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Implement SEM plan
This article studies the internal and external aspects of search planning and determines how best to select, implement and measure the right strategy for optimal achievement of objectives.

One of the major reasons for a poorly performing SEM campaign is failure to allocate enough resource to it. As a result, the internal assessment of a campaign should focus heavily upon three major areas:

1. Marketing resources (Thought Leadership) – any strong SEM campaign has thought leadership from the marketing department.

 The matching of search tactics with an overall plan should come from the marketing team.

 A search plan must have at least one individual assigned to search. Whether it be full-time or part-time largely depends upon the size of the SEM activity but generally the larger the campaign the more resource is needed.

2. Marketing resources (Hands On Resource) – If bidding is engaged in manually without the use of a technology (which is not recommended) then a full-time resource is necessary just to maintain the positions and spending limits to deliver successful results.

 In many instances a technology can aid greatly in offsetting much of this resource burden but as with any tool a resource is necessary to control it.

3. Technical resources – the IT department, IS department or whoever is responsible for the maintenance of a website is directly impacted by an SEM campaign.

Depending upon the type of engagement, changes will be needed to the website. From a simple 1×1 pixel being placed for tracking services to a full scale site code overhaul for an organic optimization exercise any involvement with a technical department will require resource and planning.

Without appropriate planning and implementation considerations, the operations of the technical department can create a serious delay in any campaign.

It is fair to say that in every aspect of a situational analysis any resource requirement has a budgetary implication to it.

It should he stressed, therefore, that any search engine marketing campaign must have a budget assigned to it.

Later in the chapter budgetary considerations will be taken into account to help determine what strategic approach could be taken.

The major points above are the internal factors that repetitively exist in the development of a strategy.

There are, however, additional variables that exist and they should be noted to ensure appropriate mapping is performed.

These are typically unique to a company and often exist based upon the industry or market.

An example of this is the pharmaceutical industry, regarding which advertisers must fulfill certain criteria relating to engines to advertise listings

A further example is the gambling industry, which has social implications that prevent certain listings being allowed or particular engines used (i.e. Overture has a ban on gambling sites).

External assessment
Analyzing and benchmarking the state of a market or industry for an SEM plan is critical to success.

Regardless of the type of strategy or tactic implemented it is important to benchmark the following criteria in order to gain an understanding of both market forces (i.e. competition and demand) and current positioning to gauge improvement throughout the plan.

• Current site performance this can be broken down depending up the activity that is currently being performed.

If there aren’t any SEM campaigns live, or that have ever been live, this process is simple and can be done with a straightforward ranking report. If the site has been engaged in any form of SEM, the following is recommended:

i. Traffic levels: if traffic can be measured, record the levels of traffic from each of the engine properties.

This function is available from any log file analysis system and most technical departments will be recording data such as this for analysis and website performance purposes.

ii. Conversion data: if available the conversion data of any traffic to a website should be recorded.

This information will be vital if a search campaign is going to be launched as the more accurate information entered into a forecast or projection the closer the campaign will get to the planned objectives and goals.

iii. Website visibility: One of the simplest and most effective forms of site benchmarking, especially for an organic strategy, is to utilize a rankings report to determined website position.

It is recommended that this be performed against research keywords that hold value to an objective or strategic goal.

• Market demand assessment – With appropriate research of keywords the volume of searcher interest can be determined on a monthly basis.

 This information will provide the grounding for gauging the viability of an SEM campaign and, in many instances, the type of search engine mechanism to use.

 If low search volume is available, engaging in a resource-extensive search project may not work out as a cost-effective option; however, if the opposite exists then a widespread campaign may produce a very cost effective campaign.

 There may be need to revisit the research again for a more in depth approach once an objective and strategy has been determined.

 This assessment is designed to gauge the market conditions with enough accuracy to make informed decisions in later stages of plan development.

• Competitive landscape – the final piece to the external analysis is to gain an understanding of what the competitive landscape looks like from both an organic and a paid search standpoint.

 This information will determine aspects of budgetary assignment and strategic direction based upon the goal or objective of the campaign.

 The following mechanisms should be used to determine competitive position and for the best results should be combined.

i. Competitive rankings reports – using tools, such as the Lycos Insite Rankings Report or Hitvvize, a Picture of the competitive environment can be determined.

This information will give examples of both organic and paid search listings and enable plotting of the position of a website within a market or industry.

ii. Paid Search SOV Analysis – after selecting the most appropriate keywords, or at least a representative sample for this exercise, the plotting of company vs. bid price vs. keyword will give a good example of the overall competitive landscape for paid search (most importantly PFP search).

As with the internal analysis there are many external factors that impact the performance of a search engine marketing campaign. But, as before, these are specific to a company and industry.

Selecting tactics
Tactics are, in nature, flexible and easily changed, and in the context of these article refer to the selection of tactics based upon viability vis-à-vis a particular object; however, in this section some will also he looked at in terms of their application in relation to a budget or time of implementation.

The following will give more of an indication as to the decision variables on some of the tactical aspects of any search engine marketing plan.

Selecting engines
Engine selection is specific to the strategic direction, or directions, taken but it is important to recognize that the selection of engines is dependent upon the goals of the campaign as some are better suited than others.

