www.yourfoundation.org

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www.yourfoundation.org

• Its Not Just About Us

3rd Annual Technology Affinity Group Conference
Management/Communications Track
David Goldsmith, VP of Business Developmenti a p
p s
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Why Drive Traffic to Your Foundations Site?

• Increase awareness of grants and initiatives
• Improve transparency
• Extend your reach
• Build your lists
• Increase donor base

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Common Approaches to Increasing Traffic

• Add / maintain great content
• email marketing / eNewsletter
• Search Engine Optimization
• Search Engine Marketing
• Re-invest, add features

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Search Stats

• 85 of all Web browsing starts at a search engine
• Searching 2nd most common Internet activity 1
• 38 million people use a search engine each day
  (US) 1
• 4 billion searches per month (US) 1

Source 1. Pew Internet American Life Project
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Where Do People Search?
Source Nielsen//Netratings
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Organic vs. Paid Results

• Organic
• Based on index or ranking algorithm
• Left-hand side and middle of the page
• a.k.a. natural or editorial results
• Paid
• Resemble organic results
• Actually advertisements
• Top of the page and to the right
• a.k.a. Sponsored Links, Sponsored Listings,
  or Sponsored Results

Naïve Searchers

• 62 of people cant distinguish between organic
  and paid results

Source Pew Internet American Life Project
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Paid
Organic
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Paid
Organic
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User Attitudes Behavior

• People trust search engines for quality and
  unbiased information1
• Which results do people click? 2 60 organic
  40 paid
• 100 look at the top 3 results 3
• Of organic clicks, 28 click on the 1 result 3
• 90 look at the top 2 ads 3
• Of paid clicks, 51 click on the 1 ad 3

Sources 1. Pew Internet American Life
Project (January 2005) 2. ClickZ.com,
iProspect.com (May 2004) 3. Enquiro.com (February
2005)
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Which Search Engines Do People Use?
Who provides the results?
Source Nielsen/Netratings (January 2005)
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What is Search Engine Optimization?

• Optimizing your site so it can be indexed by a
  search engine
• Concerned with organic results
• Key Factors
• Link popularity
• Text
• TITLE tag
• META tags
• Adhere to best practices

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Basic Submission / Suggest Your URL

• After your site is optimized
• Suggest URL to search engines directories
• Where to submit
• Google
• Yahoo
• MSN
• Open Directory / DMOZ
• WhatUSeek
• Be patient it can take weeks or months
• Dont expect much
• Ignore blast submission offers

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Link Popularity

• Link Popularity the quantity and the quality of
  the sites that have links pointing to you
• Link endorsement
• The more links pointing to you, the better
• Links from more established sites hold more
  weight
• Key factor in Googles algorithm
• Measure your link popularity
• Monitor it over time

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What is Search Engine Marketing?

• Promoting your site in search engines, beyond SEO
  
• Encompasses non-technical aspects
• Off page elements
• Concerned with paid results
• Involves marketing, communications, ED (not just
  webmasters)
• Positioning, message, and the competition
• Active and ongoing, not a one-shot effort

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Paid Search Programs

• Paid Inclusion
• Pay to be included in the search engines index
• Rank not guaranteed
• Get reviewed quickly
• Paid Placement
• Pay for the placement of your text ads
• Rank guaranteed
• You pick the keywords, write the ads, and set
  your budget
• Pay only when someone clicks on the ad
• a.k.a. pay-per-click (PPC)
• Hybrid
• Pay for ads to be mixed in with the organic
  results
• Controversial

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Paid Inclusion Yahoo! Directory Submit

• Formerly Yahoo! Express
• 299 / year
• Rapid review (7 business days)
• Suggest up to 2 categories
• dir.yahoo.com NOT www.yahoo.com
• Direct and indirect benefits
• People find you in Yahoo!
• Google includes Yahoo! Directory listing in its
  results
• Counts toward your link popularity
• Renew each year, or your listing will be removed

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Paid Placement Google AdWords

• Reach for paid results 60
• Network includes Google, AOL, AskJeeves, Netscape
• Search and Content matching options
• Minimum cost per click (CPC) 5 cents
• You specify the maximum CPC
• Ad position based on Max CPC and clickthrough
  rate (CTR)
• Geographical targeting options
• Budget controls
• Reporting

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Paid Placement Yahoo! Sponsored Search

• Formerly Overture
• Reach for paid results 34
• Network includes Yahoo, MSN, AltaVista
• Search and Content matching
• Minimum cost per click (CPC) 10 cents
• Ad position based on highest keyword bid
• Geographical targeting options (not like Google)
• Budget ON or OFF options
• Reporting

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Anatomy of a Paid Listing
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Tools for Choosing the Right Keywords

• Overture Keyword Selector Tool
• Find out how many searches were conducted last
  month for a keyword
• See popular keyword variations
• Learn what false positive keywords you want to
  filter out
• Overture View Bids Tool
• Find out what other organizations are paying for
  a keyword
• See whats affordable and whats cost-prohibitive

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What to Expect from SEO

• Sound strategies can double or triple your site
  traffic
• Budget for search engine visibility
• Pay to play is the norm
• Costs will increase gradually over time
• The landscape will keep changing
• More paid programs will emerge
• RSS news readers and newer search engines like A9
  and Technorati promise to push the envelope

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Case Study
Search Engine Optimization

• Keywords
• business case studies
• social impact management
• Before
• Google (not in first 4 pgs)
• Yahoo! (not in first 4 pgs)
• After
• Google (pg 1)
• Yahoo! (pg 1)
• Above Harvard Business
• Visitation up 50 in 6 weeks

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Case Study
Search Engine Marketing

• Keywords
• social security reform
• social security privatization
• Before
• No visibility for keywords
• Site visitation had leveled off
• After
• Google (pg 1)
• Near Whitehouse.gov AARP
• Visitation tripled
• NASI mentioned in article

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Resources

• Search Engine Watch
• http//www.searchenginewatch.com
• Pew Internet American Life Project
• http//www.pewinternet.org
• Yahoo! Directory Submit
• https//ecom.yahoo.com/dir/submit/intro/
• Google AdWords
• http//adwords.google.com
• Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture)
• http//searchmarketing.yahoo.com/
• MarketLeap Link Popularity Tool
• http//www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/default.htm
• Overture Keyword Selector Tool
• http//inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/su
  ggestion/
• Overture View Bids Tool
• http//uv.bidtool.overture.com/d/search/tools/bidt
  ool

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Contact Information

• David Goldsmith, VP of Business Development
• david_at_iapps.com