Why do we advocate using all elements of SEM?
Because to do so will make websites more successful and profitable!
While it may seem like a cliché to talk about the importance of synergy in life and business, it is not. In fact, successful businesses thrive on synergy, the process that allows greater results from two or more influences or agents acting together. Good marketing professionals know this.
The definition of synergy explains why it is critical to Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
* It is a mutually advantageous conjunction where the whole is greater than the
sum of the parts;
* It is a dynamic state in which combined action is favored over the sum of
individual component actions;
* It is behavior of whole systems unpredicted by the behavior of their parts taken
separately.
Roget’s Thesaurus gives us some interesting synonyms for the synergistic force:
- cooperation, mutual effort, alliance, assistance, collaboration, combined effort,
in concert, harmony, symbiosis, teamwork, union, unity.
Search Engine Marketing calls for a unique kind of synergy. It requires that the elements that make Search Engine Marketing (SEM) successful be allied in harmony with each other. Several important elements of SEM, when combined, produce results that are far greater than if only one or two of the elements are used to optimize a website. These elements include the use of ‘natural’ and ‘editorial’ Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click, plus an assortment of other issues including web design, landing pages and email capture.
In this document we will address how and what elements need to be combined in order to establish the whole. They are the code and content of natural SEO. Why editorial search engine results are perceived to be more trustworthy and fact that editorial coverage is 3 to 5 times more effective than advertising. Why content, content, content, is the most important aspect of SEM and how and why articles placed on websites, if properly created content will substantially increase rankings and traffic. And why a properly optimized press release will reach targeted writers and editors by allowing their filters to identify content relevant to their area of expertise.
Other issues dealt with here include how and why Pay-Per-Click delivers immediate, guaranteed results. In addition, writing targeted titles and descriptions for your keywords and key phrases, and developing targeted landing pages to give your site multiple points of entry will dramatically improve your PPC results. Why the first step of SEM is doing your homework; why it is vital to research keywords thoroughly BEFORE writing web copy and other marketing and editorial materials. How email campaigns can be a powerful marketing tool as another part of the synergy mix.
There is a discussion of how and why converting visitors can be managed. Conversion rate is a key website advertising metric that measures how well or how badly website is doing regardless of traffic levels. Website tracking and analytics monitor visitors’ behavior. These statistics are used to make decisions that will benefit the overall effectiveness of the website. Why A/B split testing increases conversion rates, challenges assumptions and solves problems. How this form of testing determines which elements on a page are helping the performance of a web page, and which are not.
Statistics show that by using SEM elements synergistically websites become more successful. Each element helps individually to push and convert a website visitor from a casual viewer to a buying customer. That’s called conversion. And it must be done almost instantly. That’s why design, ease of navigation and content are so critical to the mass, as well. If a serious visitor lands on a website and is confused or repelled by the design, he will leave within about two seconds.
Studies indicate that SEM used in concert with all SEO elements is an effective brand builder and this branding effect is amplified when all elements of SEM are coordinated by the marketing team. Teamwork involves understanding the SEM elements, knowing their value and working with them to increase sales and ROI.
By taking advantage of all SEM opportunities, you greatly increase your chances of being first-in-mind from the searcher’s perspective.
Let’s take e a look at the SEM options.
Natural SEO
Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process that aligns a website's code and content with strategic keyword phrase targeting and ultimately assisting a search engine algorithm in understanding a website's keyword focus. SEO can be simple for some websites, while others may require intense website code, content, navigation and internal linking changes. This form of SEO increases the natural/organic search engine rankings.
Editorial SEO
Editorial Search Engine Optimization involves several elements: the way the web copy is written, how and where copy is used, why particular copy is chosen for the site, the use of optimized articles with notable references and links, and the distribution of optimized press releases that will link to various landing pages on the website. All of these elements must be included simultaneously in order to gain a higher click-rate for the site.
Editorial search engine results are perceived to be more trustworthy. Editorial provides a site with real branding and trust, if the content is written properly. It is a fact that editorial coverage is 3 to 5 times more effective than advertising. These results can be likened to articles that appear in a magazine. The credibility that enhances the website is superior to that of an advertisement in almost all cases.
Content, Content, Content
Content is the most important aspect of SEM. Since we often liken the ‘property’ we own on the Internet to ‘real estate,’ the idea that it is all about location, location, location can be converted to content, content, content. Search engines feed and thrive on content. This is what the web users are searching for and because of this - content is also what the search engines are seeking. If properly created content will substantially increase rankings and traffic.