It is important to understand this model when considering the selection of engines for a strategic goal, as limited resources or immediate results will come with the appropriate engines being used.

For example, if speed and limited budget is an issue, from the positioning models, placing focus on the first tier paid engines or engaging with the organic engines (covered mainly within the strategic focus) will be beneficial.

Similarly if the goal is to drive large traffic at a lower cost to a website, engaging with the second tier paid engines may be an option.

Selecting keywords
The selection of keywords is probably the most important variable for a successful campaign, be it with the organic engines or with the paid search engines.

It is important to recognize many values of a keyword and the keyword type to gain a better understanding of the best course of action or direction.

Selecting keywords for organic search
The selection of keywords for organic search is as important as with the paid engines, however, the thought rationale needs to be slightly different based upon the longevity of the listings within the engines.

An organic listing or listings with a search engine like Google, have the potential of being live for a long period of time.

Additionally the work necessary to get listed on search terms within organic requires a large amount of up-front work to succeed.

With this in mind it is not recommended that keywords of a very generic or competitive nature be targeted as the probability of getting listed is much lower.

Instead, keywords should be selected on the KEI scoring provided by many of the keyword research tools.

This scoring will give an example of how competitive the term is and allow for accurate targeting that gives a good cost to benefit ratio.

The important factor to consider is that the most generic terms might not be attractive, but the most specific terms are also not attractive as the likelihood of a click deteriorates the more detailed the term becomes.

 Selecting creatives
The process of selecting creatives is subjective and specific to the company; however, different types of creative should be used for different strategies and for different types of keyword.

It is common belief that a good creative is designed to increase the number of click-throughs from the search listings page to the site, however, the focus of creative should be to quality the searcher, event if this minimizes the CTR as it will, in turn, potentially increase return.

As with all of the tactical elements, however, as a vehicle for quick changes, some engines take longer than others (if at all) to change the types of creative being used.

Implementing an SEM plan
The implementation of a search engine marketing plan is complex if looked at regarding all of the moving pieces, however, when simplified into engine, keywords, creative, bid management strategy and tracking variable, it should seem simpler.

The implementation of a plan must represent the strategy, or simultaneous strategies running, and the tactics selected for each.

It is therefore important to ensure that an implementation matrix is made to represent the approaches necessary.

Additionally it is important to be aware of the time needed to see results as the time for submission and expected results differ from engine to engine.

The matrix demonstrates the identification of each of the different tactics within each of the strategies as well as expected results.

This information needs to be clearly separated, to ensure that measurement and control is assigned each of the components, such as the keywords, creatives ad measured results.

Implementation ownership
When implementing any form of marketing plan, be it for print media or search engine marketing, it is important to ensure ownership is established within an organization.

With ownership determined, a plan will be implemented faster and more accurately with the appropriate checks and balances in place, to ensure that, should any problems arise, they have an owner who is charged with putting any element of the plan, be it keyword research or setting up an engine, back on track or reporting back to a project leader the issues and adjusting the timelines.

Implementation timeline ‘allocating enough time’
It is of paramount importance to ensure that the appropriate timelines are set when engaging in SEM and constructing a plan.

Many of the variables and timelines will be provided by each of the components or elements of a campaign, such as the timelines needed to submit keywords and get them live within a PFP engine.

Equally important is to get a handle on the implementation schedules of internal resource. In most cases SEM is a service performed by members of a marketing department so it is important to ensure that adequate time is given to getting a plan underway inclusive of other activities.

It is more important, however, to get the resource of `other’ departments mapped for the project as well.

An example of where this is critical is the development of an organic optimization, as the technical department or in some cases external site design help (adding funding issues too), need to be forewarned and given an adequate chance to provide timelines and start dates for a project.

This information, as has been illustrated in earlier sections of this book, may sway a decision away from one type of search submission and towards another.

Controlling an SEM plan
Controlling an SEM campaign can be difficult and challenging yet at the same time extremely rewarding as search can drive excellent results toward an overall business objective.

It is through control that success can be found and, as a complete opposite, without any control an SEM campaign can run riot and fail.

It is important to note that merely identifying the control measures and implementing them in the campaign is one thing but making decisions based upon performance is another.

This section will take into account the variables that should be considered when controlling an SEM campaign:

Measurement
Use the ‘correct’ performance measure
Probably one of the major failings of a search campaign is measuring search, a strategy and the tactical elements using the wrong measure.

With the previously mentioned statistic of only one third of searchers measuring activity the remaining two thirds are using traffic as the gauge of success.

This can, and often does, result in little appreciation for the success of a campaign; it limits budgetary and fiscal responsibility and provides an ambiguous result to measure against.

If the goal of the campaign is traffic then this is acceptable but the most important factor to consider is this: if the site is designed to drive leads or sales then measuring against traffic is not going to give enough control.

It is therefore advised to use one of the control methods listed in each of the strategy and objectives chapters.

Avoid ‘mass’ performance measurement
If measurement of performance is being done, a campaign is on the right track; however, a common symptom of tracking is that everything, i.e. all keywords, are grouped together and measured against one overall goal.

This is an acceptable measure should there be one strategy being performed; however, it an awareness strategy were used in conjunction with an ecommerce strategy then the conflict in keywords would result in almost certain failure.

