Search & CRMISM 6910 – Week 4

Schedule changesReminder we are switch search and testing topics

DATE TOPIC READING: Kaushik Chapters

Assignment Due:

Mar 28 Class introductions and Digital Landscape

1  

Apr 4 Tagging, Digital Media, Site Metrics 3 & 5  Apr 11 Measurement Tools, Site Metrics

Cont.2 Measurement

Tool Presentations

Apr 18 SEO, SEM, and CXM 11  Apr 25 Social strategies 9  May 2 Social measurement   Social Tool

Presentations

May 9 Building out a measurement plan 10  May 16 Testing and Optimization 6 & 7  May 23 Implementation, tag management

tools, Big Data, Privacy Issues, Ethics

   

May 30 Final presentations Measurement Plan

Jun 6 Graduation Banquet   No Class

Week 4 Topics

• SEM – Search Engine Marketing (Paid)

• SEO – Search Engine Optimization (Organic)

• Email –> CRM -> CXM

What is Search Engine Marketing?

“A form of internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) through optimization as well as through advertising”

The Evolution of SEM1994• Webcrawler, one of

the first search engines launches

1995• Yahoo! launches,

banners sold on CPM basis targeting search terms

1997• GoTo.com launches

text based CPC system

• 2003 bought by Yahoo!

1998• Google launches a

different kind of search engine

2000• Google begins selling

ads on a CPM model

2005• Microsoft launches

adCenter

2009• Microsoft launches

bing.com

2010• MSN & Yahoo join

forces to create a Search Alliance

2012adCenter is renamed - Bing Ads

Search Engine Traffic Share

66%

15%

14%3% 2%

Google Bing Yahoo Ask AOL

Comscore qSearch Analysis, March 2012

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SERPSearch Engine Results Page

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The SERP: Google

PAID PAID(Product Listing Ads)

ORGANIC

ORGANIC(Location Listings)

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The SERP: Bing

PAID

PAIDORGANIC

ORGANIC(Location Listings)

ORGANIC(Social Results)

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Paying to make your website’s ads appear on the top or side of the page

• Immediate impact• On/off quickly• Performance-based pricing• KW, landing page, and messaging flexibility

SEM - Pay Per Click (PPC):

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Optimizing your website to make it appear in organic or natural search results

• Low out of pocket cost• Typically lower cost traffic• Less on/off flexibility• Garners higher click-thru-rates than paid

Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

She types ‘New Zealand Vacation’

into Google

Jane is interested in taking a vacation

She sees ads from advertisers who

“bought” the keyword

She clicks on a Tourism New Zealand ad

TNZ pays Google for that click

Jane completes an action on the site,

Atlas records

Paid Search User Journey

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Google AdWords & bing Ads (formerly Microsoft adCenter)

• Publishers tools used to create & manage campaigns of keywords & ads• Provide reporting on traffic and conversions*

How SEM is Managed

The Integrated Search ToolsetA unique search solution for enterprise marketing

Ad ServersDisplay impressions, clicks, conversions, cookie

ID’s and date/time stamps

Bid ManagementBidding algorithms and engine API

connectivity

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

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Atlas – ad server• Allows for integrated tracking with display campaigns• Uploads data to Marin on a daily basis

How Razorfish Does It

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Marin Software – bid management • Centralized campaign management & reporting for all search engines • Automated bidding algorithms • Helps save time and improve efficiency

How Razorfish Does It

1. Marin sends keywords to Atlas 2. Atlas creates placements, sends redirects back to Marin3. Marin uploads keywords with Atlas redirects to engines

Razorfish Tracking System (RTS)

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3

Allows us to manage Atlas conversions in Marin

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Search can be tracked from Impression to Conversion

Jane conducts a search, an ad appears, an

impression is recorded in Google

Jane clicks on the ad to go to the website, a click is recorded in Google &

ATLAS

Jane makes a purchase, the conversion is recorded in ATLAS

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Data and Reporting Sources

MetricsGoogle & Bing

Atlas Marin

Impressions

Clicks

Average Position

Cost

Conversions

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Search Components & Optimization Levers

• Keyword selection1.

• Campaign segmentation2.

• Ad copy3.

• Landing page selection4.

• Bidding5.

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1. The Keyword Selection

High Search Volume• High spend• High competition• Low position• Lower conversion rates

Sweet Spot• Medium spend• Targeted search terms• Effective positioning• Good conversion rates

Low Search Volume• High conversion rates

• Low Competition• High position

• Low Cost

support pillow

tempur pedic

memory foam mattress

mattress for lower back pain

tempurcloud supreme twin

back pain

mattress

pillow

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Keyword Match Types

Ad shows on similar phrases and relevant variationsBroad• Would show up for: mattress, serta mattress, memory foam bed

Ad shows for close variations of the phrase, word order mattersPhrase

•Would show up for: buy a memory foam mattress, memory foam mattresses

•Wouldn’t show up for: memory mattress, mattress foam

Ad shows for searches that that match your keyword exactlyExact

• Would ONLY show up for: memory foam mattress

• Would not show up for ANY other search.

