Even the most mature search marketing campaigns can use a kick in the pants. Here are ten of the toughest problems we solve for clients on a regular basis, Includes: local search, seo crisis management, search engine optimization challenges, search for branding, paid search marketing conflicts, and more.
1. Solving 10 Toughest Search Problems
Dana Todd, SVP Marketing & Business Development
dana.todd@performics.com
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2. Top Brands Choose Performics
Performics works with more than 300
top global brands
We are a Top 5 buyer of search media
in the US, and top 10 globally
Category expertise includes CPG,
automotive, travel, education,
financial services, healthcare,
insurance, retail, tech, and telecom
More than 1,000 experts in 18
countries
Performics works with more than 300 top global brands. Due to confidentiality, we are not
able to release our client list in its entirety.
3. Tweeting? @performics @danatodd
Agenda
1. OneSearch: How Do I Achieve Paid & Organic Synergies?
2. Death of the Purchase Funnel: How Do I Engage the Non-Linear Searcher?
3. I Drive the Clicks, But How Do I Close the Deal?
4. Governance: I’m Competing Against Myself!
5. Search & Branding: How Can I Use Search to Build Brand & Create Demand?
6. Mobile Search Is Not Working for Me
7. I’m Nowhere in Local Search Results
8. How Do I Attribute Value to Search Accurately, Online & Offline?
9. How Do I Integrate Search With My Other Tactics, like Social or TV?
10. Help! My Site Disappeared from Google Results!
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5. OneSearch Measurement
Brands can leverage analytics to
develop strategies to achieve
holistic search performance
OneSearch testing can answer questions like:
– What’s the optimal mix of paid & organic? How do we properly diversify traffic
sources to avoid overexposure to organic search volatility?
– Can we boost paid search position to maintain lead/sales volume if organic position
falls? Can we drop paid search position for keywords that rank highly in organic search
& still achieve our goals?
– Does dominating the SERP in both paid & organic boost traffic, sales/leads & brand
awareness at an efficient cost?
6. Measure
Develop integrated measurement for clicks and on-site metrics using web
analytics or SEM platforms
Implement technology to monitor paid and organic positions as algorithm
changes can unexpectedly change the landscape
Automation allows you to react to organic volatility in
real-time by boosting paid search positions accordingly
Benchtools, our proprietary keyword-
monitoring app that sends alerts to our
account teams when rankings change
7. Test
Each vertical has a different optimal mix of
paid & organic traffic sources
To understand your optimal mix, evaluate
business goals
Then conduct a OneSearch test to determine
if paid & organic
search are supporting those goals
8. Align
Align your paid & organic
search teams!
Each team must have the same
incentives & goals
This involves breaking down walls
SEO
and thinking holistically
How can paid & organic campaigns
work together to impact your
bottom line? SEM
Where’s your next
performance opportunity?
9. Dominate
Tests reveal that high visibility
in both paid & organic search
for generic keywords
News for Performics
increased traffic and
conversions at a reasonable
CPAs
Videos for Performics
Conduct a “dominate test” for
your brand to determine if
you can achieve similar
performance
10. Allocate
There may be situations when
it’s more efficient to decrease
paid search position for keywords
that rank highly in organic
Knowing the most cost-efficient approach allows you to
better allocate paid search budget across keywords
11. 2. Engaging the Non-Linear
Searcher
The path-to-purchase isn’t what it used to be
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12. Search Remarketing
Shoppers often bounce between sources: search, social, your website
Search Remarketing enables you to leverage cookie data from your
webpage or social media site to retarget qualified searchers
Opportunities:
– Boost bids for cookied searchers (i.e. those who’ve visited your site)
– Tailor search copy to users who’ve already engaged with you
– Alter landing pages for repeat searchers
– Selectively conquest (i.e. bid on competitors’ terms, but only when you can verify that a
searcher’s been to your site)
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13. 3. Closing the Deal
Impressions & clicks are one thing, but conversions are an
entirely different animal
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14. Conversion Optimization
5-step approach to improve conversions
Discover Diagnose Hypothesize Test Optimize
Customer insights Review of analytics Preferred page PPC Iterative testing
Market trends Expert review concepts or types landing pages User experience
of site by segment Display enhancement
Competitive
threats Does site experience Assumptions landing pages Conversion paths
match ad? about user intent
Business
objectives Assessment of paths
to conversion
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15. It’s Just One Little Keyword…
Bottom Line: Optimizing One KW Could Make Millions!