Instead keywords and creatives should be judged in groups or portfolios and then reported upon separately.

Avoid ‘hasty’ decisions on performance measurement
Keywords in a singular sense are large in volume but have unique properties when being tracked (i.e. traffic, costs, return).

Keywords are the most prominent part of any decision-making process and are selected, deleted, bid up, bid down, and controlled to ensure the success of an overall goal.

The problem with this is that many marketers make the mistake of controlling a keyword before it has had a chance to perform and provide enough statistical relevance for an accurate decision to be made.

As a hypothetical example, if a website has a 1 per cent conversion rate, this would suggest that a keyword has to have at least 100 clicks before it may see a single conversion.

In this scenario it wouldn’t make sense to control a keyword before it has had ample opportunity to at least convert one visitor on the site at the site’s performance levels.

For the reasons mentioned above it is important to ensure that, when research is performed, tight control measures are placed but not so tight as to constrict success.

Allow keywords to function to a level where, upon review, enough data have flowed through the campaign to qualify the ensuing decisions.

Avoid ‘short term’ reaction control
Putting this into context, many companies view the results of a campaign on an hourly and daily basis, which can often lead to undue and unnecessary stress and the possibility of hasty decisions.

There will always be fluctuations in performance; on some days the performance will be higher than on others and in many instances daily spikes and dips are often `unexplainable’.

It is therefore important to watch for situations where problems may arise, such as a keyword that has become the subject of a bidding war or an SKU within a PFI feed that is driving far too much traffic for no return.

This being said, if technology is being used to manage the listings and appropriate measures are in place for control, looking at the data over a longer period of time (for example a week) will allow for a more settled approach and more trend analysis than with daily/hourly peaks and troughs.

Within any form of plan it cannot be stressed enough to test all of the tactical components to increase and build upon success.

If new keywords need to be added or creatives need to be changed, testing is essential. There are, however, the following factors that should be considered with testing.

Avoid testing too much!
Testing should be performed on a sample and then the learnings translated to a larger group.

This applies to all aspects of testing, be it creative or keywords, and it is with representative samples that enough learning can be gathered to draw conclusions which can then be acted upon.

Run one test at a time
With SEM the challenge is making sure the results are accurate. As all tactical aspects work together, i.e. the creative is attached to the keyword, if two tests one of keywords and one of creative are tested together, the results will be inconclusive as the determining factor tot the test results is unresolved between the tactical components.

It is not out of the question to test multiples at one certain time but it is important to test variables (tactical elements) independently of each other to ensure success.

Structure the test
Testing must follow a plan, similar in a sense to an overall search marketing plan. The test must have an objective, a strategy, an Implementation cycle, an appropriate testing timeline or threshold (i.e. # clicks on keywords or # impressions for creative) and lastly metrics or measurement to determine the performance of the test.

Without these variables the test will be inconclusive and no learning will be achieved.

Measure ‘testing’ separately from the main campaign
Any budget or performance variables associated with testing should be measured as a single unit and not included in the overall performance of the main plan and campaign.

This avoids any confusion with performance should a test run well or badly and potentially skew the overall results.

It is also important, when budgeting, to assign enough budget to a test such that it can run its full length and, again, not be financially linked to the main strategy.

Use automation
If possible it is advised to use automation where possible. For example, if landing pages for specific keywords are being tested side my side, running an A B testing platform will allow the searchers and visitors to a website to determine which landing page will yield a stronger conversion rate.

Additionally, when testing variables such as creative, it is advised that the service, provided by the engines, most notably Google AdWordsTM, are used in order to test creatives side by side to see which yields a stronger CTR.

To sum up
The development of a search engine marketing plan is designed to complement an overall marketing plan, which, in turn, is designed to achieve marketing and business objectives.

In this article the components and techniques behind plan development and plan implementation have been discussed. The following highlights are the most important to take from this chapter.

• When starting a search engine marketing plan it is important to map the space and get a full understanding of the situation.

In a situational analysis both internal and external factors are assessed and summarized for the purpose of objective setting.

• The determination of objectives comes from the business objectives of the company and the designated purpose of the website.

 When setting objectives for a search campaign it is important to take into account what can be achieved from search to ensure that a plan can in essence work.

• The search strategy, or series of strategies, must take into account the desired direction and the data formed from the situational analysis. The strategy will start to shape how the objectives will be achieved.

 The strategy may focus on the types of search that may work (i.e. paid or organic) but will not focus too heavily on keywords and creatives which form the tactical elements.

• Engine selection, keyword selection and creative creation comprise the tactical elements of the strategy and plan, and go toward achieving the objective or objectives.

• When implementing a plan it is important to have timelines and ownership for each of the variable factors to ensure a plan gets up and running.

• Controlling a campaign consists of measurement and testing. Without these a plan isn’t going to work as expected and may fail to achieve the overall goals and objectives.

Keywords: search planning, SEM plan, SEM campaigns, keywords, organic search, paid engines, creatives, click-throughs, measurement, search campaign, conversion, marketing,

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Using search engines to drive lead generation requires much of the same thought process and rationale used in the sales (eCommerce) approach.

Submission type and engine selection
Submission type
This strategy requires, and in many cases can only be supported by, two distinct submission types owing to the nature of the content on the website and by virture of the distribution.

