Archive for August, 2006

With the rise in simultaneous media usage, it seems logical to assume that an offline media campaign will affect the Search metrics. Here is a quote from a JupiterResearch report regarding the effect of TV commercials:

TV ads connect only seven percent of online automotive researchers to automotive manufacturer Web sites, and online display ads connect only 10 percent of these potential buyers and sellers….five percent of automotive researchers who use search engines to locate automotive manufacturer Web sites eventually purchase a vehicle from a dealer found through these sites.

Many of my friends watch TV with their laptop. And, as soon as they are interested in something they see on a TV commercial, they either go directly to the advertiser’s URL, or search on the topic of the ad. (Eg: weight loss, refinancing, etc). A BigResearch study states that when online, 63.5% of people regularly or occasionally watch TV.

I would imagine that the search volume on both brand terms, product names, and category searches increase as consumers use search engines instead of going directly to the URL mentioned on the ad. One way this can be measured is by CTR. The CTR on the advertiser’s PPC ads should increase.

Other channels of offline media include radio and print.
The affect Radio has on Search seems very similar to Television. I am basing this opinion on the percentage of people (59.7%) that listen to the radio while online…according to the BigResearch study. The effect print media has on Search is probably very similar to TV and Radio…albeit delayed.

Bottomline, I believe it’s advantageous to request a schedule of the offline media plan, to coordinate search tactics accordingly. Below are some search tactics to employ before the offline campaign begins:

1) Possibly increasing bids ( for brand awareness & findability ).
2) Refreshing creative. Tying in the message from the commercial to the Search creative. Keeping the message association consistent.
3) Possible keyword expansion .
4) Possibly coordinate dayparting in sync with offline media.

The last thing you need is a competitor using YOUR trademark to steal customers away from you. So, here are the procedures to follow to protect your trademark in the major search engines. Following these procedures will prevent any other advertiser from using your trademark in their creative. This is important whether you are running a branding campaign or a direct response campaign.

Ask:
Unfortunately even though they try to enforce Trademark Protection, there is no way for them to guarantee this. If you see a problem with someone bidding, that is something that needs to be addressed for each specific violation.

Google:
You will need to fill out the AdWords Trademark Complaint Procedure form for the United States. Once this has been submitted to the Google trademarks team, follow up with your rep, to make sure they are processing this for you. Once they have approved your trademark, they can then start monitoring it.

Looksmart:
Here is the language regarding Trademarked keywords that was sent to me by their Legal Department.

“It is a violation of LookSmart’s Terms and Conditions for advertisers to purchase keywords or keyword phrases that are the registered trademarks of another. To ensure that your trademarks are not purchased, please provide us with a list of your trademarked words and phrases. LookSmart will place these words on a watch list and no other advertiser will be allowed to purchase them without further review by LookSmart. Until we receive your list of trademarked words and phrases and add them to our watch list, we cannot ensure that no third party will purchase your trademarked words or phrases. Please contact Margaret Robbins in our Legal Department if you have any further questions.”

Yahoo:
Yahoo has a comprehensive page on Trademark Policy.

I was sent an email stating:

In order to assist Yahoo! Search Marketing in expeditiously addressing your concern, please provide the following information:

1. The search term which, when entered, caused the advertiser’s listing to appear.
2. The trademark on which your claim is based.
3. If you own a current registration for the trademark on the Principal Register in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the registration number.
4. If you have evidence of any consumer confusion resulting from the advertiser’s bid on the search term, a description of such evidence.
5. If you have contacted the advertiser about your concerns, the status of your communications with the advertiser.

Please forward this information to Yahoo! Search Marketing at the following email address: trademarkconcern-ysm@yahoo-inc.com.

MSN Search: See their official Word Doc. I stored it in the beta version of Writely.

Stephen Spencer has a nice write up regarding a 3rd party software called ProtectMyMark. It’s purpose is for trademark protection.

First of all, let’s define what CTR is. The definition of Clickthrough Rate ( CTR ) is the ratio of the number of times an ad is clicked, divided by the number of times an ad is viewed ( or impressions).

CTR can be used as an analytic metric in PPC in several ways.
1) It can be used to measure delivery.
2) It can be indictive of a lower position in the SERP’s.
3) It can alert you that your creative needs to be refreshed.
4) It can be a sign that your keywords are too broad (not targeted enough).