There are many forms of content that one can add to a website including specifically defined web page content, articles, blogs, forums, podcasts and videocasts. This also includes content that is on other sites and is linked to your site. Content must be absolutely targeted to an audience you have selected and then it must be very well written. The best written and intelligent copy by a professional writer will give you a higher visibility, trust and respect (branding, too) than copy that is not well written.
The difference between writing copy for websites and writing copy for articles is like apples and oranges. Web copy must be keyword rich and that requires the use of measuring the value of the keywords for the site and using them throughout the copy in a manner acceptable by the search engines.
Press Releases
Sending a press release to the media is part of the mix – and an important one. Especially with the expanding number of people writing about products and services in the fast-paced media world that now includes Internet journalists. Newspapers, magazines, journals, blogs and other formats have a voracious appetite for content. They consume information; chew it up, spit it out and need more incoming information to write about the next day, week, month or hour.
A search engine optimized press release begins with a strategy session on which search terms should be targeted. Linking optimized press releases to the website helps reporters, writers and commentators learn more background about your content and at the same time gives the search engines links to follow. Optimized releases also immediately notify search engines of the existence of the new web pages that the release links to. Including photos to download and identifying graphics with keywords will give the journalists additional content to include in articles and other content they are creating.
A properly optimized press release will reach targeted writers and editors by allowing their filters to identify content relevant to their area of expertise. It can also reach potential clients and interested parties. When the press release is published, the content is often expanded exponentially. It is also true that optimized press release will automatically generate pages rich in optimized content and even spawn email blasts based on keyword selection by companies like Google, Yahoo and others interested in the subject of the press release.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Pay-Per-Click delivers immediate, guaranteed results. It has been said that Pay-Per-Click is very close to a pure form of a market economy because advertisers bid on "keywords" that they believe their target market will type into the search bar when they are looking for their product or service needs and desires.
PPC advertising provides website owners the opportunity to buy their way to better positions on search results pages. These ads are called "sponsored links" or "sponsored ads" and appear next to and sometimes above the natural or organic results on the page. The advertiser pays only when the user clicks on the ad.
PPC is important to the overall plan of SEM because it has the advantage of almost instant, guaranteed results. In addition, PPC gives real time market research while also generating revenue. In other words, when you buy your keyword and see the results in visits and action taken, you have done your research because you now know which keywords work for the specific website.
Strategic Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program management and media buying provide an immediate method of delivering visitors to your site with placement and top rankings on Google, MSN, and Overture, plus a number of other high-quality, lower-cost PPC search engines.
There is a very popular approach from some search engine marketers to focus only on using PPC for keyphrases. As a result the site does not achieve high natural rankings. While this approach can certainly save money, it runs counter to the branding benefits that are naturally a part of the marketing plan.
Writing targeted titles and descriptions for your keywords and key phrases, and developing targeted landing pages to give your site multiple points of entry will dramatically improve your PPC results. These results can be further improved with A/B Split Testing and Multivariable Testing. These landing pages also need to be optimized to attract natural traffic and increase your PPC results.
Keyword Research and Use
One must know exactly what keywords to purchase and to use in the web copy. This is actually the first step of SEM because if the keywords are insignificant or off target the site will not be recognized for its value. Careful research of the company’s business and the way search engines look at those related keywords is the ‘key’ to success. Choosing the wrong ones will greatly reduce your results.
This is why it is vital to research keywords thoroughly BEFORE writing web copy and other marketing and editorial materials. The keywords you identify should also be used in your offline marketing and advertising campaigns. Waiting until after the site is built to identify the proper keywords will add costs to the project, cause delays and loss of revenue. Choosing good keywords is the basis on which all of your future traffic will flow.
Assign certain keyword phrases to specific pages and build the content around them. There are “hotspots” on web pages that search engines look for when they are indexing your pages. The most important hotspots are the page title, the page description and the page heading. By incorporating keyword phrase into these hotspots the search engine will ‘understand’ what your page is all about. Sprinkle in some eye-popping copy with your keyword phrase repeated once or twice to increase keyword density.
Comprehensive keyword research by its very nature improves ROI.
Email Campaigns
Successful companies that spend significant time and money on SEM know that getting the customer to the website is just part of the process. When they arrive having a well planned email opt-in registration and email marketing program will further increase company ROI.
According to a MediaPost MediaDailyNews article, Jupiter Media Metrix says that one-third of companies plan to spend more than 5 percent of their marketing budgets on email. That represents serious spending in this medium and makes a statement about the importance of email campaigns.
Email can be a powerful marketing tool and is another part of the synergy mix. Email content must be relevant, targeted and informational. It is more likely you'll have to package sales-y content in such a way that it entertains and holds interest. Boring content, or content not consistent with the value proposition, will cause people to unsubscribe.
