MediaWhiz POV: Enhancing Your Brand's Search Strategy

DEMAND MORE FROM YOUR MARKETING SPEND

10 NEW IDEAS FOR ENHANCING
YOUR BRAND’S SEARCH STRATEGY
MEDIAWHIZ’S SEARCH MARKETING EXPERTS SHARE THEIR WISDOM

10 NEW SEARCH MARKETING STRATEGIES Tweet this 2

10 NEW IDEAS FOR ENHANCING YOUR
BRAND’S SEARCH STRATEGY
MediaWhiz’s Search Marketing Experts Share Their Wisdom

The search marketing landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. Gone are the days
of a walled garden between a company’s organic and paid search programs and the rest of its
online marketing strategy. Now, there is a recognition by marketers that search, like any form
of marketing, must be engaged in a holistic, interconnected manner. It must create measurable
results that tie into the whole of a company’s marketing campaign, rather than being off in its own
universe.

With that in mind, MediaWhiz, a leading digital media agency with expertise in all facets of search
marketing, has collected the best of its insight and perspective on search marketing for this new,
informative white paper. It presents 10 new ideas for enhancing your brand’s search strategy.
Each comes from MediaWhiz’s stable of search marketing experts. Each represents a new way of
thinking about online search and a innovative way to grow your business.

Because with the marketer’s world showing no signs of getting any easier, we could all use a little
advice from the experts.

© 2012 Copyright MediaWhiz All Rights Reserved | WWW.MEDIAWHIZ.COM | 888.866.WHIZ


Five Trends for Navigating
the Modern Search Landscape
“Search means more than Google. And it’s not just for online
retailers. Search is for everyone. Getting search right means
getting social media right.”
1. Search is not just for online retailers; 3. Local and mobile search will explode.
it’s for everyone. Online searches influence Local results are increasingly dominating
offline purchases. Forrester Research search results pages. Businesses must
estimates that more than $1. trillion of
1 maintain local registrations with the search
retail sales in 201 were “Web-influenced”
1 engines to ensure presence in local search
versus $173 billion actual online sales. results, maps and geolocation queries.
This is especially true for considered Segmenting customers through geotargeting
purchases such as autos, financial services, with paid search also helps focus the right
education, furniture, etc. For example, JD ads to the right customers. Use of mobile
Power estimates 90 percent of potential car devices to conduct searches is exploding.
purchasers research their purchase online Search on Android devices grew 300 percent
before going to a dealer. in the first half of 2010. Like registering your
locations, configuring your website for mobile
2. Search means more than Google. It is compatibility is paramount.
important to diversify your company’s paid
search (PPC) efforts. Google attracts the 4. Integrated paid search and SEO
majority of paid search but Bing and Yahoo are programs boost overall search performance.
gaining share. Similarly, Facebook appears Vanessa Fox, creator of Google’s Webmaster
intent on charging into the search market. But Central and author of “Marketing in the Age
search audiences at Bing and Yahoo differ of Google,” tells of several studies where
from Google. In 2010, click-through rates for click-through rates, conversion rates and
small and medium-sized businesses grew revenue are all higher when organic and paid
109 percent for Bing, 123 percent for Yahoo, listings appear together for a given search.
but only 32 percent for Google. As Facebook Advertisers must coordinate their SEM (paid)
emerges, targeting and response rates will and SEO (organic) efforts, e.g., having a
likely vary from the other providers. Search common keyword portfolio, to ensure optimal
success will require the ability to manage all search marketing results.
four platforms successfully.



