Search Engine Marketing Explained

This post has been prepared by Tug. Tug, is a Search Engine Marketing and advertising specialist agency, based in Shoreditch, London.

Search Engines have evolved into a new consumer, communications and marketing and advertising channel. Google, Yahoo and MSN serve 213 million searches a day.

In truth, 9 out of 10 web surfers use a Search Engine to commence their internet journey. Therefore, if your site doesn’t have visibility in the engines, you are missing substantial volumes of visitors.

Natural vs. Paid for Listings

There are basically two listings within a Search Engine Results Page (SERP): the Natural listings (on the left) and the Paid for listing (on top and on the proper).

Natural listings are the outcomes the engine believes to be the most relevant internet sites to your search. The natural listings consistently receive over 70% of consumer clicks. Paid for listings are the ads served by Advertisers, who have bid on the term searched for by the consumer.

The Natural listings therefore list all obtainable internet sites in the World Wide Web, whilst the Paid for listings only serve links by relevant Advertisers willing to pay for their spot, and therefore high visibility in the engines.

To boost Reach, advertisers can pay for ads on the Search Engines themselves, as well as their local listings, mobile listings and their Content Network of sites.

Pay per Click (PPC). Pay only for Visitors

In contrast to other advertising channels where you pay for the number of folks who see your ad, in pay per click advertising (PPC) you only pay when a person clicks on your ads and is driven through to your site.

• 75% of users search for goods and services via a Search Engine.

• PPC has the lowest cost per lead compared to other Direct Marketing and advertising strategies.

• Pay per click advertising is relevant to what the individual is looking for – targeting them at the right moment and mood.

• Pay per click is 100% accountable.

• Advertisers can know the cost of every single conversion in real-time, and campaigns can be instantly optimised for maximum ROI.

To get visibility in the paid for listings you can set up a PPC campaign for your website yourself, or by commissioning a specialist Search Engine Marketing and advertising agency like Tug.

To get visibility in the Natural listings you require to optimise your site – this is known as Search Engine Optimisation. Again this is where you require to commission a specialist agency like Tug.

What is Search Engine Optimisation (Seo)?

Search engine Optimisation, or Search engine optimization as it is generally identified as, is an online marketing technique that entails designing, writing and coding your entire site with the intention of enabling search engines to index your internet site simply and efficiently. The sole aim and objective is for it to rank greater for keywords relevant to your company. Optimising a site is critical to gaining visibility on the organic or natural (left hand side) search outcomes (SERP’s) of search engines.

Search engine optimization, is completed in two stages, recognized primarily as on page and off page. On page entails the website itself and fundamentally evolves around the style, develop and copy laid out within the actual internet site. Off page relates to ongoing Search engine optimization development and includes link constructing campaigns, news and article submissions, paid directory submissions and joining discussion forums that relate to your chosen industry. The latter is fundamentally about gaining 3rd party exposure of your website.

On Page Elements

• Keyword mining

• Keyword density checks

• Credible copywriting

• Meta tags scripting

• Clean and valid mark-up (HTML)

• Link management

Off Page Aspects

• Free / paid directory submission

• Article and news submission

• Press release distribution

• Reciprocal link marketing and advertising

• Inbound link developing

• Digital signatures

Utilizing Search Engine Marketing and advertising to meet your Communication Objectives

Consumers using a Search Engine are primarily in two sets of mind: ‘Research’ mode and ‘Ready to act/buy/sign up’ mode. From a marketer’s point of view they are at different stages of the Obtain Cycle.

PPC campaigns really should be set up with this in mind. Diverse campaigns can be geared for various objectives – for example one for Awareness and one for Sales. The Awareness campaign should be optimized for Reach, concentrating on the highest number of clicks at the cheapest achievable price. The Sales campaign conversely should be optimized for sales volume and cheapest Price per Acquisition (CPA).

Search Engine Optimisation will primarily meet your Awareness and Site visitors objectives, as the campaign normally concentrates on fewer, broader keyterms. But maintain in mind that this broader Search may possibly ultimately lead to a sale as the Searcher moves through the Obtain Cycle. Bear in mind to optimize your Meta Descriptions (the description in the SERP) with the consumer in mind.

Search Engine Marketing and advertising Case Studies:

Search Engine Optimisation Case Study: UK Company Properties. http://ukbusinessproperties.com

Difficulty

• UK Business Properties launched a new Commercial Property directory in 2006

• While the agency that built the web site assured them it was Seo friendly, they had been languishing on page three on Google for the most essential keyword: ‘Commercial Property’

Remedy

• Tug developed an Seo strategy that emphasised the keyword ‘Commercial Property’

• Review and editing of website content – addition of content pages for all UK regions

• Review and editing of Meta

• Review and editing of code to make far more spider friendly

• Directory and web site map submission

• A bespoke link constructing campaign where we submitted to directories, post sites and actively exchange links with high PageRank websites in parallel enterprise verticals

Outcomes

• Within 6 weeks the internet site was listed #three on Page 1 of Google.co.uk

• The keyword ‘Commercial Property’ now drives 65% of site visitors to the internet site

• They are now #1 on Google and we are now optimising and link developing for new relevant keywords

Pay per Click Case Study: Truffle Shuffle http://www.truffleshuffle.co.uk

Issue

• Truffle Shuffle is an on the web retailer competing in a tight margin enterprise, against small t-shirt retailers and huge online retailers like ASOS.

Solution

• PPC campaign on Google and Yahoo.

• Avoid Broad keywords even if they can drive sales volume.

• Use only very distinct product related keywords.

• Use bid management software to set strict Position and ROI rules.

• Develop distinct, relevant ad Creative for every offered t-shirt.

• Weekly coordination with PR efforts.

• Concentrate only on keywords that convert under £5.25.

• Measure revenue and work with exact margins to measure profit on each keyword weekly.

Results

• In November 07, Tug drove 1,949 sales (1 or far more t-shirts) at an average cost per conversion of £1.39.

• We delivered a 24:1 ROI (revenue generated/ad invest).