Search Engine Marketing

1. Search Engine Marketing Submitting Your Site and Paid Search Angela D’Auria Stanton, Ph.D.

2. "Search engines are for searchers. Not submitters." But…… Knowing how to submit your site properly is important too!

3. SES versus SEO versus SEP • Search Engine Submission (SES) – the act of getting your web site listed with search engines • Basically search engine registration • Does not mean you’ll rank high – the search engine just knows your pages exist • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – the act of altering your site so that it may rank well for particular terms • Search Engine Positioning – when a site is actually ranking well for a term or particular set of terms at search engines Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2168011

4. Free Submissions - Directories • Getting listed in directories is important – a listing there makes it easier for crawler-based search engines to find your site • How you list the site can mean the difference between being included in the directory or not. • Keywords are of little importance to directories • What will make the difference is the content on your site – it’s important that the content be fresh and regularly updated • Links are also important – make sure your links are updated – broken links can be detrimental to your site as are links to unrelated pages

5. Free Submissions - Directories • Other elements of your listing that editors evaluate: • Choosing the appropriate category for your listing • Accurate titles and descriptions • Titles and descriptions relevant to the subject of the web site • Domain names that match site titles • Secure ordering capabilities on ecommerce sites • Contact information that’s easily accessible • Links to privacy policies, return policies, and product/service guarantees • Working and appropriate links to other sites and resources • Images that display properly in the most common browser formats • Javascript (if used) that’s free of errors

6. Free Submissions - Directories • Open Directory Project – locate the category in which you want to be listed, then click on the “add URL” link that appears at the top of the category page, and fill out the form – it may take many weeks to get listed (if you are)http://www.dmoz.org/add.html • Yahoo! Directory (http://dir.yahoo.com) • GoGuides.org (http://goguides.org) – directory’s purpose is to be completely spam free • Google Directory (http://directory.google.com) • SearchSite (http://www.searchsight.org) – lesser known but gaining traction

7. Free Submissions: Crawlers • Best way to get listed – get links to your site from other sites • Crawlers follow links so if you have good links pointing to your web site, the crawlers are more likely to find you • If you submitted to a major directory and got listed, most crawlers will almost certainly pick up the URL that was listed.

8. Free Submissions: Crawlers • Google • Add URL page – submit your home page and perhaps 1 or 2 URLs from “inisde” your site – no guarantee you’ll be includedhttp://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl • Google Webmaster Central – allows you to submit a large list of URLs (a sitemap file)http://www.google.com/webmasters/

9. Free Submissions: Crawlers • Yahoo! • http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html • Microsoft Live Search (formerly MSN) formerly powered by Yahoo’s crawler-based results – now uses its own technology (MSNBot) • http://search.msn.com.sg/docs/submit.aspx?FORM=WSDD • A variety of smaller search engines • http://www.ineedhits.com/free-tools/submit-free.aspx

10. Pay for Placement • Paid Inclusion • A site owner pays a fee in order to have web pages included in a search engine's listings. Does this mean that those in paid inclusion get to be ranked tops in editorial results? No. The major search engines offering such programs are usually emphatic that payment does not provide any ranking boost. • Paid Placement Listings (Pay per Click) • Most major search engines carry paid placement listings, where advertisers are guaranteed a high ranking, usually in relation to desired words. These paid listings are usually segregated from editorial results and labeled to highlight that they are ads. The exact position of the paid placement listings can vary. Sometimes, they appear above or below editorial links. "Sidebar" style generally runs ads in a column to the right of a search engine's editorial listings.

11. Paid Inclusion • Google – none • Yahoo! • Yahoo! Directory Submithttps://ecom.yahoo.com/dir/submit/intro/ • Search Submithttp://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srchsb/ssb.php

12. Paid Placement • Paid search programs allow site owners to "bid" on the terms they wish to appear for. You agree to pay a certain amount each time someone clicks on your listing. This is why sponsored listings are referred to as "pay-per-click" (PPC) or "cost-per-click" (CPC) advertising.