Five Trends for Navigating the Modern Search Landscape (continued)

5. Getting search right means getting social taking advantage of the hyper-targeted ad
right. It remains unclear whether Google or opportunities available through Facebook
Facebook will win the race to assimilate the and other social venues to tap new customer
precision of social influence with the power segments will prepare a business to maximize
of consumer intent in the search experience. the effectiveness of these converging
But it is crystal clear that this integration is audiences.
on the way. Having a well-designed social
media strategy, one that anticipates the impact
corporate social initiatives will have on search
marketing efforts, is essential. Moreover,



Converting Online Traffic
into Franchise Foot Traffic
Setting up and maintaining a successful brick- or negatively affect their franchise. It might be
and-mortar business has always presented tempting to attempt to tackle a search program
unique challenges. Offline storefronts are internally. This should not be your tact. Running
in constant competition with neighboring a brick-and-mortar shop is complex. So is
franchises, co-ops, malls and mega retail search. The do-it-yourself approach could end
chains. In order to stay a step ahead of up costing you time and money. It could also
potential customer foot traffic, local businesses adversely impact your online reputation.
must have a strong online search presence to
deliver traffic from the initial search to the final Effectively launching and running any search
purchase. campaign requires specialized expertise. A

“Build a strong search campaign to deliver traffic from
customers’ initial search to their final purchase. ”

For franchises, leveraging search expertise forward-thinking search team with experience
is about more than constructing a website driving results within your industry can tailor
or creating a social media page. In order a robust paid (PPC) and organic search (SEO)
to maximize the Internet’s revenue- campaign to meet and perhaps exceed your
generating capabilities, your company’s program goals helping you acquire customers
online presence must be continually more profitably. How do they go about laying
optimized to increase brand awareness and the foundation for online to offline growth?
improve sales conversions. This requires
developing relationships with search experts PPC experts can incorporate tightly focused,
to precisely target your audience. These cost-effective branded and non-branded
search professionals are able to apply proven keyword groups into your website’s landing
strategies that can support your company’s page or within the site itself to drive user
ROI goals. engagement. Search professionals can
thoroughly optimize registration and contact
Local business owners have a results-driven, fields, as well as continually revise and expand
entrepreneurial spirit and are accustomed to content to improve rankings; keep up with
directly dealing with issues that can positively customer interest; and stay ahead of industry



Converting Online Traffic into Franchise Foot Traffic (continued)

trends. Also, search marketers with a track Franchise customers have many store options
record of building profitable online programs to choose from. Search makes it easier for
can strengthen your social media channels. them to locate your business and saves them
They can create buzz and control messaging, from another trip to a crowded mall. They will
thus protecting and growing your brand. thank you for it with their business.



Organic Search and PPC —
Similarities, Differences and ROI Driving

Though they are distinctive approaches to the manner in which it is managed and how
search, organic (SEO) and paid (PPC) provide the campaign is ranked. Also, PPC offers quick,
a strong value proposition to users when short-term results and generates ranking
implemented together into a comprehensive based on accuracy, not assumptions or
search campaign. Organic and PPC search projections.
campaigns drive legitimacy for the user and
prospective customer. Click-through rates
see increases in these dual search initiatives.
For organic and PPC, their significance in “Want the biggest
establishing an effective search program is
their most important similarity.
bank for your
It is easier to draw distinctions between
search buck?
organic and PPC search. The course your Consider launching
company decides to take depends on your
search needs and what you are looking to a coordinated
accomplish in your campaign.
SEO/PPC campaign.”
Going organic, via an SEO campaign, enables
your search program to generate long-term
growth through efficiency. The cost of an The success of a search campaign is ultimately
organic campaign is far less than PPC. Organic defined by ROI. In order to drive the biggest
campaigns produce more clicks and give your bank for your search marketing buck, consider
business, product or service the potential for launching a coordinated SEO/PPC campaign.
vast exposure. Organic search engages the By integrating paid and organic, you can
user at the “moment-of-relevance”. This is position your company’s search campaign as a
when a user is actively seeking information on short- and long-term results driver.
a product or service of interest. Going organic
maximizes highly relevant traffic while building
brand equity and consumer trust.

