2013 primer on pay per click and search engine marketing for startups

1. Making Paid Search Marketing and
SEO Work for Startups
January 29, 2013
Corey Quinn
@coreyquinn

2. About Me
• Born and raised in Los Angeles
• VP of Business Development at The Search Agency
• MBA from USC
• Also have a deep passion for startups

3. MyTherapistMatch.com Story
• Frustrated with the „finding a therapist‟ process
• Has to be a better way…

4. Metcalfe's Law
Therapists Therapy Clients
Marketing Focus
Offline Online

8. My Fantasy:

9. My Fantasy:

10. What Actually Happened:
Meh…
[Spike of not very qualified traffic]
[then nothing]

11. Enter Paid Search
• Brought a paid search (ppc) consultant onto the team
• Developed highly targeted set of keywords
• Launched focused campaigns on a tight budget
• Immediately drove traffic
• Feedback on our product, pricing and messaging
• Within six months, was able to hit our target cost per
acquisition.
• Invested in high quality SEO content

12. Over Time, Reduced Dependence on
Paid Traffic by 77.6%
Traffic Type
Organic 46.20%
December 2010 Paid 19.04%
Other 34.75%
Traffic Type
Organic 76.08%
December 2012 Paid 4.27%
Other 19.65%

13. While increasing traffic by 15 times

15. A Purple Cow Is Not Enough
“A lot of times, people don‟t know what they want until you
show it to them”
- Steve Jobs
(particularly when redefining or
creating product categories)

16. Earned Media Alone Is Not Enough

17. Viral Media Alone Is Not Enough

18. Paid Search Alone Is Not
Enough…
But It Can Help

19. How Paid Media Helps:
• Immediately drive traffic
• Near instant feedback on your product, site experience, &
pricing
• Keywords target your audience based on intent
• Brand visibility
• Easy to test multiple variables
• Keywords, Ad copy, Landing pages
• Lower funnel traffic = higher propensity to buy
Yay! Money!

20. Traditional Mental Model for Marketing
Stimulus Purchase Experience
(1st moment of truth) (2nd moment of truth)
Source: ZMOT, Google 2011

21. New Four Moments Mental Model
Stimulus Zero Moment Purchase Experience
Of Truth (1st moment of truth) (2nd moment of truth)
Search Social Content/Reviews
Source: ZMOT, Google 2011

22. Consumer Decision Journey
CREATE
GROWTH CONVERT NURTURE
Relationships &
to new audiences your audience Relationships
Remarketing
Consideration Evaluation Buy Advocate
• SEM • Landing page
• TV
• SEO optimization
• Radio
• Display • Shopping cart • Social Media
• Print
• Email optimization • Email
• Display
• Social Media • Click to call
• Social Media
• Mobile • Mobile
Source: The Search Agency, Inc.

23. Why Should I Care About Search?
There are over 17.5 billion
searches conducted each month
Source: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2012/6/comScore_Releases_May_2012_U.S._Search_Engine_Rankings

24. Search Is A “Lean Forward” Activity

25. We Are Hunting

26. Search Share
Google
Bing
Yahoo
Others
7 out of 10 searches are on Google

27. Anatomy of a Search Page
Paid 30%
Organic 70%

28. Consumers Value Search
• 91% of consumers say they found what they were looking
for
• 86% learned something new or important
• 73% believed information was accurate and trustworthy
• 66% said that search engines are fair and unbiased
• 50% found info they didn‟t think they could
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2012/Search-Engine-Use-2012.aspx

29. Search Engine Position Matters
75%
Of searchers
never scroll past
the first page of
search results.
Source: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/24-eye-popping-seo-statistics/42665/

30. MY #1 TIP FOR SUCCESSFUL
PAID SEARCH MARKETING

31. While it‟s tempting to jump
in with both feet and run
pay per click on your own
Hire Someone Who
Knows Search To
Manage It For You.
Otherwise…

33. PAID SEARCH KEYWORDS

34. Keywords and The Conversion Funnel
30,400,000 Flowers
165,000 Mother‟s Day Flowers
250 Mother‟s Day Red Roses
50 Mother‟s Day Red Roses Same Day
Delivery

35. Use keywords that are very specific, even
if there is low search volume
“Fitness” “Wearable Activity Tracker Under $200”
Specific keywords ensure targeted, high intent traffic

36. Start with
small
number of
keywords
Test, iterat
e, test
Then, test
some
more
Source: http://phraseologyproject.com/phrase/keep-it-simple-stupid

37. Group keywords into small, narrowly
themed ad groups
Account
Campaign Campaign
Ad Group Ad Group Ad Group
Ads Ads Ads
Keywords Keywords Keywords
Bids Bids Bids
Source: The Search Agency, Inc.

38. Campaign Structure
Campaign Campaign Campaign
Small Business Loans Business Types Loan types
Ad Group Ad Group Ad Group
Small Business Loans Start Up Unsecured Loan
Keywords Keywords Keywords
• small business loans • business start up • unsecured personal
• apply for small financing loan
business loan • loan for start up • unsecured loan
business companies
Ad Copy Ad Copy Ad Copy
Source: The Search Agency, Inc.

