once again there's still money on the table · · 2016-06-02format, content, and popularity...

Once Again…

There’s Still Money On the TableInternet Retailer Study 2007

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The changing Search Environment

In the two years since Oneupweb last conducted an internet retailer study, the search

engine marketing landscape has undergone some revolutionary changes impacting the

format, content, and popularity of what’s accessed online. Where sites appear in search

results and what is contained in those results has changed dramatically; so has SEO as we

know it. Some of these changes include:

The proliferation of social media sites and web 2.0 tools (i.e., blogs, podcasts, RSS, community-based sites, tagging, widgets, videos, etc.) as a legitimate internet marketing avenue;

The launch of Google Universal Search with its widened scope of indexable (and optimizable) media displayed in a single results page;

The impact of affiliate or associate marketing programs on links and search positions of corporate sites;

The dominance of Wikipedia as an international source for hundreds of thousands of query topics;

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what we Measured

As in the past, the study separated Internet Retailer Magazine’s (IR) top 100 sites into four

categories: well-optimized, moderately-optimized, nominally-optimized, and non-optimized.

The criteria used included keywords, titles, meta tags, site architecture, and other items

related to a site’s “spiderability.”

This 2007 study has also considered SEO intent—intentional SEO activities, as opposed to

those keyword-irrelevant titles and meta tags automatically generated by Content Manage-

ment Systems (CMS).

01

Executive Summary

In 2007, Oneupweb repeated an analysis done in 2004 and

2005 to determine what percentage of the top 100 internet

retailers, as listed in Internet Retailer Magazine’s Top 500 Guide

2007 Edition, were using Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

and to what degree.


Summary

The search world is changing rapidly. But, after four years and three studies, one fact has

remained constant—in 2007 some of the largest internet retailers do the least amount of

SEO. There’s still money on the table.

As examples in this paper illustrate, online retailers who actively embrace good SEO

practices can and do compete successfully online with larger, better known and financed

competitors.

Strategic implementation of SEO can significantly increase the marketing opportunities

represented in new media outlets. If history offers any one lesson for internet retailers it is

this—early adopters fare better. To illustrate, this study offers the examples of three high-

performing, well-optimized, early adopters: Amazon.com, Apple.com and Zappos.com.

The Results

Well-optimized sites are over 60 percent more likely to have a regular blog and/or podcast hosted on their sites in comparison to non-optimized sites.

Only 40 percent of the IR 100 leading retailers’ websites are optimized well or moderately well.

The number of leading retailers who are well-optimized has not changed much; there are still great opportunities to improve sales through natural search.

Content is still king in SEO, but savvy retailers are seeing tangible benefits from new forms of content in different media such as videos, blogs, podcasts, images, press releases, and more.

Well-optimized sites not only compete, but often outrank and outperform less optimized competitors with more brick-and-mortar store support, larger marketing budgets, and a significantly higher number of links.

Non-optimized sites that perform well on search engines are relying heavily on the popularity of their brands (and brand-specific searches) and may be using offline marketing, paid search campaigns, and affiliate linking.

Automated CMS efforts may be hurting the search performance of some retail sites.

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02

The growing importance of links and their impact on search results positions;

The expansion of vertical search engines that cater to niche audiences;

Increased opportunities in local search and mobile search.

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The Study: There’s Still Much work to be Done

Oneupweb determined that, of the top 100 internet

retailers, 20 sites were well-optimized, 20 were moderately-

optimized, 34 were nominally-optimized, and 27 showed

no signs of optimization at all.¹

In 2005, 17 sites were well-optimized, 25 were moderately-


no signs of optimization.

In 2004, 12 sites were well-optimized, 23 were moderately-


no signs of optimization.

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¹ If you added those numbers and got 101, you are doing your math correctly. One internet retailer, US Autoparts Network, owned two sites, one of which was well-optimized and the other was not optimized. As such, they were counted in each category.


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There’s Still Much work to be Done

WELLOptimized

MO DER ATELYOptimized

NOMINALLYOptimized

NOTOptimized

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40

(NUM

BER

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ITES

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This year, 20 percent of sites placed in the well-

optimized category. While this is the highest

percentage in the three years of this study,

Oneupweb believes this number can (and should)

be significantly higher.

Given the continued coverage dedicated to

verifiable increases in traffic resulting from SEO,

especially in competitive markets, the slow increase

in number of well-optimized websites in the top

100 internet retailers list is certainly unexpected.