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Negative KeywordsEnables you to “block” your ads from appearing for certain searches

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2nd Component- Campaign Structure

Mattresses

Mattress mattress, mattresses

Foamfoam mattress, memory foam

mattress

Ergonomicergo mattress,

ergonomic mattresses

CAMPAIGN AD GROUP KEYWORDS

• Language Targeting: target users based on language preference.

• GEO Targeting: geographically target a specific region or location

• Device Targeting: Desktop, Tablet or Phone and OS• Google – select carriers and / or wifi and even phone

models!

• Demographic Targeting: •bingAds - incremental bidding on gender & age ranges•Google - recently launched gender & age targeting

Campaign Settings – Search Targeting

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Campaign structures give you the ability to:

• Control budgets

• Separately control and report by:

• geographic region

• device type

• demographics

• Ensure ad copy is relevant to keyword groups

• Send users to their desired landing page*

Why Campaign Structure is Important

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Ad Copy Creation & Testing:• Can utilize dynamic keyword insertion• Test different headlines, description lines, display URLs• Include a call to action• Determining factor is usually CTR

3rd Component & Optimization Lever – Ad Copy

vs.

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4th Component & Lever – Landing Selection

1.

2.

3.

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Landing Pages:• Test different images, copy, calls to action on landing pages• Test different landing pages along the purchase path• Determining factor is usually

conversions or conversion rate

4th Component & Lever – Landing Page Testing

5th Component & Optimization Lever - Bidding

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Some bidding definitions:

• Max CPC:• The absolute highest you’re willing to pay for a click

• Actual CPC:• What you actually end up paying, usually lower than max CPC• Quality Score influences this cost

• Min CPC / Min Bid:• The minimum you have to bid to be part of the auction for a keyword• For competitive keywords, this can be pretty high

5th Component & Optimization Lever - Bidding

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Quality Score factors:

CTR

Historical Keyword Performance

Ad Text Relevance

Other Relevancy FactorsLanding page quality & relevancy

$7.00 x 6 = 42

$5.00 x 9 = 45

Max CPC PositionX =Quality Score

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• Bids can be changed manually or automatically by using Marin algorithms

• Normally updated on a daily basis.

• The auction happens in real time

• The auction is “blind”

5th Component & Optimization Lever - Bidding

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Switching gears over to SEO…

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SEO – AKA Organic Search

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Top SEO Engines

Google: •Largest index •Favors “authority” sites (domain age, back links, type of domain). •Personalizes search results based on search history and user location

Bing: •Places emphasis on on-page elements (keywords in page titles, content, anchor text, URLs). •Integrates with Facebook, Twitter and social media within search results

Yahoo: •Powered by Bing algorithm. •Format varies from Bing, but majority of listings are the same.

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Recap…

What’s the difference? Paid Search •Advertisers pay for placement in search results •Some control over rank and frequency within search listings •Control of ad copy and landing pages •Commonly referred as “Pay-Per-Click” and “PPC”

Organic Search •Unpaid listings (FREE) •Advertisers/websites appear based on relevancy •Less control over copy and landing page •Also known as “Search Engine Optimization”, “SEO” and “Natural Search”

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What is SEO?

• Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via the natural/organic/non-paid search results.

• As an internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website to both increase its relevance for specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activity of search engines involves editing its:

• Content • Architecture • Link profile

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Why Do SEO?

Recent eye-tracking studies show searchers spend more time looking at organic search results

Compare: •10.7 – 14.7 seconds viewing organic listings •0.7 – 2.9 seconds viewing everything else

Source: “Eye Tracking Bing vs. Google: A Second Look”, UserCentric.com, January 27, 2011 Why Do SEO?

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Why Do SEO?

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Importance of Rankings in Organic Results

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Search Engines: What Are They? How Do They Work?

•Crawling the Web – Search engines crawl the web using “search engine spiders” or “bots.”

• Indexing Documents – Search engines Index crawled documents into database storage. • Processing Queries - All relevant URLs are retrieved from the index when a search is performed.

• Ranking Results - A ranking algorithm is applied on the above to determine which are most relevant to the query terms.