39. PAID SEARCH AD
CREATIVES

40. Test Targeted Phrases
• “Buy ___”
• “Start Download”
• “Click Here”
• “Shop Now”
• “Get Started”
• “Free Delivery”
• “Buy 2, Get 1 Free”
What are my product's most important
features and benefits?
What is my competitive advantage?

41. Line up your paid search ad next your
competitors‟ ads
My Ad
• Which one would you choose?
Competitor Ad #1 • Ask your friends & colleagues to
choose their favorite. Did they
choose yours?
Competitor Ad #2
Competitor Ad #3

42. PAID SEARCH LANDING
PAGES

43. Design Landing Pages to Convert

44. Align Visitor Intent with Page Purpose
Source: http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/tips-for-improving-high-bounce-low-conversion-web-pages/

45. Promise Made
Promise Delivered

46. Promise Made:
(I am probably not going to even click this ad because it doesn‟t meet my intent)

47. Promise Delivered???
I am looking for Men‟s Yoga Pants!!
Not a personal stylist.
I‟m outta here!

48. Promise Made:
Am I going to get black dress shoes? I am not sure.
(I am probably not going to click on this one)

49. Promise Delivered???
Now I need to navigate to dress shoes
even though I‟ve already provided my
intent.
UGGGGG!

51. Promise Made:

52. Promise Delivered???
Pretty Good!!

53. Test Test Test
Control (A) Test (B)
1650%
Lift
Source: The Search Agency, Inc.

54. MOBILE & DISPLAY
NETWORK

55. Mobile Has Arrived
Source: Marin Software
• Mobile searches are expected to account for 25% of all
Google searches by the end of 2012.
Source: marin software

56. Lower Cost Per Clicks (“CPC”) and Higher Click
Through Rate (“CTR”) on Mobile
Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2219730/Paid-Search-Growth-Continues-to-Slip-CPCs-Down-But-ROI-Improves-in-Q3-2012

57. Mobile-unique ad features: Ad Extensions

58. Google Display Network
• Place your ads on websites that are relevant to
what you‟re selling.
• Show those ads to the people that are likely to be
most interested.
• Manage and track your budget, campaigns and
results through Google Adwords interface
Source: http://www.google.com/ads/displaynetwork/

59. TRACKING PAID SEARCH

60. Conversion Funnel
Choose A
Landing Page Payment Thank You
Plan

61. Measuring Performance of Your Paid
Search Campaigns
Place Google‟s Conversion Pixel on your “Thank You
Page”

62. The Two Metrics That Matter
• Cost Per Acquisition (“CPA”)
• What does it cost to acquire a customer?
Click costs / number of new customers from pay per click clicks
• What is my conversion rate?
PPC clicks / number of new customers
• How does my CPA relate to the (expected) revenue / life time value
per customer? Is there Return On Investment (“ROI”)?
• Conversion Volume
• How many customers did I acquire and at what price?
• Is there potential for scale?

63. Use Website Analytics to ID Areas for
Optimization
1% 18% 0%

64. Use Website Analytics to ID Areas for
Optimization
Focus Here
1% 18% 0%

65. Don‟t Forget…
• Remarketing
• Marketing to site visitors who
haven‟t converted
• Retention
• Keeping your customers coming
back
• Referrals
• Incentivizing your customers to
promote your brand

66. ORGANIC SEARCH
MARKETING

67. Old SEO
#1? No problem!!

68. Google Florida Universal MayDay Panda
Launch Update Search Update Update
1997 2003 2007 2009 2011
Google NoFollow & Vince / Brand Social Penguin
Adwords Personalized Update Signals Update
2000 2005 2009 Update 2012
2010

69. Google Effect on Old SEO

70. “a holistic approach to SEO”
Source: The Search Agency

71. “Demonstrate topic expertise”
• Onsite demonstration of vertical and
industry knowledge
• Create content that connects
• Understanding of user intent
Rand Fishkin
SEOMOZ.com
INTENT to CONTENT
Source: The Search Agency

72. • Invested in creating a library of “therapy 101” content
• Clear demonstration of topic expertise
• Users and Google now reference our site on this and related topics

73. “Socially Confirmed Topic Expert”
• Off-site topic authority
• Who else thinks your content is „cool‟?
• Social Sharing
• Content Marketing
• Social Indicators
• Linking
THINK BEYOND the LINK
Source: The Search Agency

74. FINAL THOUGHTS

75. Constraining Your
Spend
Geo targeted campaigns
Limit your budget with daily
caps
Test Google Display network
following Google Search
Expand spend where you see
positive results

76. Summary
• Invest in paid search to drive targeted, lean forward traffic
• Start small and grow with successes
• “Fail fast” & test everything
• Take advantage of the mobile cost per click arbitrage
• Remember SEO

78. Corey Quinn
@coreyquinn