The upside, however, is that there is still room for

growth at many top 100 organizations.

well-Optimized Sites

The criteria for well-optimized sites went beyond items such

as the presence of keywords and the existence of unique

titles and meta tags, to include indications of sophisticated

SEO techniques. Oneupweb examined if there was also a

paid search (pay-per-click) campaign supplementing the

natural optimization efforts and the effects of the campaign

on overall performance.

As the list illustrates, the size of the internet

retailer is not a good predictor of how well a site

is optimized. Clearly, some retailers place a greater

emphasis on SEO. And, as we will illustrate later,

their relative size vs. their competitive position

speaks volumes about the effectiveness of their

active SEO marketing strategy.

05


retAIler Ir rAnK

a. Amazon.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #1

b. Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #4

c. Best Buy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #11

d. Apple.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #15

e. Zappos.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #31

f. Saks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #47

g. Musician’s Friend . . . . . . . . . . . .#48

h. Blue Nile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#49

i. FTD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#50

j. Crate & Barrel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #52

k. REI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #61

l. Northern Tool & Equipment . . .#76

m. Bass Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#78

n. VistaPrint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#79

o. U.S. Autoparts Network* . . . . . . #81

p. Schwan’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#82

q. CVS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#83

r. Drs. Foster & Smith . . . . . . . . . .#85

s. Shutter fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#93

t. Palm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#99

* (partstrain.com)

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a b c d e f g h i j k l n o p q r s t


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2007 well-Optimized Sites


Versus the Internet Retailer Study 2005, there was

a five percent decrease in the number of sites that

were classified as moderately-optimized. Apparently,

some sites shifted into the nominally-optimized

category when the criteria were updated to include

the new SEO intent criterion.

Marketers who did not make adjustments to address

the very significant and well-publicized changes to

search engine ranking criteria (i.e., Google Universal

Search, et al) slipped in this latest study. The search

engines continue to reward sites that frequently

update content (including unique and helpful titles,

meta descriptions, and meta keyword tags). While

the affected sites may not have done anything

differently, their lack of action worked against them.

Moderately-Optimized Sites

Sites categorized as moderately-optimized presented

unique page titles, meta descriptions, and meta keyword

tags, but lacked a significant amount of keyword saturation,

unique content, and/or upper-level SEO techniques.

“The search engines continue to reward sites that frequently update content.”

07


retAIler Ir rAnK

a. JC Penny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #12

b. Circuit City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #17

c. Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #19

d. Williams Sonoma . . . . . . . . . . . .#20

e. L.L. Bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #23

f. Systemax / TigerDirec t . . . . . . . .#24

g. Overstock.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #25

h. 1-800-flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#34

i. Drugstore.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #35

j. The Home Depot . . . . . . . . . . . . . #37

k. Spiegel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #53

l. Lillian Vernon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #59

m. Follet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #68

n. AbeBooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#70

o. PC Mall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #73

p. Cabela’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#80

q. Sierra Trading Post. . . . . . . . . . .#95

r. Restoration Hardware . . . . . . . .#96

s. Tif fany & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#98

t. Charming Shops . . . . . . . . . . . . #100

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08

2007 Moderately-Optimized Sites


There are 34 organizations currently listed as

nominally-optimized this year. This number is just

one less than in 2005. SEO is dynamic; there can

be a number of factors contributing to this relative

lack of change. What was considered an SEO best

practice two years ago may no longer be the

standard.

Trends should have shown the category of

nominally-optimized sites decreasing in size as,

ideally, more organizations implemented more SEO

efforts. One possible explanation is that factoring

in SEO intent requires human-based action to

create unique titles and meta data. This may have

moved some organizations down from moderately-

optimized status.

Nominally-Optimized Sites

Sites in the nominally-optimized category contained a list

of highly-competitive and/or completely generic meta

descriptions and keywords. These same descriptions

and keywords were then copied throughout every page,

ignoring the relevance of supplemental, unique content on

interior pages.

Many content management systems (CMS) can

generate unique titles and meta data that give

search engines something to index. In some cases,

this auto-generated data offered little-to-no benefit

to the site in terms of SERP-rankings or end-user

benefit. As a result, sites relying on CMS to create

titles and meta data fell to the “nominally-optimized”

category.

In the clothing industry, retailers Eddie Bauer and American Eagle rank at #55 and #56 respectively for internet sales. Both companies also fall into Oneupweb’s nominally-optimized classification, with neither appearing on the first three pages of Google’s search results for their relative keyword terms. Oneupweb believes that if either organization forges ahead with a decisive and thorough optimization plan utilizing all criteria of a well-optimized site, that organization could create a clear separation from competitors and increase market share.

