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This article has been prepared by Tug. Tug, is a Search Engine Marketing specialist agency, based in Shoreditch, London.
Search Engines have evolved into a new consumer, communications and marketing channel. Google, Yahoo and MSN serve 213 million searches a day.
In fact, 9 out of 10 internet surfers use a Search Engine to start their internet journey. Therefore, if your website doesn’t have visibility in the engines, you are missing significant volumes of traffic.
Natural vs. Paid for Listings
There are essentially two listings within a Search Engine Results Page (SERP): the Natural listings (on the left) and the Paid for listing (on top and on the right).
Natural listings are the results the engine believes to be the most relevant sites to your search. The natural listings consistently receive over 70% of consumer clicks. Paid for listings are the ads served by Advertisers, who have bid on the term searched for by the consumer.
The Natural listings therefore list all available websites in the World Wide Web, while the Paid for listings only serve links by relevant Advertisers willing to pay for their spot, and thus high visibility in the engines.
To increase Reach, advertisers can pay for ads on the Search Engines themselves, as well as their local listings, mobile listings and their Content Network of websites.
Pay per Click (PPC). Pay only for Visitors
Unlike other marketing channels where you pay for the number of people who see your ad, in pay per click advertising (PPC) you only pay when someone clicks on your ads and is driven through to your site.
• 75% of users search for goods and services through a Search Engine.
• PPC has the lowest cost per lead compared to other Direct Marketing methods.
• Pay per click advertising is relevant to what the individual is searching for – targeting them at the right moment and mood.
• Pay per click is 100% accountable.
• Advertisers can know the cost of each conversion in real-time, and campaigns can be instantly optimised for maximum ROI.
To get visibility in the paid for listings you can set up a PPC campaign for your website yourself, or by commissioning a specialist Search Engine Marketing agency like Tug.
To get visibility in the Natural listings you need to optimise your website – this is called Search Engine Optimisation. Again this is where you need to commission a specialist agency like Tug.
What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
Search engine Optimisation, or SEO as it’s commonly known as, is an online marketing strategy that involves designing, writing and coding your entire website with the intention of enabling search engines to index your site easily and efficiently. The sole aim and objective is for it to rank higher for keywords relevant to your business. Optimising a website is critical to gaining visibility on the organic or natural (left hand side) search results (SERP’s) of search engines.
SEO, is done in two stages, known primarily as on page and off page. On page involves the website itself and fundamentally evolves around the design, build and copy laid out within the actual site. Off page relates to ongoing SEO development and includes link building campaigns, news and article submissions, paid directory submissions and joining discussion forums that relate to your chosen industry. The latter is basically about gaining 3rd party exposure of your website.
On Page Factors
• Keyword mining
• Keyword density checks
• Credible copywriting
• Meta tags scripting
• Clean and valid mark-up (HTML)
• Link management
Off Page Factors
• Free / paid directory submission
• Article and news submission
• Press release distribution
• Reciprocal link marketing
• Inbound link building
• Digital signatures
Using Search Engine Marketing to meet your Communication Objectives
Consumers using a Search Engine are primarily in two sets of mind: ‘Research’ mode and ‘Ready to act/buy/sign up’ mode. From a marketer’s point of view they are at different stages of the Purchase Cycle.
PPC campaigns should be set up with this in mind. Different campaigns can be geared for different objectives – for example one for Awareness and one for Sales. The Awareness campaign should be optimized for Reach, concentrating on the highest number of clicks at the cheapest possible price. The Sales campaign conversely should be optimized for sales volume and cheapest Cost per Acquisition (CPA).
Search Engine Optimisation will primarily meet your Awareness and Traffic objectives, as the campaign usually concentrates on fewer, broader keyterms. But keep in mind that this broader Search might ultimately lead to a sale as the Searcher moves through the Purchase Cycle. Remember to optimize your Meta Descriptions (the description in the SERP) with the consumer in mind.
Search Engine Marketing Case Studies:
Search Engine Optimisation Case Study: UK Business Properties. http://ukbusinessproperties.com
Problem
• UK Business Properties launched a new Commercial Property directory in 2006
• While the agency that built the site assured them it was SEO friendly, they were languishing on page 3 on Google for the most important keyword: ‘Commercial Property’
Solution
• Tug developed an SEO strategy that emphasised the keyword ‘Commercial Property’
• Review and editing of website content – addition of content pages for all UK regions
• Review and editing of Meta
• Review and editing of code to make more spider friendly
• Directory and site map submission
• A bespoke link building campaign where we submitted to directories, article websites and actively exchange links with high PageRank sites in parallel business verticals
Results
• Within 6 weeks the website was listed #3 on Page 1 of Google.co.uk
• The keyword ‘Commercial Property’ now drives 65% of traffic to the site
• They are now #1 on Google and we are now optimising and link building for new relevant keywords
Pay per Click Case Study: Truffle Shuffle http://www.truffleshuffle.co.uk
Problem
• Truffle Shuffle is an online retailer competing in a tight margin business, against small t-shirt retailers and huge online retailers like ASOS.