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16. Conversion Optimization at Scale (Case Study)
Bottom Line: Every 1%
lift in conversion equals
$10 million
incremental revenue
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17. Conversion Analysis: What We’ve Learned
Copy Layout Images Targeting
• Specific numerical savings • Creating fewer options is • Persona-based hero images are • Spanish SEM campaigns can
percentage can be winning typically better for conversion crucial to relevant experiences actually convert higher with
headline copy • Placement and size of buttons • Button color can significantly English landing pages
• Placing important value on the page are important impact conversion (e.g., orange • Returning visitors convert
proposition copy above the fold testing variables for improving can resonate more than green) higher when presented a
ensures users are engaging usability and revenue • Lifestyle images typically different messages and/or
with the page outperform product shots images than first time visitors
*results may vary per vertical/client
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19. Why Worry About Governance?
Control media costs
Don’t compete with
yourself/your partners
Enhance UX
Optimize and increase real
estate on search results
pages
Leverage synergies of
complimenting campaigns
20. Governance Process
Identification &
Recommendation
1. Discovery: Proactive identification of overlap
2. Collaboration: Ongoing stakeholder
Campaign Specific consensus for course of action
Implement & Test 3. Implementation: Agreed to keyword and
Review
bidding guidelines
4. Monitoring & Testing: Active monitoring of
in- market performance, and testing
alternate guidelines
Cross-Campaign
Performics
Review and
Reconciliation
Consensus
21. Global Governance Concerns in SEO
3 viable ways to
accommodate and scale Beyond that:
websites nationally:
Separate websites with national Leverage Webmaster Tools
ccTLD's. (website.co.uk)
Use a local IP Address
Using Sub-domains
(uk.website.com)
Specify the proper language
Using Sub-directories
Multilingual country websites
(website.com/uk)
should create separate versions
22. 5. Growing the Funnel
How can I use Search to build brand and create demand?
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23. Search is Great at Capturing Demand…
what about Creating it?
You will have to stretch your creative thinking
You will need to relax “traditional” performance standards
Embrace participation metrics, but start by deciding what you want
people to do BEFORE you create the campaign
Tie together with your content marketing strategy
Try using some of the new search ad formats
Inspiration: poetry, generic terms, celebrity sightings, content marketing
and non-text assets (videos, images)
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24. Multiple Image Ads
Images and
videos can be
added to
enhance brand
keyword
listings
Advertisers
have seen as
much as 300%
increase in
performance
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26. 6. Ugh, Mobile…
Mobile search scares me or is not working for me
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27. Mobile Strategy Differs by Devices
Smartphones: Tablets:
Your “Constant Companion” Your “Couch Companion”
59% use smartphones while 70% watch TV while using their
shopping/errands tablet
– Product reviews/comparisons – Performics found that
– Looking for where to buy tablet paid search clicks
spike directly after our
– Store location, hours, clients’ commercials air
click-to-call
– Deals, offers
Source: eMarketer; Performics Mobile Insights Study 2011; Nielsen 2011
28. Smartphone Strategy: Dominate the Small SERP
1. Bid for top position
• Multiply paid search bids for users
who are located close to, or in,
your dealership & your
competitors’ dealership
2. Sitelinks, Offers
3. Location Extensions
4. Click-to-call
• Google sees 10M calls per month
from click-to-call
5. SEO: Optimize for organic
29. Tablet Strategies
BID LANDING PAGES
Support TV buys with tablet paid Tablet screen size & browsers are more
search budget like desktops than smartphones
COPY Drive tablet traffic to desktop or tablet-
Gear copy & sitelinks to tablet specific landing pages
users (i.e. “interact from your Avoid Flash (iPad doesn’t render Flash)
tablet”)
KEYWORDS
Because tablet searchers have