Two To waTch

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retAIler Ir rAnK

a. Staples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #2

b. Of fice Depot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #3

c. Hewlett Packard . . . . . . . . . . . . . #5

d. Of fice Max . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #6

e. CDW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #8

f. SonyStyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #9

g. NewEgg.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #10

h. WalMart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #13

i. QVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #14

j. Vic toria’s Secret . . . . . . . . . . . . . #16

k. Netflix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #18

l. IAC Interac tive . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#26

m. GAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #27

n. Redcats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#28

o. Scholastic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #41

p. CompUSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#42

q. Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#54

r. Eddie Bauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #55

s. American Eagle . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#56

t. FreshDirec t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #57

u. Talbots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#62

v. American Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#65

w. Xtraplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#66

x. Lowes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#69

y. Walgreens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #71

z. Etronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #72

aa. Hanover Direc t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #74

bb. MLB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#84

cc. Bidz.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#86

dd. SmartBargains.com . . . . . . . . . #88

ee. Crutchfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#89

f f. 1-800 Contac ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #91

gg. eBags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#92

hh. J&R Elec tronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#97

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10

2007 Nominally-Optimized Sites


Compared to the Internet Retailer Study 2005, there

has been a four percent increase in the number

of sites showing no signs of optimization. Many

of these sites, however, are doing well in internet-

based retail sales almost entirely based on their

brand reputation, offline presence, and pay-per-

click ads. As fickle as many markets can be though,

it seems unlikely that certain companies will be able

to rely solely on their branding to carry them in the

online marketplace if their pop culture status begins

to fade.

One reason many non-optimized sites are still able

to do well online is because searchers are using

brand names in their search queries. For example,

if a searcher presents Google with the term Nike

tennis shoes, then Nike.com is returned as a top 10

result—just barely. When a site is barely positioning

in the top 10 for a search that involves its brand

name (and one of its most popular products) the

detrimental effects of a non-optimized site are

clearly seen.

Non-Optimized Sites

Sites categorized as non-optimized revealed no apparent

signs of Search Engine Optimization.

Further, if a searcher simply queries the term tennis

shoes, Nike.com does not appear in Google’s top

1000 results. Indeed, unless a searcher is specifically

seeking out Nike tennis shoes, Nike is essentially

non-existent in the natural search listings. Consider-

ing Nike is the world’s largest shoe manufacturer,

its absence is certainly a testament not only to the

benefits of SEO, but the adverse effects of ignoring

SEO altogether.

“It seems unlikely that certain companies will be able to rely solely on their branding to carry them in the online marketplace if their pop culture status begins to fade.”

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retAIler Ir rAnK

a. Sears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #7

b. Costco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #21

c. Quixtar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #22

d. Avon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #29

e. Macy ’s Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #30

f. PC Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #32

g. Barnes & Noble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #33

h. Neiman Marcus Group . . . . . . . .#36

i. Buy.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#38

j. Toys’R’ Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #39

k. Nordstrom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#40

l. Peapod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #43

m. Foot Locker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#44

n. Oriental Trading Co. . . . . . . . . . . #45

o. Coldwater Creek . . . . . . . . . . . . .#46

p. Blockbuster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #51

q. Army/Air Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#58

r. Disney Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . .#60

s. J. Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#63

t. ShopNBC.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#64

u. Abercrombie & Fitch . . . . . . . . . . #67

v. Harry & David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #75

w. Nike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #77

x. U.S. Autoparts Network* . . . . . . #81

y. Market Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #87

z. dELiA*s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#90

aa. RealPlayer Music Store. . . . . . . .#94

* (usautoparts.net)

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2007 Non-Optimized Sites



Companies can leverage their brand names and

the popularity of their brick-and-mortar stores to

win backlinks. If their sites are well-linked internally,

they’re further rewarded. (The weight that search

engine algorithms put on backlinks versus a site’s

internal linking structure, is not known. The best

advice is to bolster both.) The relationship to brands,

stores, and linking is clearly illustrated in this study.

Figures c & D show how moderately-optimized

sites are ranking for keywords in Google and Yahoo.

Figures E & F show how nominally-optimized sites

are positioning for their keywords as well.

Sites in the nominally-optimized category are actu-

ally ranking better for their keywords, even though

they currently incorporate a minimal degree of SEO.

The reason can be found by looking at the number

of links.² On average, companies in our study that

The power of positive Linking

The search engines have made no secret about the weight

they put on links. Sites with a lesser degree of SEO, yet

considerably more incoming links, can still position well on

the SERPs.