Deliver what consumers expect. Establish yourself and your website as a credible source in order to accomplish the goal of building customer relationships. It is also important to use a reputable “White Listed” email service provider to insure the highest deliverability rates and one that will keep you in compliance with the email spam laws.
Determine what the ultimate value proposition is for consumers. Why would they want to receive email from your company? What content would they expect? Of all the components needed to successfully build an effective email list, the most important component is the value proposition to the consumer. This is best achieved by hiring professional writers with email experience.
Website Conversion
Conversion rate is a key website advertising metric that allows you to measure how well or how badly your website is doing regardless of traffic levels. Conversion rates vary from website to website. The conversion measurement is the number of visitors who make a purchase directly from the website as a percentage of total visitors.
In a medium that makes it so easy for a searcher to look elsewhere, conversion is critical. The net effect of raising your conversion rate from one to two percent is the same as doubling your traffic.
The key to conversion is targeted key phrases that define your traffic before arrival to the site. It is not uncommon to see conversion rates skyrocket in the quality of traffic by improving targeted key phrase advertising or organic search engine optimization. With PPC campaigns, you can further boost conversion rates by sending visitors to highly targeted landing pages.
The conversion rate for lead generation sites is the number of visitors as a percentage of total visitors who opt-in and give you the right to contact them again. The website should induce visitors to sign up for more information or register to become a part of your community. A successful convert is, therefore, someone who has subscribed to your newsletter, filled in your contact forms, or registered to get more information.
Website Tracking and Analytics
Delivering on the promise and proving it are a vital part of the synergy of SOM. With certain tracking and analytical facts, you can understand visitors’ behavior in order to make decisions that will benefit the overall effectiveness of the website, understand visitor behavior and increase web traffic.
Analytics tell you everything you want to know about how your visitors found you and how they interact with your site. They tell you how to focus your marketing resources on campaigns and initiatives that deliver ROI and improve your site to convert more visitors.
Analytics provide a quick and easy-to-understand breakdown of a visitor's website movements and behavior. These facts explain the way visitors react to keywords and the navigation paths they take to get where they want to go. Such programs determine which keywords result in greater sales purchases, how long a visitor stays at any given page, and which page they are on when they exit the site. They also determine the quality and effectiveness of a landing page. And, they confirm how pay-per-click campaigns are performing.
If your site doesn't sell online, you can still learn the effectiveness of specific calls-to-action through analytics. Email campaigns can be analyzed for effectiveness. Analytics can determine and help explain why people sign up for your newsletter, for example, and what they have in common with other people.
A/B
A/B split testing increases conversion rates, challenges assumptions and solves problems. It determines which elements on a page are helping the performance of a web page, and which are not. For instance, one might typically test two different headlines on a landing page. One of them will outperform the other and you will know which is better for the web page.
A/B split testing assists in the understanding of visitor behaviors and priorities when visiting your site. Used as a diagnostic tool this type of testing will determine what is going wrong and how to fix it. A/B split testing can dramatically challenge assumptions about the best way to design or write a page.
Testing yields the most valuable results only when they are done repeatedly. A one-shot test will determine very little. Make a consistent habit of testing. Cumulative tests over time can have a dramatic impact on the success of the website.
A/B split testing enables you to try variations of your site's landing pages, shopping cart, site search and layout to optimize conversion rates and increase site profitability. It can explain how to create variations of a site's dynamic and static content; how to run A/B tests, multivariate tests, and split tests on visitors, and how to track, segment and analyze visitor conversion behavior, in real-time.
Summary
When these seemingly separate elements of SEM are combined in a unified marketing plan they can complement each other and bring continuing benefits to your business infinitely and exponentially. It may well be the bottom line difference between in house and outsourced expertise.
Research shows that the average increase is 108% when search engine marketing is outsourced vs. 32% when done in-house. While both of these numbers are good, the higher result is worth the extra cost.
Building a successful web entity is much like building a skyscraper. You build from the ground up. That’s why the first step of SEM is researching keywords thoroughly BEFORE writing web copy. Before the building begins, an architect devises an overall plan, including the design (branding and trust) of the building, the construction (copy and editorial elements), the purpose and the goal (sales and information). His architectural plans are based on solid engineering (testing, analytics, tracking, redevelopment and ranking).
Similarly, when the many important elements of SEM are combined, the whole produces results that are far greater than if only one or two of the elements are used to optimize a website.
Do not be surprised when the kind of SEM investment in the parts to create a great whole, advocated here, increases profits and value. It is in the principle of synergism that marks the proof.
