Search Marketing InsiderPay Per Click, Social Media and SEO Strategies – An Internet Marketing Institute Publication

By Mary O’Brien, Founder/Director, PPC Summit  

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend SES San Jose. I hadn’t been in a couple of years, and I was really curious to see what an SES conference looks like now, given the recessionary state of the marketing Industry.

The good news is – Search Engine Marketing is obviously alive and kicking with no chance of decline in the foreseeable future, so if you are thinking of learning a marketing skill to complement your resume and make your career recession proof, Pay-Per-Click, SEO and Social Media will definitely make you more marketable.

Although attendance was down a little bit the conference was still vibrant and focused as usual on the future and big picture of Search Engine Marketing. What was interesting this year was that attendees were actually paying attention, and using the conference to its best advantage. In years past when I attended SES it seemed like all anyone was focused on were the cool tchotchkys that were being given away at various booths. This year folks were actually attending sessions and networking with each other, with the intent of making themselves more interesting to future employers, or even better, going out on their own and getting clients.

Maybe it was the lack of a Google Dance that caused this shift.  In previous years it seemed like the Search Engines went out of their way to compete with each other on who could hold the biggest, craziest party, but this year, it was a much more focused event, totally in keeping with every Search Marketers need to do more with less budget.

So why does learning Search Engine Marketing make you more marketable as a marketer?

From SEMPO’s State of Search Engine Marketing Report and Survey, released in February 2009:
• The North American Search Engine Marketing industry grew from $9.4 billion in 2006 to $13.5 billion in 2008
• North American Search Engine Marketing spending is now projected to grow to $26.1 billion in 2013, up significantly from the $18.6 billion forecast in 2007.
• Pay-Per-Click captured 88.4 percent of 2008 spending, up 1% from 2007; organic SEO captured 10.6 percent
• Budgets are shifting to Pay-Per-Click. About a third of respondents said their funding for Pay-Per-Click came from a mix of new and existing marketing funds. Another third reported using entirely newly allocated budgets

Reuters also reported that while online advertising isn’t growing at the rate that print advertising is declining it IS still growing even as the economy all around us is shrinking. Basically, Search Engine Marketing is pretty recession proof. Advertising dollars are still available but they appear to be moving online, and over 85% percent of that is for Pay-Per-Click.

This is important for two reasons:
1. This will give more companies the incentive to advertise online in case their competitors beat them to the punch.
2. Those companies will need knowledgeable, talented and properly-trained people to execute a great Search Engine Marketing campaign.

When times are not so good, more businesses are willing to push budgets online. When times get better, do you think that is going to change?

The numbers from SEMPO show that nowadays a larger number of businesses get the importance of not only having a Web presence, but are working hard to maintain their visibility. Now that the economy is slow, budgets are being pulled from other sources and moved online.

What does that mean for the future of Search Engine Marketing?  Basically, as a marketer, a large percentage of your time should be focused on SEM. You should be doing it, researching it, learning it and staying current with all the nuances and changes.  You don’t necessarily have to be an expert at every part of it, but you should know who the experts are, the best tools to use and also how to get access to info when you have a question.

So even in a recession continue your Search Engine Marketing education. Go to conferences, training and seminars that can help you to learn, network and improve your marketability. You’ll meet amateur and professional Search Engine Marketers and business owners, create great peer relationships, and learn more skills. If your current company has cut their training budget, considering paying for training yourself.  That way you’ll truly make yourself recession proof along with Search Engine Marketing. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a huge expensive conference, as long as it meets your specific education needs. Go where you can learn the most about the skill that will make you the most marketable right now. This is a great time to invest some marketing dollars in yourself.

By Bill Leake, CEO and founder of Apogee Search

Do you have a paid search campaign that is on its last legs?  Perhaps your spending has spiraled out of control and your conversions haven’t budged.  Or, like many of us, maybe your performance is fine but your budgets have been slashed, forcing you to produce the same results with less spend.  Before you scrap everything and start from scratch, take these three easy steps to save your paid search campaigns.

Step One: Eliminate Irrelevant Traffic
When you are paying per click, you only want relevant traffic.  Many campaigns are mired down in irrelevant traffic. Step one on the road to recovery – cut it out of the picture.