Backlinks are links that a site receives from another site. Total links are comprised of backlinks as well as a site’s internal link structure.

category backlinks Total Links

Well 228,176 597,394 Moderate 201,297 233,615 Nominal 164, 734 321,063 None 109,561 159,694

were classified as nominally-optimized had nearly

87,500 more links per company than those in the

moderately-optimized category.

These nominally-optimized sites, with a solid

SEO campaign, could maximize the value of their

links—both internally, as well as those earned

through their brand name and brick-and-mortar

popularity—and potentially dominate for terms

relative to their businesses. Consider the example of

CVS and Walgreens on the following page.

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² Link data was gathered using Yahoo Site Explorer.

Overstock.com uses the word cheap a lot: 17,000+ times according to a Google site search. In addition to selling many cheap items, Overstock.com also sells cheap titles. They sell Cheap Trick CDs, books entitled “How to Build a Cheap Chopper,” and DVDs with names such as “Cheap Killers”.

Still, it’s not enough to get them in the top 1,000 of the Google index, where sites with the term “cheap” in their URLs reside. A clear SEO strategy for the term (and similar keywords), combined with the volume of cheap items Overstock.com sells, would likely yield different results.

word densiTy

alone is noT

enough

backlinks Total Links Optimization

Walgreens 152,326 313,532 Nominal CVS 74,992 75,263 Well

prescribing SEO for Search Engine Rankings

If links play such a significant role in search engine positioning,

should companies who are already getting a considerable

number of links even bother with SEO?

In an apples-to-apples comparison of two popular pharmacies,

the effects of a company that has implemented a SEO program

can be seen clearly.

CVS and Walgreens both position on the first page

of Google for the terms: pharmacy, online pharmacy,

and drug store. CVS, however, effectively uses SEO

to be seen on the Google front page alongside

Walgreens, even though CVS has 49 percent of

the backlinks and 24 percent of the total links that

Walgreens has.

While links may play a large role in rankings, SEO

can help companies with fewer links to leverage the

links they have and level the playing field online.

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“Sites with a lesser degree of SEO, yet considerably more incoming links, can still position well on the SERPs.”

In these types of programs, retailers allow inde-

pendent marketers to sell their merchandise. These

affiliates peddle products through websites or

blogs, providing continuous, valuable backlinks

to the retailer, while simultaneously offering new

revenue streams. Two of the most unique examples

uncovered in this study address the power of

affiliate marketing to support corporate presence

online—Drugstore.com and dELiA*s.

Drugstore.com ranks number one and two on Google for the term: buy prescriptions online, though the term does not appear as a direct match anywhere on their site. While it appears as a loose match (i.e., those three words appear in close proximity to each other) on their site, the company outranks competitors who are using the exact term, including the FDA.

dELiA*s.com ranks number eight on Google for the term girl’s clothing, though the term

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Affiliate & Associate programs

One way internet retailers increase their link popularity,

which has proven very successful for several of the retailers

on this year’s top 100 list, is by implementing affiliate or

associate marketing programs.

does not appear as a direct match on their site. While they offer a number of products that certainly fit that category, they also link to their affiliate marketing program at the bottom of each page, letting every visitor know how to become an affiliate and create those backlinks.

The largest internet retailer, Amazon.com, takes

affiliate marketing to a new level. In addition to

allowing affiliate marketers to sell from their own

sites, thus increasing backlinks, Amazon.com also

offers the aStore. The aStore is an option that allows

affiliates to build their own Amazon.com mini-stores

on Amazon.com’s own domain. This serves a two-

fold purpose by improving Amazon.com’s internal

linking structure and allowing affiliates to create

unique, keyword-relevant content that increases

Amazon.com’s keyword representation in a competi-

tive market.

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“Affiliates peddle products through websites or blogs, providing continuous, valuable backlinks to the retailer.”

The New Elements of SEO Style

As the requirements for what it takes to be successful online

continue to evolve, two primary elements are emerging quickly

and nearly simultaneously: blogging and podcasting. Blogs

have become not only a way for corporations to put a face on

their company, but also a means to create steady keyword-rich

content that end-users and search engines enjoy. Podcasting

allows internet retailers to provide content that can be con-

sumed away from the Internet, while also being trackable for

evaluation in backend marketing matrix reports.

Further, companies who incorporate blogging and

podcasting into their overall search engine market-

ing campaigns will benefit from Google Universal

Search’s approach to ranking multiple forms of

media together. They will gain users who prefer the

less-corporate feel blogging and podcasting offers.