different needs, they use different
keywords than smartphones
Create tightly-themed ad groups
per device
30. Responsive Design
Pages adapt themselves for optimized display
on devices with varying screen sizes
Prevents search engines from having to choose
between two (or more) nearly identical pages
Google has expressed a preference
for responsive websites
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31. Mobile Ad Enhancements
Google is increasingly providing advertisers with more opportunities
for enhanced listings in mobile to drive online & in-store traffic:
CLICK TO
SITELINKS CLICK TO CALL PRODUCT ADS LOCATION EXTENSIONS OFFER ADS
DOWNLOAD
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32. 7. My Local Data is a Mess
I’m nowhere in local search results, or it’s all wrong
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33. The Localized Search Results Page
Many keywords have geographic
intent, even high-demand generic
keywords
More search page real estate is
now locally focused
Companies that have many
locations will have more
opportunities
Paid Ads
Companies that don’t have any Paid Local Extensions
locations are going to miss out Organic Results
Organic Map Pack
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34. How We Approach Local Visibility
1. ESTABLISHING 2. MULTIPLYING 3. AMPLIFYING
WEBSITE OPTIMIZATION DATA ACCURACY BRAND EXPERIENCE
Local Architecture/ Local Listings Feed Enhanced Local Profiles
Opportunity Pages Management & (search engines, directories)
Distribution
Location Page Optimization Customer Reviews and
Administrative Advocacy
Local Content, Copy, Media Management of Locations
Local Search Ads
Alignments with Feed Tactical Advantages for
Local SEO (Citations) Special Offers, Promotions,
Conversion Design & and Events
Funneling Full Local Ecosystem Reach
Local Press Release &
Citation Tactics
35. Content for Search Engines & Users
Provide rich, geographical, and easy to
access content aligned with target
keywords:
– Regional/location pages
– Long-tail local pages
Ensure store locaters contain:
– Location pages on unique URLs
– Core location data
– Unique media and content
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36. Local Data Management & Distribution
Optimize local listing data and
ensure data integrity
Provide clean, accurate local listings
across local networks to expand a
brand’s visibility and relevancy
Claim, optimize, and keep profiles
fresh to support local visibility
Garbage In, Garbage Out.
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38. Local List Data Management & Distribution
Your Local
Search engine map platforms Listing Data
(Google, Bing, Yahoo) are a key SEARCH ENGINES
gateway to local visibility Google Bing Yahoo
DATA PROVIDERS
Data providers/aggregators Acxiom Localeze Infogroup
classify and disseminate to
DIRECTORIES
directory sites
SuperPages Foursquare CityGrid Yelp
Local directories and Internet
Yellow Pages generate APPS & DEVICES
significant traffic from desktops
and mobile apps Apps GPS Devices Auto Print Yellow Pages
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39. AMPLIFYING
Connecting Online & Offline BRAND EXPERIENCE
Drive participation in-store
to connect online
influence with offline
conversion
Push promotions for
underperforming stores
Encourage participation
with online reviews from a
loyal offline customer base
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40. Google+ Local
Business listings in the organic SERP’s Google
Maps now funnel searchers to the G+ Local
page instead of the Google Places page
This is likely to drive more G+ traffic &
awareness
Map links to business’ G+ page
G+ page shows below the map
Latest G+ post displays on the SERP
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42. Easy Online-Offline Attribution Testing
PANEL MATCH MATCHED MARKET TESTING MODELING
• Matching client sales data with • Design and execute experiments on a • Useful when significant historical data
Compete or comScore’s panels to regional basis to measure lift resulting is available and overall strategies are
offline sales databases to identify the in changes in marketing activity consistent enough to identify
offline lift from online correlations between online and offline
sales. Powerful when combined with
digital attribution techniques to
understand the fully-loaded value of
search.
