Why SEO is Not Always Enough (Sometimes you've gotta pay to play)

Why SEO is Not
Always Enough
(Sometimes you’ve gotta pay to play)
Mike Gracen
SEO, SEM & Digital Media Manager
@mikegracen
MARCH 3, 2015

searchmarketingexpo.com
@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Mike Gracen
SEO, SEM & Digital Media Manager
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
@mikegracen

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google cares about two things.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
(And guess what?)

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
You’re not one of them.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google cares about
maximizing shareholder wealth.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google cares about
keeping their users happy.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
“Focus on the user and
all else will follow.” - Google

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google is a search company.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google is an advertising
company…

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
that happens to own the
World’s #1 search engine.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
of Google’s 2013 revenue
came from advertising.
https://investor.google.com/financial/tables.html

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google is not in business to be
your friend.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google is not in business to do
you any favors.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google may not even know
you exist.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Case Studies

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Since 1999 the UK’s leading UX consultancy. We are
psychologists, researchers, interaction designers,
usability & customer experience specialists.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Did a study for an auto insurance client.
https://econsultancy.com/blog/62249-40-of-consumers-are-unaware-that-google-adwords-are-adverts/

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
81% of users clicked
on Adwords listings.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
81% of users clicked
on Adwords listings.
40% of users had
“no idea” there were
PPC ads on the page.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
The heat map demonstrates
that it’s the area of the
screen displaying the top results,
regardless of whether they
are natural or paid for,
that receives the most activity
and attention from users.
- Bunnyfoot Co-founder
Rob Stevens

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
EyeQuant uses Artificial Intelligence to predict what users
will see and miss in your web designs and mockups.
http://blog.eyequant.com/2014/03/20/why-the-new-google-search-ads-design-is-a-subtle-work-of-genius/

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Did a study on Google’s new search result pages design.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
“In conclusion, this is a supremely clever, subtle redesign and there’s lots
of reasons to believe that it will effectively drive eye-balls, clicks and
ad revenue.”

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
“Google’s new Ads now very much
‘blend in’ with the organic results,
all while attracting MORE attention,
and all without being clearly evil.”

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
So what?

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Users don’t know or care
about paid vs. organic.
They just want answers FAST.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google realizes this
and are thrilled with what the
future holds.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
What’s on Page 1?

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Google owned results
News, Images, Maps, Google+, Youtube

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Scraped data
Knowledge Graph, Carousels, Answer boxes, Google Now

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Paid ads
Adwords, PLAs, Knowledge Graph ads

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
‘Preferred’ sites
Wikipedia

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Local packs
Google My Business

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
10 blue links
for how much longer?

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Within 5 years there will be
zero pure organic results on page 1.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Within 5 3 2 years there will be
zero pure organic results on page 1.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
We are already there.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
SEM + SEO

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Link together your Webmaster Tools and Adwords accounts.
 Adwords dashboard > Campaigns > Dimensions > View dropdown > Paid & Organic
Adwords Paid & Organic Report
https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/3097241

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Search ‘footprint’ each keyword term.
 Ad shown only. Organic result shown only. Both shown together.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Tighten up your branded paid search (do we really need to be bidding on that?)
 Find gaps. Holistically look at all of your search placements.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Adwords dashboard > Campaigns > Dimensions > View dropdown > Search Terms
Adwords Search Terms Report

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Paid search terms that triggered impressions and clicks.
 Tighten up your negative keywords. Sanity check your match types.
Adwords Search Terms Report

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Quality Score needs to be 8 or better.
 Too many/unrelated keywords in adgroup? Slow loading pages?
 Missing SEO basics (Title, Description, H1/H2, content)?
Optimize Your Landing Pages

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Repurpose Your Landing Pages
Create one landing page and use for multiple channels (paid search, organic, display).
 Always follow proper on-page SEO (title, description, good content).
 Use rel=canonical tags.
 <META NAME=“ROBOTS” CONTENT=“NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW”>
 301 redirect after offer is over.

@mikegracen
#SMX #11c
Tag Everything
(not set) showing in your AdWords reports?
 Auto-tagging does not have cost data applied.
 Redirect in the URL.
 gclid parameter is wonky.
 Auto and manual tagging are both selected.
 Manually tagged URLs are missing a parameter.

Why SEO is Not Always Enough (Sometimes you've gotta pay to play)

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Editor's Notes