Currently, of the top 100 internet retailers, those

who are well-optimized are over 60 percent more

likely to have corporate blogs or podcasts than non-

optimized sites. An obvious conclusion to be drawn;

SEO-savvy internet retailers are already moving in

this direction.

Amazon.com, the leading internet retailer in all

three studies, already uses blogs and podcasts in

addition to many other sound SEO and SEM prac-

tices. On the following pages, Oneupweb offers a

profile look at Amazon.com, a company that clearly

shows why it is the number one internet retailer.

“Well-optimized sites are over 60 percent more likely to include blogs and podcasts than non-optimized sites.”

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In House Firm Neither

Well 45% 50% 5% Moderate 25% 70% 5% Nominal 23% 62% 15% None 44% 22% 33% Total 33% 51% 16%

Look who’s Getting Help

From data provided in the Internet Retailer Magazine’s Top 500

Guide 2007 Edition, Oneupweb determined which of the top

100 retailers were handling search engine marketing exclusively

in-house, which were partnering with—or contracting out

to—a firm (for SEO, PPC, vertical search, affiliate marketing, or

any combination of these), and which were doing neither.

The results reflect the time-intensive nature of SEO

and suggest the results that can be expected by

companies willing to make an investment either

internally or externally. It also shows that results will

vary by the time invested and the firms that market-

ers select as partners.

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“SEO results will vary by the time invested and the firms that marketers select as partners.”

Amazon.com offers a very high degree of customer

interaction. Long before social media started get-

ting headlines as a legitimate avenue for businesses

to reach consumers, Amazon.com already had a

very loyal customer base engaged in a variety of

social and interactive practices.

Reviews and Ratings: Since its inception,

Amazon.com has encouraged user participation by

giving users the ability to rate and review products.

Often, these reviews go on to initiate conversations

wherein users create content about other reviews as

well as about products—the very products Amazon.

com carries.

Linking: By becoming the authority on a subject,

Amazon.com is able to garner millions of valuable

backlinks. Amazon.com also offers wish lists, which

are similar to a gift registry that users can link to

their friends. As mentioned in the Affiliates and

Associates section, Amazon.com’s willingness to

share a little money with users has proven irresist-

ible. As a result, Amazon.com garners more than 179

million backlinks. When combined with aStore links

and Amazon.com’s own internal linking structure,

Profile: Amazon.com—All the Right Moves

Amazon.com is the unchallenged number one internet

retailer. They generate more than twice the revenue of the

number two internet retailer: Staples. Amazon posted a 26

percent sales growth over 2006. And they did it all without

any brick-and-mortar store support. But how? Amazon.com

makes a concerted effort to tie business models to internet

visibility and customer experience.

the number of total links skyrockets to nearly 260

million. These numbers are by far the highest link

data numbers of any internet retailer.

Optimization: Amazon.com could coast on the

strength of its backlinks, but it doesn’t. In addition

to the unique avenues it gives its users to create

content, Amazon.com still uses conventional

optimization techniques for competitive keywords

to ensure its future online success. If their site’s

social features have allowed users to build the castle,

optimization is Amazon’s way of digging the moat.

By enabling users to interact with the company and

each other, Amazon.com thrives in a competitive

marketplace. Their social practices please users and

provide search engines with the content required

for higher search positions. It’s an ideal business

model that is measurable on a number of different

fronts (e.g., sales, ROI, search rankings); one Amazon

tweaks regularly for maximum effectiveness.


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Retail Strategy

Many manufacturers choose to sell their products through

their own site in addition to selling through retailers.

Traditionally, this has been a tricky proposition as it relates to

SEO because manufactuers find themselves competing for

online positions with the retailers who are also selling their

products. One company, Apple, has taken an innovative

approach that combines proprietary product-naming from

its branding efforts, and leverages that uniqueness online by

going global.

Oneupweb offers a look at Apple, a company that extends

its reputation for product innovation into its SEO internet

retail model.

QVC.com, like many sites, offers their users the opportunity to create community forums where they can discuss just about anything. As such, QVC.com is able to rank very high for terms normally associated with their primary competitor—terms such as “home shopping” and “shopping network”—because these terms are mentioned so frequently in QVC communities.

If you are thinking about adding social elements to your online marketing, QVC illustrates that you may not need MySpace or facebook. Some companies have all they need in place already: customers and something to talk about. Put them in the same place and see what happens.