44. Analytics in Action – Complex KPI Building
Keyword Value
SALES Before: $1.09 3%
15%
MS Store Sales
ACTION VOLUME WEIGHT NEW VALUE
Sales XX $XX $XX 31% Partner Referrals
Partner Referrals XX $XX $XX 15% Email Signups
Email Signups XX $XX $XX
Store Locators
Store Locators XX $XX $XX
New Customers XX $XX $XX New Customers
Clicks XX $XX $XX Clicks
Video Views XX $XX $XX
6% 19% Video Views
Total $XXX 11%
Keyword Value
After: $1.37
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46. It’s easier with People in the center
UNDERSTAND PARTICIPANT
Analytics & Insights, Social Listening, Targeting,
Data, Segmentation, Attribution Modeling,
Keyword Insights, Forecasting
INTEGRATE CHANNELS
Holistic Planning and Media Mix Modeling
across Connected Devices & Screens
CREATE CONTENT
SOLUTIONS Search Ads, SEO, Video Optimization, Social
Media, Display, Data Feeds, Content
Marketing, Landing Pages, User Experience
OPTIMIZE PARTICIPATION
Expert Bidded Media Management,
Conversion Optimization, SEO, Analytics,
Retargeting, GLANCE
CONNECT & AMPLIFY
Social Media, Local, Syndication,
Affiliate Program Management
48. Silos Inhibit Integration – Break ‘Em Down
Start by aligning KPIs and data across departments and agencies
Invest in research to understand the participant needs and journey
Quick wins: get people aligned around a project or campaign to
“practice” and set test/learn agenda
Commit to holistic budgeting - understand you may be in for a fight
Regular, frequent all-agency meetings and cross-department meetings
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49. TV to Search Integration
10 1800
9 TV Campaign 1600
8 (Launch) 1400
7 1200
6
1000
5
800
4 TV Campaign
3 TV Campaign 600
End
2 (Pre-Launch) 400
1 200
0 0
hour 0 5 10 15 20 1 6 11 16 21 2 7 12 17 22 3 8 13 18 23 4 9 14 19 0 5 10 15 20 1 6 11 16 21 2 7 12 17 22 3 8 13 18 23 4 9 14 19 0 5 10 15 20
As time passed, paid search
impact declined. And—when
Paid search clicks spiked Paid search clicks were
the TV campaign ended—
directly after the ads heaviest at the beginning of
paid search click volume
launched each TV campaign
dropped to pre-TV campaign
levels
54. 10. SEO Disaster
Recovery
Help! My site disappeared from
Google results!
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55. What To Do if You Think You Have Been Penalized
Check Google Webmaster Tools for Error Reports
What changed recently? Did you change your robots.txt file on accident?
Evaluate your Link Portfolio for nefarious links...
and don't buy links. Ever.
Is my content truly unique, or is it copied it from somewhere? Only use
your own content
Are your competitors just doing better that you, or has the SERP layout
changed again? Search is a never ending evolution so you need to be on
top of it always
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56. Most Common Reasons
You have duplicate content, or low
quality content
You’ve got “nefarious links”
Someone on your web team
changed something
The CFO’s sister created a bunch of
blog spam links
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57. Getting Out of Jail
Meticulously document every step that you take to fix!
Process of elimination: check everything
Use the new “Disavow” feature in Webmaster Tools to
disclaim bad links
Submit your stack of evidence, showing what you did to fix
it, and plead mea culpa:
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/reinclusion-request-howto/
Secret hint: if you send snail mail, you might get
faster service
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