Solution
• PPC campaign on Google and Yahoo.
• Avoid Broad keywords even if they can drive sales volume.
• Use only very specific product related keywords.
• Use bid management software to set strict Position and ROI rules.
• Develop specific, relevant ad Creative for every available t-shirt.
• Weekly coordination with PR efforts.
• Concentrate only on keywords that convert under £5.25.
• Measure revenue and work with exact margins to measure profit on every keyword weekly.
Results
• In November 07, Tug drove 1,949 sales (1 or more t-shirts) at an average cost per conversion of £1.39.
• We delivered a 24:1 ROI (revenue generated/ad spend).
Google PageRank is very much like penis size:
- Everyone thinks it’s important.
- No one admits it’s important (unless you’ve got a huge one).
- Everyone is interested in the size of everyone else’s.
I started a small website earlier this year to investigate whether I could supplement my income. In researching website optimization, I came across PageRank size for the first time and was amazed about how many people obsessed about it. Obviously everyone wants a larger one and there are various methods of increasing it – some proven, some painful, and some downright silly.
But let me explain what PageRank is first.
PageRank is one of the many factors Google takes into account when it returns the results for a search term. It is, in effect, Google’s evaluation of how important a site is. The main element in this is the number of sites linking to your site and their PageRank size. This can be viewed as a popularity contest with the sites with the bigger PageRanks getting bigger votes (ain’t that always the way).
The upshot of this is that sites with, shall we say, less than a handful of PageRank cannot get close to the top of the results when popular keywords are searched upon, and have to rely on more specific keywords to get traffic from search engines.
PageRank is measured from 0-10. Sites can be out into three categories:
PageRank 0-2 – New websites that are just starting out. Websites that have come to terms with the size of their PageRank and have given up trying to increase it (but secretly hope it’ll still grow over time). Bad boys who have broken the rules.
PageRank 3-6 – Established websites that have proven they can perform. Niche websites that have a big enough PageRank to do what they need it to do.
PageRank 7-10 – Some of these guys’ PageRank is so big it’ll knock you over if they turn to quickly in the communal showers. In order to compete with this PageRank, one needs to develop other techniques to establish your own area of specialist expertise.
In order to not get their PageRank laughed at in those showers, webmasters are constantly looking to increase it. Here are a few ways to stretch that PageRank.
Increase the Girth – By increasing the number of pages on the site, it increases the amount of PageRank the webmaster can play with. If those pages point internally then it can increase the PageRank of those pages for instance. As we all know, girth is a secondary factor when it comes to performance and you should be careful that you don’t create pages with no real value or content, as one can be punished for that (and not in a nice way).
Expose Yourself – Advertising your website is a core piece of your strategy. However, to really increase that PageRank, you need incoming, permanent, links not occasional pay-per-click ads or banners that can change day-to-day or week-to-week. Ways to do this include, writing high quality articles that get published on a number of sites (the author is still working on getting that one right), being active in fora associated with the subject of your website, and forming a group in one or more of the social websites. You certainly shouldn’t keep it in your pants, but over-exposure can be detrimental to your PageRank too, if you are deemed to be spamming.
Hire Some Prostitutes – There are some websites (the author is told) that will provide links to your website for a fee. Now, this is illegal in the United States of Google and there are severe penalties if you are caught. They rely on snitches to let them know it’s happening, so this kind of activity tends to happen on street corners and undesirable neighborhoods on the web. This is not recommended.
“Don’t Worry About It, It Happens to Everyone” – There is a small but vocal group that says you shouldn’t worry about the size of it and just concentrate on providing good content for your visitors. This is the equivalent of “the size doesn’t matter, it’s what you do with it Honey”, or a favorite of my ex-wife’s – “more than a mouthful’s a waste”. The reality is that people visit your website because of what’s on it, but they won’t visit if they don’t know it’s there – so a balance is needed.
There are also a number of things you should avoid that may shrivel your PageRank.
Getting Caught With Your Pants Down – Anything that Google prohibits (and there is a lot) can adversely affect your PageRank if they catch you in the act. So keep your nose clean and make sure you understand the rules.
Orgies – Simply exchanging links with other sites doesn’t really have an effect on your PageRank (although it still might generate traffic) and using “link farms” can have a negative effect. The author has never visited a “link farm” (to his knowledge) but imagines they are akin some sort of communal retreat for perverts, or like one of those swinging parties you never get invited to.
Flashing – Pop-ups are not actually banned but they are obviously unpopular. A number of directories are now banning sites that have excessive pop-ups, which will decrease the number of sites that will publish a link to your site if you do have lots of pop-ups.
In summary, PageRank is a very important aspect, but to obsess over it means you won’t satisfy your visitors in other areas, which might be important to them. If it is that important to you, you need to get out and meet people!
If it’s big enough to do the job, be happy.
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