QVc: exploring The social

dimensions of seo

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Apple sells their products through their own

website. To avoid competing too intensely against

retailers who are selling their products, Apple

works around the issue—while also opening up

opportunities for more global sales—by offering

their site (Apple.com), and the relevant product

information it contains, in a multitude of languages.

Although the languages change from region

to region, an iPod is an iPod in any language.

By translating the same content across many

languages, Apple bolsters optimization efforts in

two distinct ways.

First, Apple gets more mileage from the same copy,

creating new instances of keyword occurrences

in a way that search engines can index. Second,

Apple.com receives valuable backlinks from sites

and blogs all across the world, not just the English-

speaking parts of the world.

Profile: Apple—An iPod is an iPod in Any Language

Identifiable proprietary product names offer added

optimization opportunities. Just ask the folks at Apple. Many

electronics companies make MP3 players, but only Apple

makes the iPod. As such, they are at a distinct advantage

in terms of optimization. Using the iPod as an example, we

find that Apple not only ranks number one for the term

“iPod,” they also rank number one for more generic terms

such as “shuffle” and “nano”.

This “global strategy” has paid off. Apple.com is

second only to Amazon.com in terms of backlinks,

recording more than 36 million³ at the time of

this study. In this way, Apple generates significant

revenue from their own site, while maintaining an

important role for retailers.

³ The number of links was determined by using Yahoo Site Explorer.

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Established retailers such as Sears Holdings Corp.

(Sears, Lands’ End, K Mart), Macy’s Group Inc. (Macy’s,

Bloomingdale’s), Neiman Marcus Groups (Neiman

Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman), Nordstrom, and Foot

Locker, have very little, if any, focus on SEO. Trends

suggest that as the popularity of online shopping

continues to increase, these established retailers will

lose online traffic and revenue to better-optimized

competitors.

Oneupweb offers a profile of Zappos.com, a

company that is using a combination of sound SEO

strategy and dedicated customer service to be the

premier footwear retailer online.

Taking Ownership of Online Sales

For some established brick-and-mortar retailers, the move

to online retail seems to have been an afterthought. There

is little apparent strategy to integrate online sales with in-

store marketing efforts.

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According to the IR Top 500 Guide 2007 Edition, in

2006 Zappos.com posted a 61 percent increase in

revenue over 2005 figures and a whopping 224

percent increase versus 2004 numbers.

What’s their secret? Unlike their competitors,

Zappos.com focuses on two primary concerns: how

to be found online and how to keep customers

coming back. Zappos.com gets found online by

having a well-optimized site that ranks very high on

even the most generic footwear-related terms such

as: shoes, boots, sandals, and footwear. It also offers

plenty of indexable content for search engines.

An aggressive affiliate marketing program helps

increase revenue streams and builds backlinks to

support targeted keyword terms.

The second part of the equation is customer reten-

tion. From a site design standpoint, Zappos.com

goes against the grain. Why? Because Zappos.com

has taken the advice of its customers and structured

its page design accordingly. They have done this

while keeping sound SEO principles in mind.

Not only do they listen to their customers, they work

to improve the buying experience. For example,

Zappos.com offers numerous ways for customers to

Profile: Zappos.com—Forging New Paths

When asked who the largest footwear retailer on the

internet is, few people would answer “Zappos.com”. Those

few people, however, would be correct. As an online retailer

without the support of brick-and-mortar stores or enormous

corporate branding budgets, Zappos.com quickly learned

how to operate online. How well are they doing?

order. Their free overnight shipping and email com-

munications about when new products are arriving,

allow shoppers the convenience of having the latest

styles delivered to their doorstep the day after they

become available.

Clearly, for Zappos.com, this combination of SEO

and commitment to exceptional customer service

is working. They currently rank higher on footwear-

related terms than Nike or Foot Locker, and saw

greater online sales in 2006 than Nike and Foot

Locker combined.


22

at the rest of your site. Are there different kinds of

content you can create to make you more visible?

Videos, blogs, podcasts, images, press releases,

maps, and even books are all now fodder for

Google’s Universal Search. And each can be opti-

mized. Ask.com has already adopted this approach

of returning universal search results. And if history

is a guide, Yahoo and MSN should be moving in this

direction soon. Start preparing now.

Recommendation: Consider adding social media to your site—blogs, podcasts and/or video that can be distributed virally. Include optimized images, press releases, and news stories in your content. Get help where you need it from a firm experienced at producing and integrating these media into your overall marketing program.

»

Immediate Strategies to Consider

How are you currently positioned online?

