Presentation to the University of Washington Business School class on Search Engine Marketing. Includes insight on how search engines work, what programs are available (SEO/SEM) and how social media impacts

1. Search Engine Marketing Overview for UW Business School – 11/3/10

2. What We Will Cover Today Organic vsPaid Media Some Stats Search Engine Basics Organic Search (Natural) Organic and Social Together Paid Search New Issues with Search Landing Pages

4. Display/Banners

5. Affiliate (CPA)

6. TV/Radio/PrintOrganic strategies work TOGETHER to improve visibility Paid strategies are managed and analyzed as INDIVIDUAL channels

7. US Advertising Spending by Media2007 – 2012 in Millions Search has overtaken display as the #1 media spend online (as of 2008) Internet will overtake newspapers in 2011 (if not sooner) Internet is bigger than spot local/national TV in spend Search is already bigger than print Yellow Pages/directories Lots of traditional media spends are in decline while Internet is up, up, up! Source: Jack Meyers Media Business Report as provided to eMarketer, Sept 14, 2009

8. Why Search Engine Marketing? The #1 driver of non-direct traffic to most websites High quality traffic All stages of the buying cycle from research to price compare Organic traffic has no media costs Pay Per Click search traffic is highly targetable By keyword, location, time of day, day of week, demographic, etc. PPC is self-service, easy to get up and running PPC is a great way to test messaging, offers, landing pages and positioning

9. Types of Search Engines Crawlers Rely on search spiders and algorithms Google/AOL, Yahoo Web, MSN, Teoma Directories/Human Editors Rely on submissions and editors to review Yahoo! Directory, DMOZ, Business.com, CNET, About.com E-Commerce Rely on merchandise managers and submissions Froogle, eBay, Amazon.com, Shopping.com Meta Search Automate queries across other indexes Dogpile, MetaCrawler Industry Vertical Engines/Directories Focus on specific industries through human editors & submissions ThomsonGuide.com, musicsearch.com Social Media Twitter is “Real Time” search LinkedIN, Facebook and MySpace are search networks

10. The #1 Job of Search Engines Provide the Best Search Results Based on the Limited Information (1-4 keywords) the Searcher Gives the Engine. Better search results (organic & paid) = happier searchers Happier searchers = more search/repeat usage More search usage = more inventory More inventory = more opportunity to sell pay per click advertising

11. Search Engine Marketing Programs Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Listed in the editorial or organic area of engine. Higher quality traffic – legitimate search results. No guarantee of placement, mid to long term results. Pay Per Click (PPC) Search Auction, bid or CPC system. Immediate, cost effective, trackable. Pay Per Click (PPC) Content Network Google/Bing have matched your keywords to content on the internet You push ads to a site without a specific search Managed through your same search PPC interface

12. A Google Example SEM of Programs Paid Results: The top two performers from the AdWords CPC program. Main Results: Natural search listings which cannot be bought, but influenced with SEO program. Google does not have a trusted feed or paid inclusion program. Paid Results:AdWords closed-bid CPC placements. Ranked by CTR x CPC. Top three listings distributed to partners. Top three and more distributed to Google’s Content-Targeted Ad network.

13. Example of a Content Ad Network Placement Content Network: Page content mapped to your keywords. Highly efficient buy, but lower in quality.

14. The Golden Triangle of Search Usability The results of an eye tracking study on Google. The focus is on the upper left with a glance over to the top of the right hand side placements. Underlines the volume importance of the top placements.

15. The Importance of Position The higher the position, the higher the click through rate The higher the position, the lower the conversion (in general) Critical to understand position vs cost vs conversion trade off Source is Yahoo! site wide data.

16. How Crawlers Work Link Link Link Link Link Web Page Web Page Web Page Web Page Web Page Web Page Search Bots follow links and return information to index Googlebot, MSNbot, Muscat Ferret (www.robotstxt.org lists 298 bots) Cached Pages In Database Update & Refresh Schedule Business Rules Algorithm Ancillary Data Sources Index News (hourly) Web Page Content Crawl Site and Sitemap.xml Fresh (recent) Local Content (standard update) Foundation Database (standard update)

17. How Do They Get Data? – Spiders… Search Spiders follow links and return data to search engine for processing with algorithms. They can: Read meta tags, title tags and HTML content. Read URL’s (some read past a ? variable, some don’t). Read some dynamic content. Follow links through-out the site if built into page. Are looking for STRONG uses of keywords. H1 tags, title tags and HTML content are more important. Bold and italic words. Are looking for CONTEXT Block of related text, pages with single themes, etc. Spiders can only return what they can read and find. Our job is to help them find the right information in the right format

18. Why Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? 60 – 80% of clicks on a search engine results page emanate from the organic search area. Google: 80% of clicks from organic Yahoo: 70% of clicks from organic MSN: 60% of clicks from organic Organic clicks may or may not be more qualified. The clicks are free of media costs (although there are internal & management costs). It is an important part of your entire SEM program.

