Why Paid Search and Organic at the same time.

Lots of discussion on whether Paid and Organic at the same time. Here is my response to one of the postings.

I would like to point out a few other reasons that you want to carefully consider before you decide to stop bidding on your highly relevant keywords/brand names.

1. Competition. It is difficult to ensure other companies will not bid on your brand name. It requires legal action with the search engines, a rigorous set of affiliate guidelines and daily policing as the engines can not be expected to do that for you. As most of us know - a competitor can bid on the keyword as long as they don't use it in the ad text. This is a well used tactic by some of my client's competitors.

2. Paid moves faster than organic. Trying to get the web designers/programmers to update tags and body content (textual not images) to reflect tactics that will improve the words in the search result is a slow moving process for most large companies. But, paid search can be updated instantly to reflect new messaging, like 50% off.

3. Landing pages. You mentioned landing pages as a reason that you may want to continue with paid search regardless of organic results - I totally agree! To me landing pages and websites are different things. Websites give you an opportunity to engage the searcher in a conversation and tell them stories. Landing pages for marketing campaigns are for closing deals (usually). This is not necessarily something all clients agree with but something I feel strongly about.

4. The uncertainty of blended search results. What is the search engines decide to put the shopping cart results ahead of your organic listings. Or they put 4 ads and push your organic results below the fold. Even if you rank #1 in the way we all used to think about it, you may not have a visible result above the fold. I don't believe we will ever be able to control all results as Internet marketers and thus need to cover all bases.

5. Day parting, demographics, localization. I lump these all together because they are switches you can pull to optimize paid search campaigns. You can't do this with organic.

6. Other paid search opportunities. Let's not limit the discussion to pure search results. If you aren't bidding on paid search terms you may not show up in YouTube/video results for your brand names. You may not show up in book results, travel results, shopping results, all of the other aspects of paid search. Even if Google is giving away some of this for free right now - plan on that changing and build it into your budget.

Hope this helps continue the discussion.

SES Chicago - playing devil's advocate doesn't always work

People in the SEM world know that I like to spark a little controversy. For the Video Search Optimization Session I did just that. I know that the panelists enjoyed the approach because they were used to me but I am not sure the audience did.

I put forth the 'proof' that video optimization or videos in general do NOT get you any sales. I was talking about companies that are doing videos for direct response; where they are expecting instant sales. And I completely dismissed 'going viral'. I stated, boldly, that zero sales will happen no matter how many views. Not a happy thought - and not a popular thought.

I did give a few very useful pointers but I think they got lost in the rest of the presentation. Here are the useful thoughts for direct response marketers.

- make sure your URL is in the submitted description of the video
- add your URL graphically to the video somewhere
- submit to all video sites and use Google video sitemaps
- promote your video from other places (links)
- extend your Google advertising campaign to include adwords/adsense on youtube
- look into 'channels' on youtube as a way of controlling what videos are visible for your products
- other excellent point I wish I had made: embed your youtube video in blogs and other sites

The presentation is on the webmama website. Please watch it in slideshow mode as it makes more sense animated.

Feedback welcome. Oh, and PS, Gregory Markel and Greg Jarboe - thanks the for the lively discussion. Great fun.

Fabulous Pictures from SEMPO NASDAQ Ringing!

SEMPO / NASDAQ / Search Maturity?

When we founded SEMPO in 2003 we the founders envisioned a search marketing industry that was beyond the grassroots-type marketing most of the industry was mired in at that time. We wanted to see a grown-up industry where search marketing was equally respected along side email, tv and other display media. We wanted to see an industry where best practices were practiced by the majority of the consultants and companies involved. It was a vision that was supported by the top search engines as they believed, as I did, that a successful industry association could encourage the movement of traditional marketing dollars into paid search spending. It was a vision that many consultants and search agencies bought into, literally, without obvious, tangible return on investment.

Has SEMPO succeeded? To me, the amazing educational offerings alone make it a success but there is so much more. And now we have solid proof that SEMPO has established itself beyond the realm of just the search marketers and the search engines - into the realm of finance. SEMPO has helped establish search as a mature means of direct response and brand marketing. SEMPO has been recognized as representing a group of professional marketers, publishers and tool makers. The big news is that Dana Todd - the current SEMPO Chair (Barbara Coll (me), Kevin Lee and Gord Hotchkiss were previous chairs) - rings in the start of December at NASDAQ. SEMPO is being recognized as representing an industry that will be one of the shining lights in the year to come.