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Influence of Search Engines

• Every page is now a landing page • The home page is no longer the

main entry point • On a well-optimized site, more

traffic will enter on the deeper, more focused pages

• Every page must meet multiple objectives • Establish / build brand • Drive visitor to the desired action • Communicate value proposition • Deliver the relevant content to the

searcher (product, service, or information)

Approach to SEO

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What Do Search Engines Look For?

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Organic Search Factors

The Formula for SEO Success

Organic Optimization Core Elements Optimization is complex and requires a multi-disciplined team

Technical Factors

What an Engine Sees is Not What We See

Search engines work to the lowest common denominator

• Crawlers do not fully support images, flash, javascript or ajax • Content needs to be in format accessible and crawlable to search

engines

Navigation – Image Navigation • Site navigation is the main access point for search engines

and users to deeper site pages • Navigation should be crawlable; image based navigation and

drop downs should be avoided.

URLs with Parameters

• Spiders have trouble with long, parameter-filled URLs, especially with:

• Stop Characters: ? # & • Tracking codes and navigational

parameters • Google thinks of each distinct URL

as a distinct page

• “Dynamic” sites are OK if URLs are short and persistent

URLs influence how a search engine crawls a site

Duplicate Versions of Website Serving the same piece of content under different URLs can make it difficult to rank for target keywords for three main reasons:

• Internal competition • Indexing issues • Diluted link value

Same content, different URLs: • http://www.invescopowershares.com/ • http://invescopowershares.com/

Dissecting the Organic Search Result

Keywords

• Keyword research is done to determine relevant keywords to target for a website

• Properly identified keywords are the cornerstone to a successful SEO strategy

• Several factors are considered to when choosing which

keywords to target: • Keyword Popularity • Keyword Relevance • Keyword Competitiveness • Searcher Intent

Keywords are words or phrases that people use in their online searches

Title Tags

• The Tag is the first line of any search result and the title of the webpage

• “Keywords” valued heavily in the algorithms • Should be unique to each page • Size & order are crucial

Title Tags tells the search engines the subject of the page

Meta Description Tags

• The tag provides context to a search result • No value from the search engines, however it’s important

to be leveraged in reinforcing • Marketing call-to-action verbiage improves click rates • Should be unique per page

Meta Description Tags will typically be used for the “snippet” under the organic search result’s link (title tag)

Meta Keywords • Meta keywords are not a primary crawl data

source • Google gives very little to no weight of these

in their algorithm • Bing still factors it in at a minimal level

• Good way to capture variants and misspellings of primary and secondary keywords

• Avoid overstuffing keywords

Header Tags • H1, H2…H6 tags are used to ‘format’ headers • H1 and H2 tags carry weight in algorithm

calculations • Like Title Tag, H1 is a good search term

indicator

Body Content

• Crawlers read from top to bottom, left to right • Balance writing for humans with keyword density • Without body content, the title tag and other factors

must be strongly optimized in order to be relevant for primary keywords

Primarily paragraph content

Images, ALT Tags, and Captions • Crawlers can’t “see” picture files (.jpg, .gif, etc.) • Communicate search terms with:

• HTML ‘near’ images (captions, write-ups) • ALT and TITLE entities within IMG tags

SEO Friendly URLs • URLs should incorporate relevant keywords and targeted terms. • Use at least one keyword phrase in your file/directory names, preferably

at the beginning. • Use hyphens to separate the words in your file and directory names.

Instead of using “InvestorCenter/” use “Investor-Center/” • Abbreviate directory name if it does not target keyword terms, in order to

keep the URL length short.

Internal Links • Internal Linking allows

search engines to determine the relevancy of page topic and its relation to other pages

• Use internal links within the content that is intuitive and guide visitors to the next step

• Using keyword rich text (anchor text) improves the ability of target pages to rank for targeted keyword term

Links What is a “link”? • Any direct hyperlink from a web page pointing to your web page • Typical link sources include:

• Directories, web sites, blogs, news sites, social network sites, etc

Backlink (inbound link): • Link from one site pointing to another. Backlinks are an important part of SEO,

and should be relevant to the content of your site in order to be effective.