13. Paid Placement • Google AdWords - http://adwords.google.com/ • Ranks sponsored listings as follows: • Above Search Results: Highest Cost-Per-Click • Side Sponsored Results: Cost Per Click (CPC) x Quality Score (Click-Through-Rate (CTR), keyword relevance, your ad’s text, and landing page quality) • Distributes its paid ads to other partners • See http://www.clickz.com/3626891

14. Paid Placement • Yahoo! Search Marketing - http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srch/choose.php • Microsoft adCenter – first to offer geographic, demographic and daypart targetinghttps://adcenter.microsoft.com/http://advertising.microsoft.com/microsoft-adcenter/how-adcenter-works Find Reviews of PPC search engines at: http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com/

15. Keyword Budgeting for PPC • PPC designed to create competition among bidders • It’s important to begin with a few keywords that you’ve defined and then replace ones that don’t work with other keywords from your list • PPC should only equate to 20 – 30% of your total Search Engine Marketing budget • PPC expenditures approaching $7 billion per year

16. Understanding Bid Management • Manual Bid Management • you must keep up with the competition and what they’re doing • track your conversions • test and monitor the performance of existing and new keywords • watch your PPC campaigns for fraud • make campaign changes as necessary

17. Strategies to Manage Bids Yourself • Don’t obsess over the number one slot • Often you can’t afford it • Many don’t trust the first paid search result • Select keywords for the stages in the buying process you’re targeting • Delete duplicate keywords from your keyword lists – don’t bid against yourself • Set aside time each day to monitor your keywords and PPC campaigns

18. Automated Bid Management • Can take one of three forms • As part of a solution provided by your analytics/PPC program provider • As desktop software • As a hosted service • If you’re managing a handful of keywords, the capabilities provided by your analytics/PPC provider may be fine • If you have more, you need something more powerful (such as desktop software or a hosted service)

19. Automated Bid Management • Some companies that do this are: Omniture, Searchignite, KeywordROI, and BidRank • Cost can range anywhere from $125 to more than $1200 per month • Features typically include: • Single interface for multiple campaigns • Conversion tracking • Global change capabilities • Keyword monitoring capabilities • Automatic bid management capabilities • Fraud monitoring and documentation • Reporting capabilities

20. Bidding • PPC can provide your site with one of the most cost effective methods of improving your business if used properly. The first step in initiation your PPC campaign is to choose keywords for bidding. • Keep in mind that general search terms will cost considerably more (and achieve more clicks) than more specific ones. Additionally, the same terms on different PPC engines with have substantially different bids. • Unlike your selection of keywords for site optimization, there is no limit to the number of keywords you can use in your PPC program.

21. PPC – How Much to Pay • What constitutes a successful conversion? • Example: a sale is made • What is the net profit for a successful conversion? • Example: $19.37 = profit per sale • What percentage of referrals for a key phrase convert? • Example: 2.39% = conversion ratio • (profit per sale) x (conversion ratio) = break even point ($19.37) x 0.0239 = $0.462943 • Other factors: • repeat customers • brand recognition For more information please see http://www.directresponsegroup.com/ppc-overview.cfm

22. PPC Pricing Info • Google AdWords https://adwords.google.com/select/comparison.html • Yahoo!http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srch/pricing.phphttp://help.yahoo.com/help/l/us/yahoo/ysm/sps/faqs/presignup/ysm_cost.html

23. Reducing PPC Costs • Replace any poorly performing ads/listings • Reduce the amount of your bid per keyword – a few cents can make a huge difference • Use your existing budget more effectively • Examine keywords to see if you can remove any that are general in nature or high demand as these tend to be most expensive • Carefully choose your match type

24. Three General Match Types • Broad Match – ad shown to the broadest possible segment of searchers • Example: if someone searches for “SEO consultant”, your ad will be shown, no matter whether these two words appear together or if there are other words included with the term • Phrase Match – ad shown for searches that contain the key phrase you’ve selected, in the correct word order, but also including other words • Exact Match – ad shown only for searches that contain the exact words you’ve selected, in the exact order in which you’ve selected them, with no other words in the phrase

25. Other Issues • Negative keywords – words that cause a PPC ad/listing to NOT be shown • Dayparting – the ability to target your campaign to the most effective times of day or days of the week • Can better target demographics • Helps with products/services that are seasonal • Geotargeting – targeting based on geographical location of your business

26. Improving Click-through Rates • Include special offers or incentives in ad text • Consider including price in ads for products/services • Highlight a key feature of your product or service • Create a sense of urgency (limited time offer) • Use a call to action (Act Now, Hurry, etc.)