Overview of SEO & SEM

Overview of Search Marketing: SEO & SEMSEO & SEM

Sanger & EbyNew Horizons Computer Learning Centers

24 March 2011

About Sanger & Eby

• Strategic Design and Technology Firm Focused on Specialized Business Communications

• Services Include:

– Strategic planning and research

– Social media strategy and execution

– User experience planning– User experience planning

– Print and interactive design

– Interactive and multi-channel marketing

– Content development

– Search marketing (SEO & SEM)

– Website development

– Custom business and web applications

– Mobile applications

24 March 2011Seminar Series 2011

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Fast Facts About Sanger & Eby

• Founded in 1988 by Lisa Sanger & Donna Eby

• Certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE)

• Staff of 21 Employees

• All Strategy, Design, and Programming Done In-House

• 15 Years Experience Creating Websites

• 700+ Sites Designed and Developed

• 95% Client Retention Rate Year Over Year• 95% Client Retention Rate Year Over Year

• Clients include:

– Macy’s

– Fifth Third Bank

– Luxottica

– RotoRooter

– Crayons to Computers

– Children’s Hospital

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What is Search Marketing?

• Search marketing is leveraging search engines such as Google,

Bing, and Yahoo to market your company, brand, or product

via paid and editorial search engine results

• Ensuring your company is featured prominently in search

results when people enter keywords or phrases related to your

business.business.

• Two Primary Components

– Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

– Search Engine Marketing (SEM), a.k.a. Pay Per Click (PPC)

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Want to Catch a Fish?

Fish where the fish are.Fish where the fish are.


The Value of Search Marketing

• 50% of Consumers Start Purchase with Online Research

• 63% of B2B Buyers Start with Online Research

• 85% of B2B Buyers Do Online Research During Buying Cycle

• To Buy from You, They Have to Find You

• 1 Trillion Websites…and Counting

• 90% of Search Engine Users Don’t Look Past the Top 30 Results

• 75% Don’t Look Beyond the First Page• 75% Don’t Look Beyond the First Page

• Rankings 1-5 10 Times More Likely to Be Clicked on Than 6 & 7

Sources: PowerReviews Study 2010, Nielsen/NetRatings, Enquiro Search Solutions, Google

The New Rule of SEO, 2010


Benefits of Effective Search Marketing

• Increased Visibility

• Increased Awareness

• Perception of Leadership and Increased Credibility

• Powerful Branding

• Immediate Results (PPC)

• Long-Term Visibility (SEO)• Long-Term Visibility (SEO)

• Increased Targeted Traffic

• Increased Conversion Rates for Call to Action

• Decreased Cost per Lead

• Decreased Cost per Sale

• Increased Sales

• Measurable


Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• The process of improving the visibility of a website or specific page in search engines through natural or organic search

• Utilizes search engine algorithms to elevate a site to top rankings in search results

• Considers how search engines work and what people search for

• Ongoing process (search engines continually refine algorithms) • Ongoing process (search engines continually refine algorithms)

• Key techniques include:

– Editing content and HTML within a site

– Increasing relevance for specific keywords and phrases

– Removing barriers to search engine indexing

– Building link popularity

• Related negative category: Black Hat SEO


Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

• Search advertising model in which advertisers pay the search

engine when a featured ad is clicked.

• Advertisers bid on keywords and phrases relevant to their

business to achieve visibility within paid search results.

• Search engines display an ad when a user keyword query

matches the advertiser’s keyword list.matches the advertiser’s keyword list.

• Ads are called sponsored links or sponsored ads

• Appear separately from organic search results

• Also referred to as Pay Per Click (PPC)


Leading Search Engines

• Google

• YouTube

• Bing

• Yahoo!