19. Search Engine Optimization Truths Your #1 job is to make finding, crawling and indexing your site as easy as possible for bots High rankings are built on relevant content & links Remember the #1 goal of search engines Following white hat strategies is best Engines getting smarter about search spam Do you have time to fight the search engines? The simpler a site the easier to get ranked Balance CMS/Rich Media vs Search Objectives SEO is NOT fast and never ends Set aside budget for SEO as you would PPC SEO will effect your marketing, IT, Web site and copy writing groups.

20. SEO Programs Contain Five Elements Keyword Selection Volume vs. Relevancy vs. Competitiveness Site Content Align Words, Files, Tags, etc. with Keywords Submission, Indexing, Site Structure Get More Pages into the Engines Sitemap.xml’s are critical for large sites Leverage on-site link structure Linking Inbound, On-site and Outbound Links are All Important Reporting Consistent, Timely Reporting to Manage Progress

21. Twitter – The Latest in Search Looks like a search engine to me Hashtags and @ symbols drive direct relevance Popular topics drive HUGE traffic Find people who are talking about topics you are interested in Now Twitter feeds in Google and Bing (just announced)

22. Social Media and Search Social media has dramatically increased the amount of indexable content available – everyone is a publisher Social has also increased the SPEED at which content is created Blogs, comments and articles are much easier to publish and now have revenue attached to them via Google Adsense, etc. Social media networks has raised the bar on cross linking, product communication and personal profile publishing. The concept of a homepage is changing Not just on your site, but Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter Being involved in a conversation and pointing (via links) too an authoritative piece of content adds to the link building tool set Social is boosting the distinction between organic & paid campaigns

23. Twitter Feeds in Google 20 Twitters feeds in Google search results page

24. The Major Modes of Use for Twitter Listen and respond to conversations Listen to what is being said about your products and brand Respond to accolades and criticism If something positive or negative is said > how do you engage the conversation? Syndicate and engage your audience Use Twitter to promote your content, webinars & releases Create and manage Twitter campaigns

26. customer service

27. press releases

28. email/newslettersBlog Comments Blog Posts Tweets Re-tweets Forum Posts Forum Comments News Posts RSS Feeds The reactive mode of social media requires on-going monitoring and engagement There are LOTS of tools for monitoring different conversation streams

30. 3rd party content

32. Build all of the tweets for the campaign at once

33. Include links to your site which we shorten for you

35. blog posts

36. conferences

37. information guides

38. online courses

39. podcasts

40. press releases

41. speaking events

42. videos

43. webinars

44. white papers

46. # of leads

47. # of sign-ups

48. Source = Twitter

50. # of ReTweetsReTweets Facebook LinkedIn Your Site Other Blogs Utilizing social media and Twitter to extend the reach of your content is ideal Tracking the results through campaign variables on your link back to your site, increased number of visitors and increased number of followers

51. Paid Media Cost Methods Online Media Can be Purchased Using Various Cost Methods, Each with Pros & Cons. Time: Great for guaranteed SOV and placement, but inventory is determined by visitor traffic. Effective method for page takeovers to build awareness and to block out competitors. CPM: Strong guarantee of impressions, share of voice, and targeted placements, but greater risk (of ROI) falls on the advertiser. CPC: Provides targeted placement at less risk than CPM, but impressions are not guaranteed and risk of forced and/or incentive clicks. CPA or Revenue Share: The least amount of risk for advertiser and paid only when an user-action is performed, but no guarantee of impressions, placement, nor acceptance by publishers. Less CommonMore Common Publisher RiskAdvertiser Risk

52. Paid Search Overview The most effective, timely and trackable way to start spending marketing dollars. Market is in transition from a Google + Yahoo + Bing + others to just Google + Bing Google is king – they have the largest volume, highest quality audience, best testing tools & easiest user interface. Bing is gaining with marketing, innovation and business development Google content network is MUCH bigger and more refined than Bing Testing is what will make or break your program!

54. Search is just one outlet of impressions for the system.

55. Everything is centered around a pay per click model vs a CPM or CPA

57. Paid Search - Areas to Optimize Inventory (# of impressions accessible) Campaign Structure & Categories Budget Keywords Match types (broad, phrase, exact) Negative Keywords Publishers/Engines Copy Placement: Search vs. Content Bid Strategy/Ad Rank Conversion Process Landing Pages Balance with Life Time Value

58. Paid Search Metrics, Levers and Actions

59. Customer Segmentation & Search Two Major Ways to Segment with Search By Keyword Each keyword someone enters is a behavioral indicator. A correlation exists between the stage of the research or purchase process and the type of keywords entered. MP3 Player vsipod 4GB nano black Music vs Free Rhapsody Trial By Demographic Data New tools that link account information with keyword searches are available. Research keywords to get demographic profile (very helpful for wider campaigns) Target broader keywords to a narrower demographic (helpful for expanding keyword campaigns)

60. New Issues with Search Engines Competition Bing running Yahoo search – impact? Google updating UI to add in Bing “esque” features Google Instant – rapid update of results interface while you type Real Time Search Google’s “caffeine” is trying to index content faster Adding Real Time tweets to Google Index Universal Search Combining multiple media types into same Search Engine Results Page. Text, Video, Audio, Images, etc. Personalized Search Change results page based on previous search behavior and website visitation patterns Off-shoot of behavioral targeting Latent Semantic Indexing Already in use to improve results Context of keywords as well as words around the word. Mobile Search iPhone, Blackberry, Google Android Platform Is it form or function?