A couple of submission types are optional and through a process of testing may be valuable channels.

Paid For Placement (PFP) – As with the previous two uses for search engines the PFP engines are by far the strongest paid options.

With distribution to the major channels used by searchers these mechanisms are the strongest providers of fast and accountable results.

Organic search – Essential in any strategy, the organic search engines (e.g. Google) are likely to be some of the strongest providers of large volume traffic and success.

Paid For Inclusion (PFI) – Optional for a lead generation strategy, this mechanism is suitable for websites with large scale volume.

Vertical engines – The second optional submission type for generation leads. These engines are strong in driving contextually relevant traffic and in the case of the B2B industry are very targeted.

Sites like Business.com are worth investigating; however, like any optional element to a strategy these mechanisms should be tested as the targeted traffic comes at a premium and might not justify the Cost Per Lead (CPL) metrics.

Engine selection
It is important to select the correct search engines to achieve this objective. With a lead generation strategy many search engines arc optional, pending testing, as the results may swing either way from strong to poor (see Table below).

PFP First tier – the first-tier PFP engines such as Overture and Google AdWordsTM will be the two strongest performers for a lead generation campaign, only rivaled by Organic optimization.

Ask Jeeves may provide solid back up and MSN featured sites might be applicable, however, a minimum spend level of $’sk is required for this engine to be viable.
PFP Second tier – these engines arc all optional as the syndicated results may well provide good enough ROI.

Expect the possibility of high traffic and low conversion or very low traffic and conversion (this is dependent upon syndication partner).

The conversion likelihood of these sites may be higher than on a sales strategy as a lead isn’t committing the search 100 per cent to a company; however, it is important, as with any engine, to test to find the right blend of keywords.

Organic – the use of the organic engines is essential in any strategy. With zero CPC and the largest coverage of screen real estate on most major search portals, this type of engine is critical.

Vertical engines – in the USA, engines such as Business.com and Industry Brains lead the way in driving vertical specific traffic to a site that is contextually relevant.

This traffic is strong in relevance but driven from contextual type advertising (i.e. not directly from an engine) and as such should be tested for conversion potential. As the traffic comes at a premium these engines can produce very high CPL.

Keyword and creative selection
Once the submission type and distribution network has been identified (i.e. the engines) the next variable is to determine the components that go into representing the company within the vast array of searchable variables.

The following types of keyword and creatives should be used to drive leads to a website.

Keyword selection
Branded terms – branded terms are essential in any strategy as they hold the highest possibility for traffic at a low cost with a high conversion potential. If the brand is well known, this is even more applicable.

Generic terms – generic terms are important but in a lead generation strategy, especially for the B2B environment, can be exceptionally expensive.

Generic terms in this context are expensive not because of the search velocity possessed but because of the relevance to a subject and, in complete contrast, as the traffic velocity is so low any click is treated like gold dust.

The management of these terms is particularly important to the success of a strategy to drive cost-effective leads.

Product terms – product terms are important in any type of strategy but the research required must be done to ensure it is effective to research a large number of terms.

In many instances the cost-benefit of researching and implementing terms that aren’t going to be searched for at least once a month may not be favorable and, as such, utilizing more generic terms with broader match types might be the answer.

Regardless of this fact, if there are product terms being searched for it is important to make full use of the opportunity held.

Match types
When selecting keywords the match type is key to success. If the wrong match type is applied to a keyword, the resulting traffic number could jeopardize the overall return of the campaign.

With such little traffic available on some terms and every click a potential lead, the match types used could be set as broad as necessary.

It is, however, of vital importance to use negative keywords to ensure that irrelevant traffic is not received.

Development
For a lead generation approach the creative used must qualify a searcher as a potential customer and be compelling enough, with a call to action.

Branding creatives are those that continue a theme or maintain continuity with other branding or marketing activities.

In a lead generation strategy the branded terms can be used in multiple ways to increase awareness of a particular offering of competitive advantage.

General creatives are those that represent the core benefits, offerings or values of a company but are designed to reinforce the fact that the searcher has come to the right place or found the right company.

In many instances search results are dominated by listings that might not be the actual site being looked for.

Resellers and competitors might all be buying or optimizing against a particular term and in most instances if the keywords being used are generic the likelihood of there being a maximum number of other bidders is high.

General creative is optional as, in many respects, designing as compelling as possible a creative to prompt a click and then rely on the website to convert the user into a qualified user, could be a viable option.

Specific creatives are those that utilize the titles and descriptions to represent a specific offer or message related to the keyword or searcher’s interest.

A click on keywords, especially a generic keyword, is so desirable that a general creative might fail; if this is the case applying a specific creative to a generic keyword may provide enough of a compelling statement to prompt a click.

Measurement/control parameters
Once all of the actionable variables (i.e. engines, keywords, creatives) have been highlighted the next stage is to get an understanding of how to measure the performance against the objective.

In this instance it is lead generation so the following control parameters are used as well as the measurement thereof.

Control parameters
The most important variable here is to determine what the success metrics are and how they are to be measured.

In a lead generation strategy the perfect solution would be to make all traffic to a website accountable.

Understandably, all sales from a lead generation strategy are handled offline, however, if any leads are to be generated from this medium, the following control parameter must be used.