As the first President and first Chair of SEMPO, I couldn't be prouder of where SEMPO has come from the days around Noel McMichael's table in San Francisco overlooking the bay.

Here is the information on how to see the big event tomorrow.

Related Articles: SearchEngineLand, ClickZ, Sphinn.

Go Dana.

Image below from second elected Board.

A Piece of Good News - Online Spending to Increase over Holidays

MarketingVox has reporting some positive news from The Conference Board. The are predicting a slight increase in online sales over the holidays. Whew - somebody thinks things are going to be ok. The Conference Board's Consumer Internet Barometer tells us:

Online Consumers to Spend Less in Stores for Holidays

Online consumers intend to spend less in stores during this holiday season than last, but slightly more online - where they expect free shipping and deals not available in stores, according to The Consumer Internet Barometer from The Conference Board and TNS, reports Retailer Daily.

Bargain hunting will remain the driving force behind online sales, notes the quarterly report, which surveys 10,000 households across the country and tracks who's doing what on the internet.

"Free shipping, exclusive online deals, coupons and discounts are among the incentives consumers will be expecting this season," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center."

Online sales across retail channels are forecast to grow 9% this holiday season, compared with a total retail sales forecast of just 1.5% growth this year in the key holiday shopping retail sectors, according to TNS Retail Forward. It expects online sales to reach $42.5 billion in the fourth quarter, up $3.5 billion from last year.

Consumers More Cost-Conscious

The ongoing sentiment among online holiday shoppers is that free shipping, coupons, and discount offers would encourage them to spend more online.

• Shipping charges, which are the most frustrating aspect of online shopping, tend to frustrate women more than men: 47% versus 38%.
• About 93% of women versus 87% of men say free shipping would serve as a motivation to spend more online this holiday season.
• More than 71% said special offers and deals not available in stores would boost their online spending, with little difference between men and women.
• More than 70% of women and 68% of men said they would be willing to spend more if merchants offered coupons/discounts.
• Also, 48% of women say they would spend more online if sites offered free return postage, compared with 39% of men who felt this way.

....

Comments on GM's Video Strategy by Gregory Markel

One of the leaders in Video Marketing gave a fabulous interview on Fox Business Channel. Gregory Markel, CEO of InfuseCreative, looked at the latest GM video about the U.S. auto industry and gave some pointed comments about what they did right and where they missed opportunities.

Here is his list of what they missed:

• Constant In-Video Branding/Call To Action Absent: Should have branded registration goal site www.gmfactsandfiction.com URL throughout entire video instead of at the end and included registration call to action within the video while suggesting a click on a live URL in the description pane.
• Description Pane Lacking Clickable URL: Should have included a clickable full http://www.gmfactsandfiction.com URL in the first line of the video description and told viewers to click on it throughout the video. This would have generated more clicks to www.gmfactsandfiction.com
• Negative Comments Work Against The Goal: 99% of the 1st page comments at YouTube are negative. This visibly counters their goal of eliciting empathy and support through education. Should have turned off, or moderated/filtered, or responded to negative comments in visible effort to dialogue with consumers
• Light Keyword Targeting: Should have included more popular and relevant keywords and phrases in the video's title, description and tags: The video is not found within the first two pages at Youtube by primary and related keywords: general motors, general motors video, general motors bailout, general motors bankruptcy, gm video, gm bailout. Took test subjects 3 attempts to find the video by keyword
• No Paid Search Support: Should have supported the YouTube and www.gmfactsandfiction.com registration effort with paid search via Google adwords & YouTube promote your video keyword targeted results for both root keywords and secondary yet related keywords like bailout, economy, economic bailout" etc.
Secondary Video Engines:

• Yahoo/Myspace/MetaCafe Video Engines Missed: Not found by keywords general motors, general motors video, us auto industry ripple effect
Google.com:

• Hard to Find: Not directly found on 1st page by keywords general motors, general motors video, gm video, gm bailout
• No Paid Search Support: Should have supported the YouTube and www.gmfactsandfiction.com registration effort with paid search via Google adwords keyword targeted results for both root keywords and secondary yet related keywords like bailout, gm, gm bailout, economy, economic bailout, etc.
Social Bookmarking/Tagging sites:

• Digg: Not found for u.s. auto industry ripple effect

Thanks Gregory. Gregory and I will be on the Video Marketing panel at Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2008 in December.
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What to tell brand companies about 'social media'

I have been thinking a lot about how to respond to requests from potential clients about a social media strategy. Joe Jaffe is right - Social media is a commitment, not a campaign. So how do you tell a client that is familiar with and bought into outward bound communication with a potential customer being a Press Release or an ad that they aren't ready for 'social media'? They are still caught up in making the best website ever and may not be ready for engagement outside of the walled area of their site. How do you show them the value of their brand engaging in open environments when you can't show the value from a lead generation point of view. It isn't about direct response initially.

Social media is time consuming and requires someone obsessed with reputation management. They need to be free to step outside the brand guidelines once and awhile, and more importantly, need to be able to react instantly without checking with a lawyer first. This is hard and scary for public brand companies. You need to have a sense of humour because people will laugh at your attempts and comment on your content, even if it is well though out. I would consider a twitter posting a success if people tweeted back in any form thus starting the conversation.

So, what to tell companies that are asking for social media strategies? Social media is a commitment, not a campaign. And to find that right person to start small and give them the freedom to succeed.

Google Monetizing YouTube

In Google's important and critical strategy to monetize YouTube they have introduced Click-to-Buy links. If you hear a song you like while watching the music video - then down in the links where you can share, etc you will see a new selection where you can buy the song. Same with games and I am sure, coming soon, products from packaged goods companies. Maybe you will be able to buy the blendtec blender or the thing they are blending directly from the YouTube page?

When Google introduced videos into their universal search results, they added an appealing, eye-catching element to organic results. Not so good for the paid search advertisers who definitely don't want a potential consumers eyes straying to the video thumbnail. Unless...Google can help you monetize the click-through on the video thumbnail as well. They are trying.

Some data suggests that when a video appears in the first page (I suspect above the fold) then less people click on paid search compared to when those thumbnails are not present. The chart above is the Click Performance Index from Comscore for January 2008 which shows just that, when video thumbnails appear in 'organic' search results then searchers click less on paid listings. Google needs to get youtube monetized asap.

Of course, this is mostly speculation on my part. But it makes sense and if you own a website, make sure you have a YouTube strategy.

Stanford Continuing Studies - WebMama Team lectures on Affiliates and Video

Last month Amanda Evans, VP of Search Strategy and Barbara Coll, CEO, from WebMama.com, spoke at the Stanford Continuing Studies course on Internet Marketing and Customer Acquisition. Amanda spoke on working with affiliates and Barbara spoke on 'why video'.

Amanda and Barbara will be speaking on similar topics at SES Chicago at the beginning of December.

Barbara - Video Search Engine Optimization

Amanda - New Distribution Value using Search and More

Presentations will be posted after SES.

Help Me Create a Top 10 SEM List for Blogs.com

The folks over at Six Apart have asked me to give them a list of Top 10 SEM blogs for their new service blogs.com. First thought, I thought I’d put it out to you and ask for your opinion: who do you think should be included and why?

Here’s a little bit of background information on blogs.com:

After owning the domain for 9 years, Six Apart launched blogs.com in August 2008. It’s a blog directory with categories that include business, entertainment, news and politics, life, technology and student life.

Additionally, the site features top ten blog lists across various topics, some of which are written by Web celebs such as Craig Newmark (Craigslist), Chris Anderson (Wired), Marc Andreesen (Ning), and Sarah Lacy (BusinessWeek).

Now they’re looking for SEM specific blogs, and I want to give them the best of the best. The types of blogs that I’d like to include would be written by forward thinkers who can offer fresh opinions of the search industry, as well as some tacticians.

So I turn to you and ask:

Who do you think belongs on the Top Ten SEM blogs list?