search marketing tips and tricks

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Search MarketingTips and Tricks

NEAWP April 2010

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Collaborative. Smart. Measured.

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Marketing 2.0 Funnel

Awareness

Preference

Advertising

Seminars

Conferences, special events

Training

Sales visits

Public relations

Purchase

Referral

Interest

EvaluationDirect mail

Search, PPC

Videos

eCommerce

Customer resources

Webcasts

Lists

Blog

E-Newsletter

White papers

Trade Shows

RSS

Twitter

LinkedIn

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Search MarketingGenerate awareness, pull visitors in

• Constantly strive to improve natural relevancy• Supplement with pay-per-click

NaturalPPC

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Natural Search

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Steps to Improve Natural Search

1. Optimize website1. Fresh Content2. Metatags3. Pages/sections dedicated to major target audiences4. Include address, register with Google

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Page Titles and Metatags

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Sections Dedicated to Key Areas

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Why Blog?• Provide valuable, timely

information• Easy to post content• Fresh content = Better SEO• Blog feeds to social media, other

sites• Another outlet for content• Positions you as industry expert

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Steps to Improve Natural Search

1. Optimize website1. Metatags2. Pages/sections dedicated to major target audiences3. Include address, register with Google4. Fresh content

2. Maximize inbound links from 3rd party sites1. Lists2. Associations/publications3. Vendors4. Partners5. Blogs

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Where is my traffic coming from?

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Lists to Consider

• Dmoz• Dir.yahoo• Just click local• Merchant Circle• Area Guides • Yellow Pages• Yelp• City Search• Angie’s List

• Business Journal• Manta• Black Business Planet• Business Mart• The City of x• Super Pages

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Social Media Awesome Communication Tool or Time Drain?

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Auto-Blog Feed

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Auto-Blog Feed

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LinkedIn Best Practices1. Headline -- Be descriptive! Pack your headline full of descriptive words that will help people

find you. Having “Financial advisor at a lame old company” doesn’t cut it. Instead write something more interesting like “Money Making Expert: Helping Individuals Become Financially Free”.

2. Customize your URL with your name! LinkedIn provides you with a generic URL of numbers and letters. By customizing it to your own name, you brand yourself and also bump yourself or your company up on search results. You can also add this to your email signature.

3. Picture. Let people associate your face with who you are. By putting up a photo, you humanize your LinkedIn profile and let people know that there’s a real person behind the profile.

4. Websites. When adding your websites, always click “Other” so you can customize the title of your links. You want to describe the actual URL.

5. Summary and Specialties. These are easy to skip over, but they’re very important. In the Summary, tell people a bit about who you are and what you are passionate about. Instead of the “real world” resume, you can be a little more personal on LinkedIn and it actually benefits to your cause.

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Is your Website Optimized?

Free resource: Webgrader by Hubspot

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Paid Search Advertising(a.k.a. PPC—pay per click)

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Why Paid Search?

• High level of control and security• Maximum accountability• Cost-effective lead generator– PPC method results in greater ROI– Weigh budget according to objectives

• “Instant Gratification”– Daily reporting– Real-time optimization

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Search Engine Market Share

As of Aug. 2009:65% Google16% Yahoo11% Bing

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5 Steps for Search Advertising Success

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Search Advertising Example – Valve Test Stand

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Valve Test Stand

11/2/09 - 11/8/09

11/9/09 - 11/15/09

11/16/09 - 11/22/09

11/23/09 - 11/29/09

11/30/09 - 12/6/09

12/7/09 - 12/13/09

12/14/09 - 12/20/09

12/21/09 - 12/27/09

12/28/09 - 1/3/10

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ImpressionsClicks

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Measuring success:•Analyze reports frequently•Test, monitor, tweak

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Search MarketingGenerate awareness, pull visitors in

• Constantly strive to improve natural relevancy• Supplement with pay-per-click

NaturalPPC

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Contact Info:Wendy Covey

Principal, TREW Marketing

Email: wendy.covey@trewmarketing.comWeb: trewmarketing.comBlog: trewmarketing.com/spotlightLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/wendycoveyTwitter: @wendycovey