-tumors/

breast cysts 0.53 14800 14800

<title>Breast Lump Info</title>

<meta name="keywords" content="breast lumps, breast lump, benign breast lump" />

<meta name="description" content="Have you found a Breast Lump? Information is power. BreastLumpInfo.com has the latest information for women whose breast lump has been diagnosed as benign. " />

Results: Ranking No. 3 & 4 in organic results for “Breast Lump Info”

Results: Ranking No. 3 & 4 in organic results for “Breast Lump Info”

Results: Ranking No. 7 in organic results for “Breast Lump Diagnosis”

Results: Ranking No. 7 in organic results for “Breast Lump Diagnosis”

Sanarus PPC Example

Case Study

Using Search Campaigns to Discover New Markets

Search 101

Bellcomb Case Study

» Problem

+ Bellcomb is a manufacturer of lightweight structured panels—They were a leading producer of these

panels with low awareness among key audiences

» Goal

+ Reposition Bellcomb’s brand & improve awareness and visibility with key audiences

» Tactics

+ New brand alignment based on vertical markets

+ Transition from third-party referrals (such as Thomas Registers) to direct organic and PPC search

campaigns

+ New identity

+ New site

+ New marketing materials

Bellcomb

Bellcomb Case Study

Integrating Search in the Marketing Process

» Step 1: Begin keyword research to determine highest value vertical

markets to target

» Step 2: Develop test PPC campaigns to evaluate keywords effectiveness

+ Test for regional differences based on sales feedback

» Step 3: Align new web structure and copy to work with keyword alignment

» Step 4: Develop new web site for SEO

» Step 5: Continually refine website and keywords to respond to changes in the marketplace

Bellcomb

Bellcomb PPC Search Campaign Results

» Traffic to the site increased – 207% increase in visitors since

January, 2007

+ With an ad spend averaging between $3,500 and $5,000 per month

» Organic Rank – 120% increase in total rankings across all search

engines. Rankings include number 1 rankings, top 5, top 10 and

top 20 rankings.

+ Key terms are pushing organic search listings higher on each engine

Bellcomb PPC Search Campaign Results

» 48% increase in keyword distribution

+ Week 1 of the campaign searchers used 79 different phrases to click to Bellcomb. In week

37, 130 phrases resulted in a click-through to the site. We are finding the missing

searchers we weren’t getting before.

+ Measure of visibility and distribution – the long tail effect.

» 187.5% increase is site conversions

+ Conversion in this case = Filling out the contact form, which is a lead

+ Organic traffic increased 12.4%. in 13 weeks following site launch and has stayed steady

Testimonial

» Moved from $1 million in the sales pipeline to $100 million in one

year

+ This (new) positioning has helped us gain recognition as the world’s largest

provider of composite panels for all types of applications. We’ve seen incredible

growth in potential sales and a significant increase in website traffic and search

visibility.

» Mark Phillion, Bellcomb Director of Sales and Marketing

Ongoing

» Increase in competition with keyword buys

» Decreasing spending

» Improving CTR and lead generation

» More click-throughs don’t always mean more leads

» Improve organic visibility

Future Development

Search 101

What’s Next

» Day Parting+ Focusing search on times of day when people are

searching for your information

» Local Search+ Regionally focused search

» Personalized Search+ Results based on your personal search and click

through history+ View and actively manage your historical searches

What’s Next

» Google SMS+ Text search query to 46645 “GOOGL”, receive

answer via phone text message

» Click to Call+ Search results will include a phone icon+ Google will pay for users to be connected by

phone to call center

» Video Search+ Youtube, Metacafe, Blinx

» Mobile Search+ iPhone, PDAs

» Better tie in to Google Analytics+ Cross-channel marketing

POP QUIZ

Search 101

Pop Quiz

» True or False

+ Getting to number one on Google

should be one of your goals in any

search engine marketing initiative.

» False

+ Just getting to number one might mean

that you are spending more than you

need to on your campaigns. Number one

may not be the best position for a PPC

campaign if it means you are spending a

lot more on CTR than your competitors

+ For SEO you don’t need to be number

one for everything, but you want to focus

spending on ranking high for those terms

and phrases that convert.

Pop Quiz

» True or False

+ Search Engine Optimization is done

primarily when building or redesigning

a website.

» False

+ SEO is an ongoing practice that

needs ongoing attention to be

effective.

Pop Quiz

» True or False

+ SEM can be effective for small

companies and small budgets.

» True

+ Search can be an effective tool for

any size organization with any

budget. It always needs to be

aligned with other marketing or

communication objectives to be

effective. Don’t ever work with a

SEM consultant who isn’t talking

about your bigger objectives.

Thank You!

Lisa Helminiak

Principal | Strategist

Twitter: helmin7

Email: lisa.helminiak@azul7.com

» View a copy of this presentation at www.azul7.com/blog

» Twitter: Follow Azul7 – Get a free site evaluation

» Facebook: Azul 7

Thanks for Listening

Questions?