• Cost Per Lead (CPL) – a CPL measurement takes into account the number of conversions (leads) generated by an advertising medium.

 If the cost of advertising (in the case of search cost of clicks) is divided by the number of leads generated, the CPI is determined. Many companies have a range for a CPI and optimize within that range.

Measurement
With the identification of the control parameters the focus must now be how to measure each of them to gauge success or failure. Using measurements provided from the search engines and parameters gathered by tracking and analysis tools, the following apply to the tracking of a lead generation strategy.

Measurement variables
The essential criteria for measuring a lead generation strategy are to be aware of all the parameters that determine success.

In making such measurement the most important variables to consider are traffic, cost of traffic and conversions (generated leads). There are three means of getting this information.

1. Search engines: many of the engines, such as Overture and Google AdWordsTM, provide the search marketer with the option of taking all of the abovementioned data.

 This is free of charge in most cases or can be obtained with a small premium. The disadvantage with this type of tracking is that despite the information being free it is only available for a selection of engines and won’t give a complete picture of success or failings.

2. Tracking tools: Please click here to learn about a detailed description of the tracking tools available to track the entire search campaign.

 The advantage of a tracking tool is that all search submission types (PFP, Organic) can be measured in one location and, analyzing on performance, compared type for type. The disadvantage is cost and resources to manage such a tool.

3. Homegrown systems – many companies have devised analysis tools that allow marketing departments to track the performance of a search campaign using the website’s existing logs.

By utilizing a code (such as an affiliate ID code) a company can identify the source of traffic and watch the progression of said traffic through the site.

If these data are compared with those provided by the engines, all of the variables for control are covered.

Detailed measurement
It is also important to ensure that the measurement for a lead generation strategy is as granular as possible.

Keywords should be measured individually so for some search engines, such as Google AdWordsTM or Find What that allow you to measure groups of keywords together (e.g. in an AdGroup), these options should be ignored in place of singular-keyword tracking.

For the sake of reporting, keywords can be grouped together and summarized but in an ideal scenario keywords, engines and sales must all be recorded in minute detail.

Indirect conversions
Additionally it is important to appreciate conversions both directly and indirectly. In other words it is vitally important to recognize that users may return to the site after a few hours, days, or even weeks, to conclude a transaction.

For a lead generation strategy this is of particular importance as a B2B (or high scale B2C) sale requires a great deal of consideration and as such the searcher may well study many websites before finally converting on a website.

With some cost per clicks being in the dollar (rather than cent) range it is important to track this cost back to a sale well after the initial visit.

Measurement calculations
With this information at hand all of the control measurements can be recorded as follows.

The measurement parameters for success will be marketer defined according to the business parameters of the company.

 For many companies search is measured differently from other marketing activities, as it is accountable (i.e. revenue over costs).

Management and optimization
The final stage in working toward a particular objective is to understand the way to manage the campaign and to optimize the performance if it isn’t as good as expected.

It is important in understanding how to make the most of search engines and generating leads.

Management
The variables that require management are quite simple and represent the core foundations of a strategy around generating leads via the search engines. The following are the said variables.

• Presence ensuring that search listings appear under search terms that are most likely to prompt a click and eventual conversion.

• Quality – ensuring that search listings that appear are converting the searcher into a visitor to a website.

• Cost effectiveness – making sure that all search campaigns are running at the desired business goals set for the particular medium and objective (i.e. meeting a CPL goal).

Managing a campaign for generating leads consists of two distinct methodologies, as with all previous campaigns.

These are (1) technology and (2) manual management. Typically the strongest search campaigns will develop using both, but, as has been discussed in previous chapters, the two can exist in singularity.

Technology ‘bid management’
With an effective sales campaign working with all types of keyword it is essential to use some type of bidding technology to aid in driving success.

In a lead generation approach a third component is added, i.e. to manage towards a cost per lead (CPL) goal and the parameters for success are increased as price and position will be determined by a keyword’s ability to perform, either singularly or as part of a group, towards a return goal or a measurement type highlighted in Measurement/Control parameters above.

The following stepped process should be considered when managing a campaign through a bid management technology.

Step 1 Research – It is critical to research the right keywords to use in a campaign and more importantly to apply bidding to each of them.

Elements such as bid price, keyword velocity and estimated conversion rate can be applied to terms and the price and position needed to sustain an effective campaign.

Step 2 Selecting keywords – keywords researched must be selected by both their singular ability to achieve the goal and as a portfolio.

Different bidding rules or practices must be applied to keywords with different capabilities.

Keywords that are generic for example may have stricter CPC limitations as they hold most risk in using a large percentage of a budget.

In a lead generation strategy the generic keywords may be the deciding factor between success and failure so selecting the right keywords is of critical importance.

Brand terms, for example may require top placements to ensure a brand-related search is always catered for within the top syndicated positions.

The keyword classification must be done based upon the research mentioned in point number 1 so that accurate keywords can be selected to achieve goals.

In applying the conversion factors, keywords should also be selected based upon conversion potential.

This applies to any kind of keyword management; however, applying the same conversion rate to a generic word as to a specific word may produce inaccurate projections.

Averages must be estimated in the initial setup of a campaign; then, as more realistic data are passed back from tracking tools the averages must be replaced with actuals.

