In September 2013, Google moved completely to an encrypted search model, and the majority of keyword data evaporated. The biggest impact of this change is on the integration of paid, owned, and earned media. Gain insight into the change and how to adapt your strategies in order to provide integration across channels.

1. Embrace the chaos of integrated
search and content strategies
David Freeman
Havas Media
Head of SEO
London • 10–13 February 2014 • #SESLON @SESConf

2. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
@davefreeman
@davefreeman

3. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Embrace the chaos and provide direction…
@davefreeman

4. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
And have clear objectives for what you
want to achieve
Maximise
efficiency
Maximise
performance
@davefreeman

5. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Was September
2013 the end of PPC
& SEO synergies?
No, encrypted search changes
everything, but integration is
still possible
@davefreeman

6. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
But, in this new world, you can only run
integrated search strategies with Google
When
Referrer data
passed
Can you run
integrated search
September 2013
Yes
Yes
January 2014
No
No
January 2014
(optional)
Not with
encrypted search
No
Yahoo! and Bing don’t pass referral data
– in site analytics referrals will appear as
direct visits
@davefreeman

7. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
And the basics become even more
important than ever
Analyse paid search keyword data on a regular basis
Teams should meeting on a weekly and monthly basis to discuss integration
Use technology like SearchMetrics for insight

8. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
The key challenge is moving from exact keyword
level accuracy to page level correlation
Tactic
Testing incremental value of brand bidding
strategies
Testing incremental value of brand +
product bidding strategies
Testing incremental value of generic
bidding alongside strong organic
performance
Testing keywords using Paid Search then
rolling out to organic
Research using Paid Search keyword data
Easily spotting when Paid Search URLs are
not tagged for site analytics
Pre encryption
Post encryption

9. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
OMFG!
At first, not
having
exact
keyword
level data
is scary

10. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
By embracing page level testing and data
correlation, there is no need to worry
We have lost keyword level data and, with it, data precision
But, we have page level data!
Page X
Page X
Date
PPC On
PPC Off
Organic visits Paid visits Search visits
11/01/2014
2,508,180 267,318
2,775,498
12/01/2014
2,775,198
300
2,775,498
PPC On
PPC Off
Date
Organic Revenue Paid Revenue Search Revenue
11/01/2014
£6,780,274
£155,749
£6,936,023
12/01/2014
£6,920,449
£15,574
£6,936,023
Ensure you run tests for a significant time period i.e. 1 month

11. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
It’s really easy to get this data and export
it to Excel for analysis
Pages report
Use the landing
page report with
custom
segments for
organic search,
paid search and
search visits
You will need custom segments for
each traffic source
Apply visits and conversion metrics
Or use report builder if you have it
@davefreeman

12. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
This all
equates
to this,
right?

13. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
So - set expectations. Stay agile,
iterate quickly and succeed/fail faster
Keep tests small
Iterate through a number of tests
Easier to measure and you won’t get bogged down in
planning overkill
You will fail faster, learn quicker and adapt and perfect the
process sooner – it’s better to hit issues on a small test
@davefreeman

14. But first…
London • 10–13 February 2014 • #SESLON @SESConf

15. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Get stakeholder sign-off at every stage
and agree:
The aims
The test strategy
The keywords
The measurement framework
Timeframes
Set expectations
@davefreeman

16. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Understand what to test by building a picture of
search performance
@davefreeman

17. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Plan a small number of well
defined tests
Target page
Keywords
Length of test
Launch date
Type of test i.e.
day on day off
with weekly
rotation
Results feedback
@davefreeman

18. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Create and agree a measurement
framework
Measuring visits is generally not good enough to get reliable results
Measure revenue and/or conversions as well
Conversion rates can have a sizeable impact on incremental value
Visits
+
Revenue
Consider whether you want to look further
than last click and consider attribution
@davefreeman

19. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Plan how you will measure
Use site analytics – fully de-duplicated data
Ensure your site analytics is correctly configured – if unsure, get it checked
Agree how often the results will be analysed
Let all stakeholders know when results will be shared
@davefreeman

20. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Analyse your
results, agree
next steps with
stakeholders and
implement
changes
accordingly
@davefreeman

21. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Tip: Hire maths/statistics grads or data
scientists as part of your team
@davefreeman

22. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Integrated strategies work
Travel client case study
45% reduction in paid search budget
Only incremental paid search left on
Paid search revenue down 50% - almost completely picked up by organic search
On top of the recovered paid search revenue, organic search revenue grew 5%
Overall revenue from search up 4% with reduced costs
@davefreeman

23. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Never stand still – strong organic search
is vital to an integrated strategy
Don’t take risks with your SEO performance
Focus on a content led strategy
You will need to prove the value of content
@davefreeman

24. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Great content is key – put your
audience first and SEO/SMO second
Content is and always has been king
Rubbish content = poor user experience =
no engagement
Don’t pollute the web with rubbish content
under the banner of SEO
Don’t waste time measuring how effective
poor content is
@davefreeman

25. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
When planning content, always have
clear goals and KPIs
@davefreeman

26. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
And keep in mind that different types of content have
different impacts and should be measured accordingly
@davefreeman

27. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Create an Excel measurement matrix based on your
KPIs – not knowing what success looks like is huge
point of failure for content
Over time, understand what success looks like
and build in success thresholds
@davefreeman

28. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Evolve your content based on results
@davefreeman

29. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
As with Search
integration, stakeholder sign-off is
vital
Initial brainstorm on the idea and theme and development of the design brief
Research
Approval on research sources
Design
#1 draft delivery - Creative development paused
#1 round of feedback
Design
#2 draft delivery - Creative development paused
Content is presented to internal teams for approval:
Legal and Risk feedback
Additional Stake holders feedback if required
Feedback is collated and fed back
#2 round of feedback to be delivered
Design time for any additional amends (last round)
#3 draft delivery - Final design submitted
PR and Social teams informed of launch date
On-site development
Content Live
Report on progress of content first week
Results measurement - first cut
Results measurement - second cut
6 stages of stakeholder
approval for each piece
of content
3 stages of results
analysis
@davefreeman

30. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Insight and data are vital at all stages
to build and seed great content
Understand what people
search for in each market
Customers find what they
were looking for
Monitor performance
against defined KPIs i.e.
links, rankings, visits
Recommend relevant
content for the website and
outreach
Build citations and links to
your content
@davefreeman

31. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Yes, it’s an infographic, but great
content works
3,000 links and 1,872 shares
@davefreeman

32. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
You can even use survey data to get great coverage in
major news publications such as The Telegraph, The
Independent, and The Daily Mail
Over 260 links and shares
@davefreeman

33. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
Content should be at the heart of
collaboration between teams
It brings all the teams together around campaigns or
events and will help drive more effective content
@davefreeman

34. London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf
So in summary
Integrated strategies are still absolutely possible post encryption
Data sits at the heart of search and content integration
Make sure your analytics platform is configured correctly. Bad data = bad
decisions
Stay agile and iterate quickly
Collaboration is key – content binds disciplines and gets everyone working
to a common goal
@davefreeman

35. Thank you
David Freeman
david.freeman@havasmedia.com
Havas Media
Head of SEO
London • 10–13 February 2014 • #SESLON @SESConf