In a branding campaign, a low CTR can be a signal that your bids are too low ( low position). By simply raising your bids, you can achieve a higher position and higher CTR.

But, what if you have to manage to an Avg CPC?

Some tips to increase CTR:
1) Use targeted, relevant keywords to your audience.
2) Bucket your keywords into highly relevant adgroups.
3) Create a highly targeted ad within your adgroups.
4) Use negative keywords
5) Use Keyword Matching options
6) Use the keyword in your ad text, or dynamic keyword insertion.
7) Use a strong call-to-action in your ad text.
Test multiple ads in each adgroup.
9) Raise your CPC ( if you can).
10) Opt into the Content Network.

So, what is a good CTR?
1) Under 1% … it’s safe to say is bad.
2) 1%-2% is mediocore. There is room for improvement.
3) 2%-4% is good. IMHO, 2% CTR should be the benchmark to shoot for.
4) Anything over 4% is terrific.

Optimizing CTR is especially important if you do PPC Arbitrage.

You might want to consider creating a Landing Path if you are using dynamic landing pages based on the Search term.

Before building a landing path, you’ll need to use Web Analytics to analyze the clickpaths from the visitors that come to your website from specific keyword searches. Then, build a customized landing page based on their collective behavior patterns. Use specific keywords, and custom navigation to provide a better user experience. Each subsequent page can be customized just for them as they travel down the conversion funnel. To quote Igor, this is called “targeted serving“. Give them exactly what they’re looking for.

I haven’t tried this, but IMHO, using Landing Paths will increase relevancy, improve quality score, improve the user experience, and increase conversions and/or brand engagement.

A branding strategy for Search needs to include which Search Engines to use. Is Branding the primary objective of your search engine marketing campaign? Do you have enough budget to cover your chosen keyword inventory for all searches conducted during the flight dates of your campaign? Will your budget span across all search engines?

If there is not enough budget to cover your entire keyword universe, then you’ll only serve impressions for a percent share of searches. So does it make sense to expand your Search Engine choices, or just spend more on Google, Yahoo, and MSN (the 3 make up approximately 98% of the search engine market share). Where will you get the most market reach? Do you want to cover all the search engines, and show fewer impressions per engine? Or, put your budget into 1 or 2 engines and show more impressions per engine?

Something to consider is that the 2nd tier search engines are usually more prone to click fraud than the big three (G, Y!, MSN). Also, the keyword inventory will be much less than the big three. And, all the 2nd and 3rd tier engines combined only comprise 1.5% market share of all search traffic. So, the 2nd tier search engines might not be the best choice for a small search engine marketing budget.

Depending on the size of your budget, it might make sense to just use Google & MSN. Google for the shear volume of searches, and geo-targeting capability. And, MSN for the demographic targeting.

Did you know that if you use mod rewrite you have to 301 redirect the old url? If you’re using the URL rewrite feature on Wordpress then you have a problem. You have a duplicate content issue! The reason is because you now have 2 urls to the same page. Fortunately, there is a plugin on wordpress called the ” Angsuman’s Permanent Redirector Plugin - WordPress Plugin for Permanent Redirection of Posts“.

If the URL’s never get 301 redirected from the natural url to the rewritten url, then there will be a duplicate content issue, and a vulnerablity to a Black Hat SEO attack.

This is not as big a problem for linkjuice. Even though there’s a dynamic url, and a static URL, people will only see the static url. Hence, the static url will get all the linkjuice.

SEO almost has a feel like the wild wild west. Almost anything goes. Google is the sheriff. And, instead of gunslingers, SEO’s are title tag slingers, and link building slingers. Don’t like a competitor? Well, get an SEO to rustle their rankings or googlebowl them over. Bury them in the SERP’s. SEO’s are powerful. An SEO can wreak havoc on a competitors online reputation.

As fast as Google changes the algo. SEO’s figure out the algo. Same old story. Our rodeo is riding the bucking rankings. Our farm is a link farm. It’s not Cowboys & Indians, its White hat & Black hat. And, the site scrapers are the bank robbers. Yeeeha. Giddyup.