Step 3 Implement – once the keywords are selected it is essential to produce the most appropriate bidding rules for each term.

Selected terms that can justify higher positions must have different rules from those that hold more risk. Use the selected keywords to apply bidding rules and implement the terms on an hourly basis.

In some instances bid rules must be applied to singular terms, however, in many instances the same bid rule or bid management technique can be applied to more than one keyword.

As many of the terms indicated in Step 2 don’t hold a keyword velocity warranting concern, these can be grouped together and a ‘universal’ bid rule applied.

The more sophisticated tools allow for market conditions and the performance of the keywords to determine the best bidding rules.

These systems take much of the guesswork out of bid management as trend-based analysis determines the most appropriate time of day, day or week, by keyword, to place bids and listings to ensure maximum coverage within the PFP search engines.

Manual management
Manual management is defined as the control of a campaign using limited additional technology.

The focus is to find work around mechanisms on the words and phrases being used to ensure that a campaign’s performance is maintained at all times.

Without a bid management technology the process of driving leads from the PFP engines is a very difficult and challenging task; however, it is not impossible.

The way to master this is to focus on the tools and mechanisms provided within the industry that are freely available for all to use.

In this instance these are the bidding vehicles provided by the PFP engines themselves.
The following screen shot demonstrates how the interfaces from the engines allow for position range and maximum CPC limits.

The effectiveness of these mechanisms is in actually determined by the amount of resource allocated.

The question becomes one of frequency and updating techniques. This has been clearly demonstrated in previous chapters.

• Manage keywords sorted by importance: if the keywords are sorted by the importance and relevance to a company’s products, services or branding exercises, more emphasis could be placed upon these words only and the remaining terms updated less often.

• Manage keywords sorted by cost: for the more fiscally challenged campaigns the management of keywords by price is critical.

 In sorting keywords by those that have a high likelihood to run away with a campaign, these should be managed more carefully and more often than those that don’t have as high a probability of doing so.

 Note: this rationale is particularly important for the management of Google AdWordsTM and in reference to organizing campaigns to get the most from each keyword based upon a budget.

• Manage keywords sorted by performance: The performance of each keyword is critical for generating leads.

 As with the sales strategy the performance of a keyword can be determined through the tracking mentioned earlier in Chapter 2 and, as such, the keywords that hold the greatest performance opportunity should be managed more often than those keywords that don’t show as much promise.

Optimization
The optimization of a lead generation strategy is most similar to that of a sales strategy. The difference lies with the optimization toward a conversion metric of leads rather than that of sales.

In Table 2 are listed many of the problems that are commonly associated with a strategy designed to drive sales, and some suggested optimization techniques are presented for review.
 
Table 2
Sales-driven strategy problems
PFP Engine Problem Optimization Technique
High Traffic, High CPL This would indicate that the traffic being driven to a website is either:
a) Not relevant enough or that
b) The cost of driving this traffic is too high.

Revisit the keyword list to see if more terms are available to test or attempt to lower the bid price to gain less traffic that may well be more qualified
High Leads, High CPL The keywords being used are converting but at a high cost. Attempt to weed out terms that are driving nothing but traffic.

If this exercise fails to reduce the CPL attempt to control the positioning of the converting terms and, if applicable, apply bid rules or day parting to ensure success
Low CPL, Low Lead Volume The volumes of leads in this scenario are too few in number.

Increase the number of keywords being used or attempt to increase the position of the terms within the engines to boost performance

While the optimization techniques mentioned above are some of the more common scenarios with solutions, there are many factors at play that could determine success or failure.

Beyond inappropriate keyword selection there could be other forces, such as market conditions, searcher demand, and even creative selection, that might affect the success of a campaign.

Management and optimization of ‘other’ submission types
Organic (natural search) engines
One of the strongest ways to increase leads at a very low CPI is to adopt organic search engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

In many instances these mechanisms have low recurring costs, which are in actuality based upon the commitment from an organization to constant improvement, and can be very strong in driving top placements, under a company’s brand name in particular.

It is therefore one of the most important aspects of a search strategy designed to drive leads; however, as has been highlighted earlier in this book the calculation and accountability of organic search is a great deal more complicated than that of paid search. For this reason the following should be utilized.

• Research: when either (1) employing an outside firm to optimize a website or (2) placing a request for web designers or technical departments to implement website changes, it is important to ensure that keywords that will represent the brand and company are used within the optimization process.

Above all else it is important to be listed organically against these terms alone as many searchers still to this day utilize search engines even to find company websites rather than typing in a website address.

• Measurement: for a lead generation strategy it is recommended that rankings are used as the control and measurement variable and that sales are measured from organic traffic by recording the data from log file analysis against conversion points within the website.

 While adjustment and optimization of words and phrases based upon success is difficult, it is possible to record total sales and then measure additional organic optimization.

As organic listings aren’t as dynamic as paid listings, the optimization and control isn’t as fluid.

For this reason when optimizing organically it is important to accumulate a history or presence within the engines and build upon it.

The Constant optimization necessary for organic search is performed via attention to detail on the key words and phrases that are most important to a business and increasing relevancy, via code changes and link architecture to ensure long term presence.