Link Popularity • The concept that made Google famous… • Inbound links have proven extremely valuable • Every link is a vote • Iterative process of determining page popularity through link

statistics • Quality of the sites linking to yours is critical • Anchor text of links is also important

Why is Link Building Important?• Building strong inbound links to your Web site is one of the best ways to gain

high search rankings. • Search engines rank websites based on perceived value • High-ranked sites get more visits • Reputable, inbound links endorse the value of your site • Inbound links serve as an alternate path for spiders to access a site • Inbound links can increase the frequency a site is crawled • Inbound links have a high value in the Google algorithm • Search engines use links as a measurable indicator of search relevance and

authority • Inbound links to your site from trusted web pages will build your site’s authority

and importance

Link Development OverviewOff-site optimization is critical for search engine success

Key Link Acquisition Tactics • Direct Request • Link Reclamation • Directory Submissions • Internal Link Optimization • Premium Content Syndication (Content

Barter) • Link Baiting/Viral Campaigns • Optimized Press Releases • Optimized Articles • Site Sponsorships • Social Bookmarking

Directory Listings

Check top directories, submit if not listed • DMOZ, Open Directory Project • Yahoo! Directory • Business.com • Librarians’ Internet Index (only informational) • BOTW

Check for topic-specific directories • Use searches like “topic” directory

Find sites with the specific purpose of listing and categorizing the web

Off-site OptimizationSearch engines are evolving to show universal results for per query, including social pages and real-time content from social platforms. Distributing content off-site and optimize it gives it a larger chance of resulting in additional places on the SERP besides the website.

Distribution Benefits: • Dominate the SERP • Increase Exposure • Build Incoming Links • Manage Reputation • Push Down Competitors

Social Sharing OptimizationMake it easy for users to subscribe to Invesco content feeds, “vote for”, bookmark or share content with friends. This improves distribution and increases exposure, making it more likely that:

• Other sites will link to your content, helping natural search rank • The external content on your sites, Digg, Reddit, ect. ranks on the

SERP

Video Optimization• Optimize tags/body content around videos in order to help spiders understand

what the video content is about and effectively rank it for targeted keywords

• Video optimization could include the creation of a Custom YouTube Channel to better distribute your brand’s video content and occupy more SERP real estate

Common Misconceptions of SEO• SEO is code tweaks • SEO starts at wireframes • SEO starts after the product is launched, as an enhancement • SEO can be done post-launch, as clean-up • 1 conversation with SEO means “We did SEO” • SEO isn’t part of my job • Organic optimization isn’t a “set it-n’-forget it” tactic

Email, CRM, and CXM

Email tracking

At a minimum most email vendors should be able to set up tracking to record:

• Delivery & Delivery Rate• Open & Open Rate• Email clicks

• Unsubscribes

Email metricsCommon Email metrics:

Delivery & Delivery Rate – Number of emails that were successfully delivered to their email recipients. This helps email marketers track how “clean” their lists are.

Opens & Open Rate - Number of emails that were opened by an email recipient. This number is also typically used to measure the reach of a campaign. Can also indicate or test the effectiveness of a email’s subject line.

Case Study: For each campaign the Office team would send out several test emails to a small sample of the email list to see which subject line drew the most opens. The winning subject line would then be used for the fill list of customers.

Email metrics (cont.)Common Email metrics:

Clicks – Number of link or button clicks made within an email

Click Through Rate (CTR) = Clicks / Emails Delivered – Used to track how effective an email campaign has been in driving conversions off of the email list.Click to Open Rate = Clicks / Open – Used to measure and optimize how effective the content within an email is.

Unsubscribe Rate – Number of email recipients who clicked on the unsubscribed link and asked to be unsubscribed from the email list. Too many unsubscribes is a big red flag! Most people just ignore emails, unsubscribing is a very intentional act.

Email end actions

Note: most email vendors stop tracking after the click through, but a user’s data can be passed to other tracking systems through redirect links or web analytics campaign IDs

History of CXM

Started out as database marketing for direct mail…

(aka Junk mail)

Became database marketing for e- mail…

(aka SPAM)

History of CXM (cont.)…

Database marketing expanded to other channels becoming CRM…

CRM is now becoming CXM, where brands and companies interact with you on a one-to-one basis…

Website and email content along with sales promotions, and even customer care scripts are now tailored to a specific customer or customer profile.

CRM

Direct mail

E-mail Purchase history

Customer care

CRM OptimizationA lifecycle strategy approach focuses on individualizing experiences based on a user’s current needs based on where they are in the customer lifecycle.

Blending personalized content across email, social, and site side experiences creates a seamless, compelling, and satisfying experiences that compliments each developer’s specific needs.

CRM is a key and integral component of the overall targeting and optimization strategy already mentioned in pervious slides.

CXM case studyMicrosoft Office 365Razorfish worked with the Office CXM team to develop a customized, behavior-based framework with over 550 email versions. The emails and their content are dynamically served based on a variety of behaviors, attributes and languages.

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CXM case study

MGM Resorts: Personalization & Efficiency

Razorfish worked across business units to create and implement a scalable digital RM strategy and framework to serve the needs of all 17+ MGM properties. Collaborated with IT, marketing, and technology partners to evolve platforms, data, and teams to sustain the RM strategy and drive continuous improvement.

Office CXM Platform