Still, there are contrasting benefits to paid
search. PPC provides companies with
complete control over their search campaign,



Incoming! These Links Build
Popularity and Relevance
“When it comes to link building, it pays to be popular.”
If the benchmark for organic search (SEO) as is the case with direct linking, indirect linking
success is ROI, the process to achieve this best practices should be implemented for link
goal begins with a sound link-building strategy. building and organic search success. Here are
When it comes to link building, it pays to be a few tips for generating powerful indirect links:
popular.
Make your site linkworthy. Add
Link popularity measures the quantity and educational and instructional content;
quality of websites that link to your site. With include case studies, blogs, press
link building, relevancy directly correlates to releases and white papers.
rankings. The more relevant incoming links Submit to directories. DMOZ,
your site receives, the greater the chances specialized directories. It’s about
of your site ranking high on major search relevancy.
engines. Market your memberships. Promote
industry affiliations, contacts and
Direct Linking connections.
Effective link building is a continuous process. Freshen your content. Increase your
Success does not come overnight. When it website’s visibility and attractiveness by
does, it is generated from careful evaluation. frequently updating your content with
Three important factors go into effective direct search-focused keywords relevant to
linking: your industry.

Quantity — Total incoming links directed Remember: link popularity measures
to a site or Web page. quantity and quality. Therefore, it makes
Relevancy — Degree to which the sense to avoid link-popularity farms, linking
incoming links relate to your site. to your own site, linking to sites that house
Strength — The amount of authority the hundreds of links on a single page, unknown
site providing the link has. link solicitations and bulk list submissions.

Indirect Linking As always, think before you link. Seek counsel
Indirect linking is a more natural approach to from agencies that have trusted organic and
incoming link acquisition. It relies on content to paid search capabilities to increase your
draw websites to your company’s website. But company’s quality search.



Trust Quality Score for
Quality Results
Search is in a constant state of evolution. But So how does relevancy stardom translate into
that doesn’t mean the evolution is green. For lower paid search costs? Let’s briefly analyze
search marketers on the paid (PPC) side of the three key factors in determining Quality
the spectrum, campaign spending can still be Score.
costly and satisfactory returns are often hard to
quantify. But does it have to be so difficult? Not CTRs are the main ingredient in calculating
necessarily. your brand’s Quality Score. If people are
clicking on your ad, they are confirming its
To get the most from your search campaign overall relevancy. The more CTRs produced,
spending make sure you consider the benefits the more revenue generated. Therefore,
of calculating Quality Score. a high Quality Score will keep you from
wasting critical PPC spend on ads that aren’t
converting. As for ad text and landing-page
“To get the most from relevancy, these are controllable metrics. By
testing and retesting ads and landing pages,
your search campaign you can make improvements to your Quality
spending don’t forget Score by focusing on areas like:

to consider the Keyword performance
benefits of calculating Content relevance
Quality Score.” Page load performance

There is a reason Quality Score is such a
Without getting deep into algorithms and trusted paid search metric. Quality Score
metrics, Quality Score measures relevance. drives better, more efficient results. Of course,
It helps customers find sites relevant to their there are other metrics to consider based
search and it enables advertisers to benefit on your campaign goals. But it’s in your best
from creating relevant ads. interest not to count Quality Score out.

Click-through rates (CTRs), as well as ad text
and landing page relevancy, are key factors
in calculating Quality Score. By generating
a high-scoring ad (10 being the cream of the
crop) you are essentially telling Google that
your website is a relevancy star.



Add a Few More Letters to PPC —

SMO and SEO
Financial professionals talk endlessly about Coordinated PPC and SEO programs combine
the need to diversify one’s asset portfolio. the results-driving immediacy of paid search
Having all of one’s eggs in one basket may fill with the long-term brand and traffic growth of
up that basket but it will leave a lot of wicker organic search. For instance, PPC search
sad and lonely. The same analogy is true in experts can drive organic keywords and
describing the state of paid search advertising improve landing page conversions while
(PPC). simultaneously enhancing paid and SEO

“Be sure to make room in your paid search
wicker basket for SEO and SMO. ”

According to eMarketer, PPC search click-throughs . And with social search
marketers are increasing their advertising gaining traction, PPC, SMO and SEO can
presence on social media. Fifty-two percent work together to drive brand awareness and
of global companies surveyed by eMarketer customer acquisition.
indicated that social channels had either a
moderate or huge impact on their search Diversification of any assets, whether financial
initiatives in 2010. And with more social or search-related, is a sound, strategic
networks tapping into paid search advertising, approach. Search marketing, in particular, is
it makes sense that PPC campaigns on continuously changing and evolving. PPC, SEO
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube and even SMO are not what they were even
would be on the rise. After all, clicks still matter a few years ago. By leaving all of your eggs
and finding your brand’s target audience in one search basket instead of sharing them
where it lives — on social networks — will likely with the other two, your plans to maximize ROI
produce more clicks and conversions. growth may get scrambled.