Do this by identifying and blocking negative keywords. This will ensure that your ad doesn’t come up in search results under irrelevant terms.  Find irrelevant search terms in Google’s Search Query report and use as negative keywords across all search engines.  Since every campaign is different, the best way to find negative keywords is to look at a search query report and get rid of anything that doesn’t belong.

“Free” is often a good negative keyword to start with. ”Cheap” and “Discount” are tricky, but could be relevant if your products are high end.  Also keep in mind that there is something “X-rated” out there for more keywords than you probably want to think about. If that is not your industry, add some negative keywords in that regard.

Testing different keyword match types is another way to trim down keywords that are inflating your impressions, dropping your click through rate and lowering your quality score. In Google, try testing multiple match types.  In Yahoo!, adjust advanced match settings.  If you are overwhelmed, you can try starting with just the keywords that have the most spend and those with the most impressions.

Also, see if your analytics program provides you with a query report.  That will fill in the gaps that the Google report leaves with, “108 other unique queries.”  If you have general terms on broad match, it is an uphill battle to weed out irrelevant traffic with negatives. That might be a battle you want to fight, but if not, consider switching your more general, lower converting terms to phrase match. Best idea – test different match types, with the more specific types often warranting higher bids.

Some people rush to delete keywords when dealing with out of control spend, but in fact, most keywords are salvageable. If possible, see how they work with refined match types and negative keywords.  In many cases, you can reduce irrelevant traffic by 50% or more with negative keywords and match type adjustments.

Step Two: Optimize Ad Copy

Are your ads responsive and coherent?  Do they truly represent your product or services?  Are they specific and precise?Sometimes we encounter ads that are too general to say anything about the company. The age-old advertising battle cry, “benefits, not features,” is a good rule of thumb.  However, with limited characters, make sure you don’t forget to properly identify the product or service.

In order to keep out unqualified traffic, you have to be specific.  If your target audience is companies with 50 employees or more, say so.  For e-commerce, consider listing prices.  Words like, “luxury” might weed out bargain shoppers.

“But shouldn’t I be trying to grab people’s attention?” you ask.  Of course, in some cases you should, but if you are suffering from low ROI, your problem might be that you are trying to grab everyone’s attention.  If the majority of your traffic is irrelevant, it doesn’t help you – it only costs you money.

Calls to action are an excellent tool, but only if they are specific.  We have performed plenty of testing, and we rarely see success with general calls to action like, “download free white paper,” or, “buy now.”  Create a specific, compelling call to action by preparing the searcher for the end conversion.  For example, “Sale on widgets – 20% off,” can be changed to, “Buy widgets today and save 20%.”  Similarly, “Free white paper on how to save your paid search campaign,” can be changed to, “Learn 3 easy steps to save your paid search campaign.”

Step Three: Improve Your Landing Pages
A good landing page can make all the difference in your campaign. After you clear out unnecessary spend with the prior two steps, take that budget and invest in proper landing page creation.

Look at your various keywords.  Are there phrases that searchers would use while they are in the research stage versus when they are in buying mode?  If so, create different landing pages for each group.  It might be a good idea to interview salespeople, or customers if possible, to find out which key points to focus on in landing pages.

Most importantly, have consistency between your ad and the landing page.  This is the simplest fix, and yet it is often overlooked. Make your shopping cart easy to use and goals easy to achieve.  You will begin to lose people after one or two steps, max.

Of course, don’t forget to test!   That means everything – all offers, calls to action, forms, design, landing pages, new ideas – everything.

Yes, your campaign can recover, and in some cases even be brought back from the dead, if you follow the Road to Recovery: reduce irrelevant impressions; reduce unqualified clicks; increase conversion rate.  In doing so, you are tackling all three levels of your paid search funnel.

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Bill Leake draws on a deep expertise in both business and marketing to help increase revenues for a wide range of clients. He has been involved in driving provable revenues through Internet marketing techniques since the early 1990s when, as part of the management team at Power Computing.  As CEO and founder of Apogee Search, he has guided the company from inception to its current position as the largest search engine marketing firm in the Southwest, one of the 20 largest in North America and one of the fastest growing companies on the Inc. 500 list. In addition to leading Apogee Search, Bill also serves as the president of the Austin Interactive Marketing Association, and as the chairman of the SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization) committee.