1

1
Six Steps to Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Success

• Presented by Liz Jacobson,
• Online Marketing Specialist
• AutomationDirect.com Cumming,GA

2
Six Steps to SEM Success

• Relevant content and user-friendly Web site.
• Identify the most popular online search engines,
  directories and other sources used by your
  audience
• 3) Be diligent with your keyword research.
  Identify negative keywords.
• 4) Develop a set of landing pages suitable for
  use in online promotions and pay-per-click
  campaigns
• 5) Decide how much you can spend for online
  campaign programs
• 6) Track campaign performance indicators. Remove
  poorly performing keywords to avoid wasting
  money.
• All traffic
  is NOT good traffic

3
Step 1 Relevant Content / User-Friendly Site

• Do not use obscure brand or jargon terms, slang,
  or acronyms typically used internally.
• Use keywords phrases used by your prospects
  customers (Dont guess)
• Include detailed product descriptions, color
  photos, technical information or application
  examples suited to your audience. (Provide enough
  details to support a purchase decision).
• Prospects want solutions to their problems, not a
  lot of advertising about your company. (Beware
  of banner blindness, use of pop-up ads, too
  much flash, or too many graphics)
• Have a clear mission statement or unique value
  proposition featured prominently on your Home
  Page other site pages (What do you offer?
  What makes you better or unique?)
• You have 8 seconds or less to keep a prospect
  interested. If they dont see keywords they are
  looking for, they hit the Back button find
  your competitors. If users dont see relevant
  information within 3-4 mouse clicks, they leave.
  (Provide the scent of information)
• Search engines may assign you bad page rankings,
  or disqualify your keywords due to poor content.
  You can be blackballed for using unprofessional
  techniques. (Keyword
  stuffing, hidden text, doorway pages, linking
  farms)
• Dont use click here links. Use keyword rich
  text links.
• Phone number contact information should be
  readily available. Home page and/or Site Map
  should include popular keyword text links (e.g.
  Customer Testimonials) to cover all major areas
  of your Web site. (Easy navigation).
• The best SEM campaign in the world cannot
  overcome a poorly designed Web site!

4
Step 2 Identify traffic sources used by your
audience

• There are hundreds of search engines. Focus only
  on the ones that serve your target markets. (Be
  aware of global vs. regional vs. local)
• Google is currently the 1 most popular search
  engine. Yahoo is 2. MSN is 3. This can
  change at any time.
• Identify business directory sites, shopping
  comparison sites, or other sites used by your
  customers. (HINT Do a Google search on your
  competitors, see where their results show up.)
• Subscribe to Search Engine Marketing newsletters
  or visit sites that rate search engines (See the
  list of SEM resources Ive provided)
• Do a survey of some of your best customers. Ask
  them which search engines and other Internet
  resources they use most often.
• Focus on the most popular sources first, or you
  will spread yourself too thin and waste time
  money on unsuccessful campaigns.

YAHOO!
MSN
5
Step 3 Keyword Research

• Many tools are available to help you identify
  words phrases used by your customers. (Some are
  free, some are not. Do a Google search for free
  keyword tools, also see the resource list I
  provided)
• The words you think are best may not be words or
  phrases used in search queries. Avoid acronyms.
  Do research using the source you plan to use.
  (Google, etc.)
• 2 and 3 word phrases are best. Avoid single word
  keywords that are too broad. (Very expensive,
  competitive, will drive bad traffic).
• Make a note of unrelated keywords that crop up
  during your research. These should be used as
  NEGATIVE keywords to prevent unwanted traffic.
• Use your Web log reports to identify the keywords
  currently driving traffic to your site.
• Keep a master spreadsheet of keywords and
  phrases, along with the URL of the associated
  content page where traffic will be sent. (Also
  known as a landing page)
• Keep a list of keywords you delete due to poor
  performance, so that you dont add them back
  later.
• WARNING
  
  
  You can bid on trademarked terms, but you CANNOT
  display the trademarks of others in
  your advertising copy.