61. Landing Page Best Practices Relevancy The copy, colors, look & feel should all be in-line with the message of the media. Any disconnects between what the marketing message said and what the landing page says causes friction in the process. Simplicity The fewer words, the fewer images, the fewer links, etc. – the better the page will convert. Narrow Focus Lose any extraneous links, unfocused navigation.

62. Testing Methodologies & Tools No Testing is Death Start with A/B/C testing > but be disciplined in variable control (only one at a time!) Move to multi-variant when you have the dollars and traffic to support it. Ability to test millions of combinations of variables via tree’d approach (aka smart test design) Taguchi method is de-rigueur, but new, more modern methods are now commercially available. Small incremental changes are the rule, not the exception.

63. What to Test on a Landing Page Headlines and Headings Offer Layout # and Type of Testimonials Bonus Gifts Coupons P.S. Messages Guarantees Opening Sentence Image Closing Sentence Image Colors Location of Images Hyperlinks

64. That’s a Wrap! Visit www.optify.net for more articles, information & blogs (in the process of being updated) Also visit www.optify.net for jobs  E-mail me with comments, additional questions, clarifications – scott@optify.net Join the LinkedIn University of Washington MBA Alumni Group – go beyond your class! Thank You!

65. Is Google the New Microsoft? You can now functionally live without every installing a Microsoft product

66. Share of Searches by Engine Is the bloom coming off of Bing? Why does Google keep winning? What will it take to change this trend?

68. How do the PPC Programs Differ? The primary web sites are different Google & Ask > strictly a search engine MSN & Yahoo > portals with search Twitter > spaz messaging! The syndicated networks are different Google feeds AOL, Amazon.com & lots more Yahoo! Search Marketing feeds Yahoo! MSN Search feeds MSN.com and Live! The content networks are different Different sites Different ways to identify the way to place the ad on a site Different ways to optimize ads The rules for placement are different Underlying algorithms are slightly different Match types, minimum bids, normalization, targeting The concept of relevancy is different Google > extended relevancy past click through rate to landing page consistency and post landing pages > crawling deeper into sites. Google > higher priority on “clean” ads that don’t duplicate each other Yahoo, Bing and ASK are fast following Google (but Google is still faster)

69. Appendix - Fun SEO Tools http://www.optify.net/ Blog posts, guides, SEO and Lead Intelligence software http://www.optify.net/labs/link-building-advisor/ http://www.SEOmoz.org Local company with great tool set http://www.seodigger.com See a list of keywords and what rank for a specific URL http://www.seotoolset.com/tools/free_tools.html Various free tools for linking, keyword inventory & more http://www.seocompany.ca/tool/seo-tools.html 142 SEO tools for all things http://www.marketleap.com Easy to use SEO tools that includes competitive comparisons. http://www.searchengineworld.com/cgi-bin/sim_spider.cgi Search engine spider simulator

71. www.feedster.com (find feeds)

72. www.netgator.com

75. www.goarticles.com

76. www.netterweb.com

77. www.articlefinders.com

78. www.articlecity.com

79. www.ideamarketers.com

80. www.buzzle.com

81. thewhir.com/find/articlecentral/

82. www.certificate.net

83. www.amazines.comSearch Directories Dmoz.org Dir.yahoo.com www.joeant.com www.skaffe.com www.bluefind.com www.zeal.com www.goguides.org www.gimpsy.com www.wowdirectory.com www.sevenseek.com www.thisisouryear.com Search.looksmart.com www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/hub.mspx

85. www.Offermatica.com

86. www.NetConversions.com

87. www.sitespect.com

89. http://calc.in-the-name-of-profit.com/86429/ab_test.jsp

91. http://www.splittestgenerator.com/Design Resources www.pixelmill.com www.templatezone.com www.templatekit.com Web Analytics Resources www.clicktracks.com www.urchin.com www.nettracker.com Optimization Resources www.websiteanalyzer.com www.websiteoptimization.com

92. Appendix – More Resources Pop-up Generator www.dynamic-popup-generator.com/ Opt-In List Builders www.advertisingknowhow.com/Optin_List_builder.htm www.coregcomplete.com/index.php (co-reg software) www.opt-intelligence.com (co-reg network) Marketing Information and Content Sites www.marketingexperiments.com www.clickz.com www.marketingsherpa.com www.marketingprofs.com Examples of Viral Marketing Campaigns http://showdown.contagiousmedia.org/