• Ask

• AOL


How Search Engines Work

• Register Site with Search Engine

• Automated Site Crawlers (AKA “spiders” or “bots”)

• Index Content in Database

• Utilize Specialized Algorithms to Rank Sites

• Display Contents of Index Based on User Search Queries

• Constantly Adjusted Algorithms

– Better user experience

– More relevant search results

– Level playing field


How to Get Started with Search Marketing

• Determine your objectives

• Develop a search strategy

• Identify strategic keywords (including long-tail keywords)

– Relevant to your business and products or services

– Include negative keywords

– Google AdWords or WordTracker– Google AdWords or WordTracker

– Leverage for both PPC and SEO

– PPC results feed into SEO

• Develop Good Content Featuring Strategic Keywords

• Home Page Highest Priority

• Remember Your Home Page May Not Be the Entry Point


Benefits of SEM

• Flexibility

• Immediate Results

• Control Over Location and Time Ads Appear

• Google Content Network Displays Ads Across Sites

• Test Keywords for SEO

• Merit-Based Rankings (Not Just Bids)

– Quality score and relevance

– Clickthrough rate and relevance


Secrets of SEM

• Make Ad Copy Relevant to Search Terms

• Manage and Track Campaign

• Utilize Long-Tail Keywords

• Utilize Landing Pages

• Test Your Ads• Test Your Ads

• Adjust Budgets for Keywords

• Measure, Measure, Measure

• Optimize, Optimize, Optimize


Case Study: Macy’s District Planner Recruiting


Macy’s District Planner Recruiting


Macy’s District Planner Recruiting

• Strategic Landing Pages Provide Details on Position

• Clearly Featured Call to Action (Yes, I’m Interested!)

• Follow Up Page Includes Short Response Form

• Both Pages Include Tracking Code

• Enables Accurate Measurement of ROI

• Provides Tracking of:

– Impressions

– Clicks

– Applications Completed

• Macy’s Can Quantify Cost for Each Action


Macy’s District Planner SEM Results

• 1MM+ Impressions per Month

• 2,500+ Clicks

• 9% Conversion Rate

• 50%+ Identified as Appropriate Candidates & Enter Interview

Process

• Expanding Campaigns to Other Positions• Expanding Campaigns to Other Positions


Search Engine Optimization Tactics: Internal

• Long-Tail Keywords

• Page Titles

• Headlines and Subheads

• Body Text

• Alternate Text for Images and Interactive Pieces (Flash, etc.)

• Accessibility

• Meta Tags


Search Engine Optimization Tactics: External

• Register with Search Engines

• Build Link Popularity

• Utilize Social Media

• Start (and Maintain) a Blog


Case Study: Macy’s Diversity Leadership





• Content-Rich Pages

• Limited Use of Flash

• Strategic Page Titles, Headlines, and Meta Tags

• Alternate Text for Images

• Text-Based Navigation


Macy’s Diversity Leadership Results

• #1 Spot in Google for Key Search Terms

• Traffic Increased 41%

• 82% of Visits are New

• All Major Site Sections Receive Nearly Equal Traffic

• Dramatically Increased Awareness


Social Media and Search

• Search engines are indexing social media content

– Facebook

– Twitter

– LinkedIn (particularly Groups and Answers)

• YouTube is the second largest search engine

• Increases visibility and inbound links• Increases visibility and inbound links

• Generates multiple and unique listings


Blogging

• Share Your Expertise and Promote Your Business

• Additional Opportunities to Utilize Keywords

• More Pages of Content to Index

• Frequently Updated Sites Rank Higher

• Expand Your Focus (Comments on Other Blogs)

• Participate in the Conversation


The Perils of Black Hat SEO

• Defined as using unethical techniques to improve search engine

rankings

• Presents content differently to search engine spiders than to

search engine users

• Creates a poor user experience

• Violates search engine rules and policies• Violates search engine rules and policies

• Sites are penalized or even delisted when caught

• Short-sighted solution to a long-term problem

• JC Penney Case Study


Black Hat Tactics to Avoid

• Keyword Stuffing: long lists of keywords without other content

• Hidden Text: e.g, white text on a white background

• Doorway Pages: pages users don’t see, created just for search

engines

• Link Farms: long lists of unrelated links that artificially boost

link popularitylink popularity

• Link Spamming: Posting your URL on unrelated or irrelevant

sites


Questions?

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[email protected]@sangereby.com

513.784.9046

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LinkedIn: Kat Jenkins