6
Step 5 How much to spend on SEM?

• Exploit good results from natural searches SEO
  (free traffic) Supplement with paid programs as
  your time budget will allow. (Natural results
  typically have a higher click-through rate
  conversion rate. Divide your efforts between SEO
  PPC)
• It can take 10-90 days for search engine spiders
  to visit your Web site start displaying new
  content results. Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns
  other online advertising can produce more
  immediate results.
• A Google AdWords campaign can be created very
  quickly. You can control your daily spend, when
  your ads display (dayparting), and to what
  countries and languages. You can get traffic and
  cost estimates based on your keyword list.
• Test a PPC campaign on Google first. (Or other
  popular source youve identified). After your
  test campaign has been fine tuned, try similar
  campaigns on other popular sources. (Keywords
  ads will NOT necessarily perform equally well on
  all sources).
• Do not get into bidding wars.
  
  Page ranking is competitive, but
  dont make it a personal competition!
• Dont pay more for a keyword than it is worth.
  If you have a profit margin of 5, you shouldnt
  spend 6 for a click-through. Every visit will
  not convert to a sale. More targeted terms
  are less competitive less expensive. If a
  keyword becomes too costly, leave the bid at a
  comfortable level. Do more keyword research to
  find additonal keywords and phrases.

7
Step 6 Track SEM campaign performance

• Many factors influence SEM success
  
  
  Keyword choices, page rank, bid amount, proper
  traffic sources, good ad copy, relevant content,
  good Web site design. You will have to monitor
  your PPC campaigns closely.
  (Daily or
  weekly for new campaigns, less often for
  well-tested campaigns. Constant maintenance is
  required).
• You may have to test several variables before
  eliminating a keyword or traffic source.
• Clicks How many prospects click through on your
  sponsored ads? This is an indication of keyword
  popularity and the relevance of your ad copy and
  an appropriate audience.
• CTR Click Through Rate. 2-4 is average. Less
  than 2 indicates a problem. No clicks after 100
  impressions is a bad indication.
• Bounce Rate Web site visitors leave immediately
  from the first landing page without viewing other
  site pages. Bounce rates of 70 and higher are
  suspect. 50 and less are good.
• Page Views If visitors view less than 3-4 pages
  on your Web site, there is often a problem.
• Conversion rate If keywords produce no goal
  conversions (new customer registrations, content
  downloads, newsletter subscriptions, information
  requests, product sales) something is wrong. You
  may be attracting the wrong audience, your Web
  site design is poor, your ad copy is ineffective,
  you may need to add more NEGATIVE keywords, or
  different keywords.
• Page Rank Where your ad is displayed among
  search results. If you are not in the top 1-15
  positions you will not get as much traffic. Top
  1-5 positions on the first page of results are
  best. Most Web users do not look beyond the first
  1-3 pages of search results. You may have to
  increase your maximum bid amount, test new ad
  copy, or do additional keyword research to get
  good page ranking positions. (You do not have to
  be 1 to get good results).

8
Summary

• Your Web site must provide a firm foundation for
  success. Make sure its in good order before
  beginning a PPC campaign. Functionality and
  content is more important than appearance.
• Know where your prospects go on the Internet.
  Pick the right traffic sources.
• Dont guess, do the keyword research!
• Design landing pages relevant to your keywords.
  Dont make visitors search too hard for related
  content or special offers.
• Set realistic goals and budgets for your PPC
  efforts. Use PPC as a supplement to SEO (Search
  Engine Optimization).
• You must evaluate PPC performance based on many
  variables. Performance data is critical to
  determining ROI. You will have to test many
  different factors. Just counting clicks is not
  good enough.

9
SEM Resources

• Ive compiled a list of some recommended Search
  Engine Marketing resources.
  (It was too lengthy to provide in a
  single slide).
• Ill make arrangements with Mike Schinkel to get
  it distributed to the attendees.