Adding PPC to social media optimization
(SMO) should not be the only way you diversify
your company’s online search portfolio.
Be sure to make some room in your PPC
wicker basket for SEO.



Putting Your
Face on Search
The integration of social media and search Pay close attention to your profile.
marketing seems to be at a fever pitch. Likes Facebook users should input as much
and Tweets are having an enormous impact categorized data as possible to increase
on search engine rankings. Though Facebook their chances of being identified in
and Twitter are each important to the search searches. Also, continually revising and
marketing landscape, the former appears to updating your profile will do wonders for
be more immediately in tune with the evolving your search results.
nature of social search. In-Likes — it really is good to be Liked.
The more users that Like your company’s
Facebook pages are complex and well- Facebook page, the better your chances
optimized, making them rank higher on the of having incoming links point to it.
social network and in the search space. But at
the end of the day, social search must abide By putting your brand’s own face on search,
by similar best practices to maintain long-term you will ensure that you get positively noticed
success. Here are a few best practices to in search engine results pages important to
consider: your industry and product/service categories.

It’s OK to be vain. The vanity or
customized URL is more appealing and
readable to the search engines. It is “Put your brand’s
important to choose one wisely since it
cannot be edited at a later date. own face on search
Content, content, content. Your
company’s content — blog posts,
to ensure positive
thought-leadership pieces, sales exposure by search
presentations, videos, photos, etc. — is
your most valuable search tool. Upload
engines. Remember: It
every piece of corporate content you can pays to be ‘Liked.’”
find and tag it properly to enhance your
organic search results. Let people find out
how smart your company’s employees
are by highlighting content that
compliments your company’s products
and services.



Embrace the Power of
‘Free’ Web Traffic
Managing ‘Free’ Web Traffic from Search Isn’t Free, But It’s Worth It

In the early days of search marketing, many authority. As a result, SEO efforts have evolved
advertisers mistakenly thought of organic from a technical discipline to a marketing
search traffic as free. They would build a discipline. With this evolution came the need
website, design the user experience, and for additional resources and expenditures
sometimes make the basic technical tweaks to support the ongoing content optimization
to be properly categorized by the search and link building efforts required to maintain
engines. The strategy for optimizing organic high levels of organic traffic. According to
rankings was mainly “set it and forget it.” This Econsultancy, more than $1.5 billion was spent
put SEO efforts in stark contrast with paid in 2010 to maintain “free” organic search traffic

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch in search. Manage your
SEO and PPC campaigns effectively to minimize waste and
maximize spending.”
search marketing, which involved relatively and keep the competition below you on the
large investments that were actively managed search results pages.
and optimized. As the competition for the
search audience increased, savvy online Justify Your SEO Efforts
marketers realized it was not only possible but This brings us to phase three of SEO marketing
necessary to actively manage and optimize — the point where SEO efforts must justify their
both their SEO and paid search programs. This worth and compete for resources with other
led to the second phase of SEO marketing: parts of a successful advertising program.
active management of organic rankings. Several key lessons have emerged in the
debate over how to justify brands’ SEO efforts.
Best practices for organic search emerged. SEO is now (finally) being subjected to rigorous
Practitioners started actively managing on-site demands of ROI and accountability, and is
technical aspects like site structure and meta being evaluated just like any other part of a
tagging. They began ensuring appropriate company’s marketing portfolio. Combine this
configuration of existing and new content. with the frequent requests we see from clients
For example, they started managing the and prospects for the ROI metrics of their
density of attractive keywords in content and SEO programs, and it’s clear that “free” traffic
proactively developing inbound links to build from organic search and the money spent



