SEM: Fact or Fiction Sara Holoubek saraholoubekgmail'com

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SEM Fact or Fiction?Sara Holoubeksaraholoubek_at_
gmail.com
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SEM is one of the
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SEM is one of the
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hottest online direct marketing techniques, yet
its power and pitfalls
hottest online direct marketing techniques, yet
its power and pitfalls
are still a mystery to many. One of the top
Industry Thought Leaders
are still a mystery to many. One of the top
Industry Thought Leaders
explores the truth, and explodes the myths,
surrounding this growing
explores the truth, and explodes the myths,
surrounding this growing
practice. Sara Holoubek, Contr
practice. Sara Holoubek, Contr
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Who isSara Holoubek?

• And what is a free agent?
• SEMPO Board of Directors
• Contributing Editor of DMNews SearchBuzz
• MarketingProfs MP Daily Fix Contributor
• Client and corporate strategy roles with Organic,
  Blue Dingo, iCrossing

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What We Will Cover

• Quick definitions
• SEO basics
• PPC basics
• Search patterns and behavior
• Making the offline-online connection
• Where to put the money
• QA

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SEM Defined
The process and strategy of using search engines
results as an advertising vehicle. This may
include improving rank in organic listings,
purchasing paid listings, or a combination of
methods all designed to increase visibility,
clicks and, of course, leads and orders.
-MarketingProfs.com
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Glossary

• SEM includes both paid and natural search
• Paid Search results are based on an auction model
• PPC, CPC, Sponsored Results, Keyword Advertising
• Natural Search rankings are based on how well the
  website meets the criteria of the search engines
  algorithm
• SEO, Organic, Free, Algorithmic
• Publishers are the search engines
• Google, Yahoo!, MSN

Paid Results
Natural Results
Paid Results
Natural Results
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A Simple Analogy
You can pitch the editors
or you can pay to be visible
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SEO Basics
What Spiders See
What You See
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How to Pitch the Spider

• Obstacles must be bridged
• Content Management Systems
• Flash
• Spider needs to be able to crawl whole site
• Optimized sitemap
• Content must be optimized for keywords
• Titles, descriptions, IA, nomenclature, body
  content
• Linking structure needs to be positive
• PageRank, partners

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Black Hat Tactics Bad, Bad, Bad

• Keyword stuffing
• Invisible text
• Doorway pages
• Cloaking
• Redirects
• Duplicate sites

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Paid Search Basics

• Determine objective
• Close out product
• Specified ROI, CPA
• Desired actions
• Build starter keyword list
• Establish budget and caps
• By engine, per month (week, etc.)
• Cap particular keywords

• Set matching techniques
• Broad, exact, negative match
• Build landing pages
• Write ad copy
• Test, test, test
• Refined keyword list
• Manage budget
• Tweak copy
• Assess landing pages

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Do People Really Search that Much?
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And How Do They Search?
Consumer Speak is rarely the same as Marketing
Speak
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So How Does This Long Tail Work?
Search Volume
Awareness
Broad, generic terms raise awareness early in the
search
Ready to Convert
Specific terms
Likelihood of Converting
The aggregate of derivatives is frequently
greater and more qualified than the generic term
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So, What Prompts These Searches?
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The Advertising Effect

• 2002 Campaign for Real Beauty conceived
• 2005 Self-Esteem Super Bowl campaign
• 2007 New ad campaign launched

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Guess the Trigger
      Pontiac   
Following extensive media coverage of the Oprah
giveaway, more than 140,000 consumers visited
Pontiac.com that Tuesday, an increase of more
than 600
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Where Do People Click?

• Natural results garner 60-80 of clicks
• Paid Search results garner 20-40 of clicks

Source Enquiro
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So Where Should I Put My Money?

• Paid vs. Natural
• 12.6 of conversions credited to natural search
  results are preceded by clicks on a marketers
  paid listings
• 66 of clicks are from customers who click a
  marketers listing multiple times
• Generic vs. Specific/Branded
• Generic terms will raise awareness early on in
  the search
• Branded terms capture the consumer when they are
  ready to act

There is value in the mix
Source 360i
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2008 Budgeting Tips

• If you dont have a line item for SEM, get one
• Paid search budget should be flexible for
  seasonality
• Natural search budget should be retainer or
  project-based
• Optimizing your website is just the start -
  consider the value of extending the reach of
• Your celebrity spokesperson
• Co-branded efforts
• Sports marketing
• PR efforts
• Job postings
• Be bold with social media
• Test. Test. Test.