Put yourself in the mind of a searcher. If you were

searching for the products you sell, what would you

type into Google or Yahoo? Type those terms in and

see where your company shows up. Are you on the

first page? If so, wonderful. If not, consider running

a paid advertising campaign to make sure you are

visible when searchers use those terms.

Recommendation: Check your search positions often and use paid search to improve your search performance.

Is your site content rich?

Now that the world’s largest search engine is index-

ing more than copy content, you should be looking

»

Questions Marketers Should be Asking

As search marketing continues to evolve, there are

numerous questions marketers need to be asking. Some

have immediate impact on sales and the upcoming holiday

season. Others deal with broader issues relating to future

online success and visibility.

“Disasters, rumors, even mistaken identity can impact your online image for years.”

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Are you blogging and/or podcasting?

This gets to the heart of your customer interaction.

Blogs and podcasts put a voice to your company.

They make the relationship personal. Additionally,

when properly optimized, these media provide

new opportunities to improve your SERP positions.

Leading online retailers are already moving in this

direction. At the time of this study, well-optimized

sites were over 60 percent more likely to have a

regular blog and/or podcast hosted on their sites

than the non-optimized sites.

Recommendation: With off-the-shelf software, blogs and podcasts can be produced by anyone. Avoid the home remedy here. The last thing you want to look or sound like is “just anyone”. Find a capable integrated online marketing partner who can help you produce, launch, and track your blog and/or podcast – someone who can help you integrate these media into your overall marketing strategy.

Do you currently have an affiliate or associate

marketing program in place?

As we’ve seen, affiliate marketing programs can

increase links to your site and improve your search

positions dramatically. If you’re thinking about

developing an affiliate or associate marketing

program—and it’s appropriate to your selling

strategy—you should begin researching potential

online partners to represent your brand or specific

product lines.

»

Recommendation: If affiliate sales programs make sense for your organization, consider working with an experienced SEO firm who is familiar with affiliate marketing. They can help you coordinate affiliate literature, site content and/or training using your most valuable keywords. They can also assist you in the creation of the actual backlinks that will support your corporate SEO and branding efforts.

Aside from your own site, where can you be found?

There was a time when having your own website

was enough. That time is long gone. Wikipedia

is a dominant force in search results. Are you on

Wikipedia? Do you know how to get cited there?

How about social media? According to Alexa.com,

social sites such as MySpace, Orkut, facebook, hi5,

blogger, YouTube, and friendster all occupy spots

in the top 20 most visited sites on the internet. Can

people find you there? More importantly, do you

know which sites might welcome your participation

and/or have the greatest potential impact on your

bottom line?

Recommendation: Search the major social sites and Wikipedia to see if and where you and your major competitors appear. If you don’t know where to look, or you’re considerably less visible on these sites than your competitor, ask your online marketing firm to help you monitor and establish an appropriate social/shared media presence.

»

»

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What is your online reputation?

What are people saying about you? If a searcher

queries your name or products at sites such as

del.icio.us, Digg, or Squidoo, what will they find?

You may be surprised—just ask jetBlue and Taco

Bell. Your reputation is one of your greatest assets.

Protect and defend it with an active reputation

management program and up-to-date crisis man-

agement plan.

Recommendation: Monitor online buzz about your organization diligently. Where you find negative information, develop a plan—a complete campaign, if necessary—to tell your side of the story. For a starting place, go to the Oneupweb library and download our free white paper on Crisis Communications. Then, if you need further help, seek out an online marketing partner with public relations experience and reputation tracking technology.

»

Is your traditional advertising well-integrated

with your online marketing strategies?

Effective SEO practices embrace both old and new

media. The veritable “who’s who” list among the

best optimized sites shown in this study is a strong

testament to how on- and offline marketing works

more effectively when it works together. So, how

well are your online and offline efforts integrated? If

you’re not sure, ask an integrated online marketing

professional to help you find out.

Recommendation: Simple practices such as offline ads directing readers, viewers or listeners to a URL or specific online promotion, can make all marketing elements more effective. Using optimized online images associated with your company in offline materials increases the effectiveness and reach of both media. And offering integrated and valuable content in new and diverse forms, such as blogs, podcasts, videos and press releases, are now a necessary part of any overall marketing strategy.

»

“Effective SEO programs are diverting competitive online traffic and increasing market share.”

25


26


what’s Next? Some Observations

What we learned from this third study on internet retailer

search engine optimization, is that a majority of retailers

are still under-utilizing SEO strategies. And a good number

are not using SEO at all. While sites are showing a growing

SEO awareness, this retail sensitivity is not keeping pace

with the dynamic shift of factors that drive more traffic to

company sites.