Embrace the Power of ‘Free’ Web Traffic (continued)

optimizing organic rankings are no longer The answer, and good news for most online
getting a free pass in the marketing budget marketers, is to do your best to measure
process. Companies’ financial chiefs are the ROI of your SEO program. We have seen
now holding SEO initiatives accountable and clients generate millions of dollars in value
demanding to see the return they are getting spending tens of thousands on SEO; therefore,
from all this new spending. it’s likely, even with money spent to actively
manage the program, that your SEO program
Competitors are spending time, energy and can provide a considerable return.
resources trying to crowd you out of top
placements on the search engine results As with any marketing channel, organic search
pages (SERPs). If that were not enough, your ROI can be particularly tricky to calculate given
chief financial officer wants proof that your SEO that organic rankings are determined by many
program is paying off. So what is the CMO to different factors. Nonetheless, an approximate
do? answer is better than none at all.



Understanding the Social
Search ROI Equation
Here is a basic ROI equation for SEO: number Many companies aren’t evaluating SEO
of visits driven by organic search x the dollar programs properly because they are not
value of each visit – the cost of SEO efforts = connecting SEO efforts with site architecture
the dollar return on SEO. and content creation decisions, nor are
they appropriately attributing these costs
Google Analytics can provide the number of to the organic program. Ideally, costs would
unique visits driven from organic links. Most be allocated based on the total time site
marketers understand the value of each visit architects and content creators spent adjusting
(variable margin attributable to Web visits/ the site elements for SEO advantage. If your
number of visits) to their website. Optimally, organization does not track time explicitly, try
advertisers would track the specific dollar allotting 15 percent of major site design efforts
value attributable to organic search traffic. If and 5 percent of ongoing content creation
this is not easily available, the site average is a work to the overall SEO program costs.
reasonable substitute. But advertisers must be
able to quantify the average value of a site visit As the competition for the search audience
before the value of any online marketing can intensifies, advertisers will be forced to spend
be established. more to improve their organic search rankings
or find themselves relegated to the bottom
The cost of supporting SEO efforts (in-house/ of the SERPs. Measuring the return you are
outsourced SEO experts, link building, content getting on SEO expenditures will give the
creation) should be identified. It’s advisable CMO and CFO the confidence they need to
to take a cautious approach with regard to invest in this critical source of customer traffic.
cost. Some activities, like link building, are
clearly SEO-oriented. However, site structure
and content creation typically have mixed
ownership.

“Measuring the return you are getting on SEO expenditures
will give CMOs and CFOs the confidence they need to invest in
this critical source of customer traffic.”



Best Practices for
Effective Keyword Research
Incorporating the right keyword search tool product or service featured in a PPC campaign,
into your pay-per-click (PPC) campaign can a word that would normally be deemed a typo
be a time-saving and cost-effective strategy. could actually be spelled correctly. This makes
But a keyword tool is only as effective as the a keyword typo generator an unsung search
techniques used in the keyword-discovery hero.
process. Implementing keyword research
best practices will continually optimize your Next, take Google’s Wonder Wheel for a
PPC campaign with relevant keywords that spin. Easy to navigate, the tool efficiently maps
leverage performance, continuously improve out relevant keyword matches. It simplifies
efficiency and increase conversions. and displays search results in a graphically
appealing way making monotonous keyword
There are several useful keyword research research slightly more enjoyable.
tools available online. They are important in
order to conduct thorough analytics that go Also, try searching website logs and pages.
beyond AdWords account findings. Google’s While users may not find what they want
search-based keyword tool compares Web immediately, internal search data can lead

“Clients benefit from advancements in keyword search. Continual
optimization of your PPC campaigns is essential to improve
profitability and deliver conversions and leads.”