Key issues in achieving sales (eCommerce) via search engines
There are a number of key issues that must be taken into consideration when building a campaign around lead generation.

These items relate to different aspects of building a campaign and should be associated with a campaign if deemed necessary.

The problem in a lead generation campaign, as with any, is that (1) if one listing is being shown, the term being placed might not be the `official site’ listing and (2) if bidding is happening behind the scenes then should the `official site’ listing appear it may do so at a much higher cost than can he justified by the site’s conversion and CPL per

Affiliates
Changes in affiliate bidding, as of January 2005, on Google AdWordsTM (the most commonly used search engine for affiliate bidding) resulted in affiliates bidding frenetically to get the only listing available for a company under a particular keyword.

 This is a departure from the current scenario, which allow more than one listing for a company to appear under one term.

The problem in a lead generation campaign, at with any, is that:

(1) If one listing is being shown, the term being placed might not b the ‘official site’ listing and
(2) If bidding is happening behind the scenes then should the ‘official site’ listing appear it may do so at a much higher cost than can be justified by the site’s conversion and CPL performance.

Contextual advertising
Content match has been a much maligned mechanism for driving traffic to a website from some of the major (and minor) PFP engines.

As a vehicle for driving traffic it is exceptionally good; however, as soon as ROI (in this instance a CPL) metrics are placed against it, in many cases poor returns have been the result.

In a lead generation strategy, content match or content targeting is not recommended, but, with any type of vehicle, not completely disregarded. The following mechanism should be applied.

• Research – when researching the keywords on some of the engines, content matching can be added to the analysis parameters to determine what additional success will be seen.

Some engines are more capable of providing these data so use judgment when selecting keywords.

• Measurement – for this measurement use traffic, CPC and conversion data. Both Overture and Google AdWordsTM have the capability of providing tracking parameters to measure search listings against content listings.

Ensure that these mechanisms are used to gauge the success of contextual advertising.

To Sum up
As most research is performed online and with most online users turning to search engines to source the information required it makes perfect sense to use an SEM strategy to achieve these goals. The following are some of the highlights from this article:

• Paid For Placement (PFP) engines and organic search are the recommended types of search engine mechanism to use for lead generation.

• The major first tier PFP and vertical engines are recommended, as these will give the maximum coverage on the major portals and provide results for very specific audiences.

Second tier are optional; however, it is recommended that testing is done to ensure success.

• It is recommended that generic, specific and branded keywords are used for a lead generation campaign, if possible. The more specific the search request, the better the creative will have to be.

As traffic levels for the B2B space are often far below those of the B2C the clicks are worth more and driving a higher CTR is almost essential.

• Similarly generic, specific and branded creatives are also recommended to ensure keywords are matched with appropriate creative.

• Control should be obtained by measuring success against the following (but not specific to any one): cost per lead, cost per action.

• Management is deemed necessary in maintaining position in accordance with the control metrics of these phrases at the maximum possible within budget.

• Affiliate marketing must be controlled to ensure that any activity performed on branded terms is done so at the lowest possible CPC.

• Contextual advertising is not an option.

• Buying brand names is recommended for this strategy, as this helps with the entire buying cycle and these terms can often have the best return on investment.

Keywords: Lead, Paid For Placement, PFP, Organic search, Paid For Inclusion, PFI, Vertical engines, Organic, Keyword, creatives, Branded terms, Generic terms, product terms, generic keyword, Cost Per Lead, CPL, generated leads, conversions, bid management, bidding, Optimization, sales, natural search, organic engines, organic listings, affiliate bidding, Contextual advertising,

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There are a number of key issues that must be taken into consideration when building a campaign around sales.

These relate to different aspects of campaign formulation and should be associated with a campaign it deemed necessary.

Affiliates
Changes in affiliate bidding, as of January 2005, on Google AdWordsTM (the most commonly used search engine for affiliate bidding) resulted in affiliates bidding frenetically to get the only listing available for a company under a particular keyword.

This is a departure from the current scenario, which allows more than one listing for a company to appear under one term.

The problem in a sales strategy, as with any, is that:

(1) If one listing is being shown, the term being placed might not be the `official site’ listing and

(2) If bidding is happening behind the scenes then should the ‘official site’ listing appear it may do so at a much higher cost than can be justified by the site’s conversion and ROI performance.

Contextual advertising
Content match has been a much-maligned mechanism for driving traffic to a website from some of the major (and minor) PFP engines.

As a vehicle for driving traffic it is exceptionally good; however, as soon as ROI metrics are placed against it, in many cases poor returns have been the result.

In a sales strategy, content match or content targeting is not recommended, but, with any type of vehicle, not completely disregarded. The following mechanism should be applied.

• Research – when researching keywords on some of the engines, content matching can be added to the analysis parameters to determine what additional success will be seen.

Some engines are more capable of providing these data so use judgment when selecting keywords.

• Measurement – for this measurement use traffic, CPC and conversion data. Both Overture and Google AdWordsTM have the capability of providing tracking parameters to measure search listings against content listings.

Ensure that these mechanisms are used to gauge the success of contextual advertising.

Using search engine marketing for ecommerce activity on a website is like a perfect marriage.