Part of this current under-utilization can be credited

to the growing application of automated content

management systems (CMS) whose default settings

create unique titles, descriptions, and keyword tags

that are often unrelated to the keywords searchers

are querying. As such, they do nothing to improve

search engine ranking or bring more customers to

the site.

Further, as searchers continue to gravitate toward

other, non-copy-related content being indexed by

the search engines, SEO best practices need to be re-

thought and applied in new ways. Oneupweb found

several sites who may have taken a one-time—do

it and forget it—approach to optimizing their sites.

This will not work. SEO is a dynamic enterprise.

Those who fail to keep pace will see their positions

fall in the future.

It’s a cliché, but true: with online marketing, the

only constant is change. Expect other search

engines to begin indexing new, rich media, to

keep pace with Google and Ask. Expect Google

to increase the pace of rollout of Universal Search-

related products and services. And expect the

importance and complexity of SEO and paid search

marketing to grow because of it. Those companies

that continue to monitor the state of search inter-

nally and/or collaborate with an integrated online

marketing firm, will have a distinct advantage over

those that don’t.

Finally, this study illustrates how smart marketers

can leverage SEO as a means to not only cause

separation between current competitors, but also

begin competing with, or even unseating, much

larger and more well-established rivals. Effective

SEO programs mentioned in this study are diverting

competitive online traffic and increasing market

share.

Smaller retailers should be extremely encouraged

by the opportunities illustrated in this study.

Companies who have established reputations built

through decades of marketing and branding efforts,

should be equally encouraged. They can button

down and build market share by using SEO to lever-

age their long-earned level of popularity.

well-Optimized: Meta tags were unique and

relevant to page content, alt tags were optimized,

large amount of indexable content throughout the

site.

Moderately-Optimized: Unique meta tags, low-to-

moderate amount of copy, minor site architecture

problems.

Nominally-Optimized: Only homepage titles

and meta tags optimized, little indexable content,

keywords on homepage copied throughout site, site

architecture problems, site content management

system creating titles and/or meta data irrelevant to

keywords.

Non-Optimized: No SEO evident at all; titles were

functional—describing company name or page

theme only.

While link data was not taken into consideration as a

criterion for optimization level in this year’s study, it was

analyzed using Yahoo Site Explorer.

Oneupweb looked for best practices as well as other less reputable “black hat” SEO methods.

Methodology

Oneupweb analyzed the corporate sites of the first 100

companies listed in Internet Retailer Magazine’s Top 500

Guide 2007 Edition. Oneupweb looked at title tags, meta

tags, alt tags, content, keywords, and optimization intent to

determine the level of optimization for each site. Sites were

separated into four categories:

Oneupweb examined the correlation of where companies’ keywords positioned within the first three pages (results 1-30) on Google or Yahoo, with regards to levels of optimization and overall site link data.

Keywords were chosen from the keyword meta tag present on a company’s homepage. Where no keyword tag was present on the home page, keyword tags on other top-level pages were included. In the event that no keyword tags appeared anywhere on the site, Oneupweb chose keywords that would be considered very relevant to the products offered by the respective retailer.

To be credited with running a paid search campaign, companies needed to show a paid ad result on Google or Yahoo for at least one of their respective keywords.

It is important to note that search engine results are in constant flux. Companies revise their sites, competitors enter or exit the marketplace, search engines modify algorithms, etc. Oneupweb’s research is based on the search engine marketplace from July 9th through July 20th, 2007.

To learn more about SEO techniques and strategy, visit OneUpWeb.com.

27


About Oneupweb

Oneupweb is an integrated search marketing firm and

has been a trusted leader in online marketing for more

than ten years. Named one of the Michigan 50 Companies

to Watch in 2006, Oneupweb is the only three-time

winner of the prestigious ClickZ Best Search Engine

Marketing Vendor Award.

Oneupweb shares insight through its research

studies, white papers, newsletter articles, and on

StraightUpSearch.com blog to help business develop

sophisticated online marketing plans. Our team has

been helping marketers gain visibility in search engines

since 1996, expanding our capabilities into podcast

production, social media marketing, usability analysis,

website conversion improvement, media placement, and

blog marketing.

We encourage you to contact us for information about your organization’s specific online opportunities:

toll-free (877) 568-7477

(231) 256-9811

[email protected]

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once again there's still money on the table · · 2016-06-02format, content, and popularity...

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