content to AdWords keywords, helping to to potential keywords. Once users are ready
uncover otherwise impossible to find keyword to make a purchase, intent keywords are
combinations. Continual keyword evaluation is essential to their search. An FAQ section can
a savvy cost-efficiency strategy. provide pivotal insight as to what concerns
potential customers, which can be included in
Employing a keyword typo generator should a topical keyword search. Adding guarantee
be your next research step. It pinpoints and return keywords from your site map page
common keyword misspellings and character is a shrewd tactic. An About Us page can offer
and transposed typos. Depending on the valuable information to convert into targeted



Best Practices for Effective Keyword Research (continued)

keywords, notably awards and industry Informing the campaign account coordinator
recognition. of client objectives is a new best practices
search trend. It is useful because it provides
Finally, include as many negative keywords as a roadmap for what to focus on when
possible into your search by utilizing analytics researching keywords. Clients benefit from
and Google keyword tool’s negative option. advancements in keyword search. Therefore,
Going negative generates relevant searches it is key to continually optimize your PPC
while protecting your online image and campaigns to improve performance and
brand value. It also maintains targeted traffic, profitability while driving conversions and
preventing unwanted clicks and saving you results.
money.



CASE STUDY: the frisky

The Challenge: Increasing Website Traffic
The Frisky, a women’s lifestyle site, wanted to increase high-quality traffic to drive more readers
to its site, build brand awareness and differentiation and engage its audience of trendy, young
females.

Partnership Strategy
MediaWhiz partnered with The Frisky to understand competitor performance, and determine how
to best engage this mercurial group across search and social media platforms.

MediaWhiz Solution: Incorporate PPC and SEO to Drive Website Traffic
MediaWhiz developed campaigns with Google, Yahoo and MSN, focusing on search terms of
ongoing interest to The Frisky users. These included such topics as celebrity and entertainment
news, relationship and sex advice, beauty, style and fashion tips. MediaWhiz also targeted
Facebook and MySpace, which not only produced high click-through rates but created brand and
buyer awareness.

To enhance traffic volume while lowering the Cost-Per-Click (CPC), MediaWhiz utilized low-
competition “long-tail” keywords to avoid a bidding war with competitors for more popular, higher
profile search terms. We also formed tightly themed ad groups to achieve a greater Google
Quality Score. This helped The Frisky improve its position in the search engine results pages
(SERPs) at a much lower cost than its competitors using the same keywords.

MediaWhiz Results: Website Traffic Increases Are in Fashion
MediaWhiz PPC and SEO teams established on-page and off-page content optimization, as well
as technical architecture optimization, for TheFrisky.com. This increased traffic to The Frisky site
and helped new readers get in step with the latest styles and entertainment trends.

Increased total website traffic for The Frisky by 70 percent.
Unique visitors to TheFrisky.com moved from 26,000 to 1. million in 18 months — a
1
4,000-percent increase.
Decreased the average CPC by over 160 percent.

Looking for impressive search results like these for your company? Contact Daryl Colwell,
MediaWhiz vice president of business development, at 646.442.55 or13
dcolwell@mediawhiz.com.



case study: the frisky (continued)
about mediawhiz

Founded in 2001, MediaWhiz has rapidly become a leading digital strategy and media agency
that helps clients acquire customers more profitably. MediaWhiz has expertise in all facets of
digital marketing, including Performance Marketing, Affiliate, Search, Social, Display, Email and
Data Acquisition.

MediaWhiz’s search marketing practice is ranked No. 6 by Advertising Age. The 2012 Advertising
Age Agency Report ranked MediaWhiz as the 21st-largest digital-agency network and the 73rd-
largest marketing and advertising agency in the United States.
For more information, visit MediaWhiz.com.

Let MediaWhiz Drive Your Search and Digital Media Needs
MediaWhiz is a full-service digital strategy and media agency. Our stable of search marketing and
digital media experts can handle all of your company’s online marketing needs and address the
complex digital media challenges your business faces.

Learn more about our products and services at MediaWhiz.com.

Like our content? You’ll love working with our search experts.
Request a demo.


MediaWhiz POV: Enhancing Your Brand's Search Strategy

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