The combination of sales-related activity, i.e. recording the number of sales and value and plotting this against the overall cost of the click, provides the perfect grounds for measuring success and being able to optimize to the most granular level.

The following are the major highlights of a strategy designed to achieve sales or activity via an ecommerce site.

• Paid For Placement (PFP), PFI engines and organic search are the recommended types of search engine mechanisms to use for an ecommerce campaign.

• All types of search engines are recommended, as these will give the maximum coverage within the search engine network.

It is, however, recommended that the second-tier engines are tested to ensure that metrics are met.

• It is recommended that generic, specific and branded keywords are used for an ecommerce campaign; this is to ensure that each type of search query is covered throughout the research to buy cycle.

• Similarly generic, specific and branded creatives are also recommended to ensure all types of search and all types of keywords are complemented with appropriate creative.

• Control should be obtained by measuring success against the following (but not specific to any one): return on investment, return on advertising spend, cost per order and cost per acquisition.

• Management is deemed necessary in maintaining position in accordance with the control metrics of these phrases at the maximum possible within budget.

• Affiliate marketing must be controlled to ensure that any activity performed on branded terms (as well as generic terms) is done so at the lowest possible CPC.

• Contextual advertising is not an option.

• Buying brand names is recommended for this strategy, as this helps with the entire buying cycle and these terms can often have the best return on investment.

Keywords: affiliate, sales, sales strategy, Contextual advertising, eCommerce,

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There is an old saying: ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink’ and in the context of search marketing this is most relevant.

One of the main reasons cited by search engine marketers for a failed campaign is the fact that the traffic didn’t convert.

This has two possible reasons: the first is related to search and suggests that the traffic being driven to a website is not relevant.

Or that the site itself is failing to convert visitors into customers by not qualifying each visit and directing the visitor’s path throughout the site to the desired conversion point.

This flaw of failing to convert has been identified by many companies and as such there are services available from vendors specializing in the area of finding improvement in the design of a company’s website, from the homepage through to the confirmation page of the conversion.

The thought rationale behind a conversion assessment is relatively simple and follows the thought process of many marketing principles.

By developing the AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desite and Action) model the approach is to refine the user’s experience of the site by ensuring a qualification process and an enticement process, a desire, and finally, creating a prompt to provoke an action.

One such company, Future Now Inc, suggests on their website (www.futurenowinc.com) that, by using conversion improvement processes, some websites can see increases in conversion rates from under 1 per cent to over 54 per cent.

The tools available to the search market are varied; however, when the strategies are created the following summarized components will form the backbone of the tactics and control mechanisms:

• The major search engine mechanisms are paid for placement (PFP) provided by companies like Overture and Google. Paid for inclusion (PFI) and Organic `natural’ optimization.

• The search engine components are keywords and creatives and both possess the key to a successful campaign within the search engine mechanisms.

• Accurate search campaigns need appropriate tracking and analytics tools. Be it log file-based or cookie-based these systems allow for accountability of clicks, especially when recorded against distinct conversion parameters.

• A successful campaign needs technological involvement and should the PFP engines be engaged the use of a bid management tool is highly recommended.

 These mechanisms allow for automation of the bidding for keywords freeing up valuable resources.

• If the measure of a campaign is in the branding or awareness performance within a particular market or organic optimization is engaged, rankings tools are necessary for accurately depicting market conditions.

• A search campaign is not limited to the major search engines only. Other mechanisms from engines specializing in a particular industry (vertical engines) or focusing on purely retail models (shopping engines) are available to increase the marketer’s options.

• It is important not to look at search engines alone for success. Sometimes the performance of the website is so poor that it can hinder the overall success of the search and online marketing campaign.

Look to conversion improvement companies or suggestions to make sure the website is performing up to standard.

Keywords: Conversion, PFP engines, Paid for inclusion, PFI,

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Using search engines to drive accountable sales via a fully eCommerce driven website is one of the most common and effective uses of the medium.

The use of search engine marketing for eCommerce sales is one of the most well documented as it allows for the greatest accuracy with measurement.

Through the use of accurate tracking and careful planning a series of measures can always be taken to ensure that the correct return or cost per sales is being achieved.

Submission type
This strategy requires all forms of submission type. As many websites are abundant in content, for example retailers and publishers, the representative keywords and engines available are vast.

The challenge in many respects is selecting the most appropriate to gain success.

Paid For Placement (PFP) – the paid for placement engines, such as Overture and Google AdWordsTM, are very important for a sales strategy.

With the largest inventory (i.e. number keywords) and strongest syndication (distribution network) these providers are the backbone of any campaign.

Organic search – as with any strategy or objective from search engines, the use of organic search is of paramount importance.

This low-cost opportunity presents the marketer with the possibility of optimizing a website to drive sales with low to minimum costs and high return on investment.

Paid For Inclusion (PFI) – PFI is well suited to sites that have large volumes of products to sell online.

PFI gives the opportunity to optimize more specific search variables such as SKU numbers, product descriptions, sizes, quantities etc, without having to select each and every keyword and submit via PFP

Vertical engines – engines such as Business.com or Industry Brains (US sites specifically) offer the marketer specific audiences.

For a strategy such as this it is advised that testing should be conducted to see the response in terms of ROAS.

An additional note is that vertical engines are typically more expensive than traditional PPC engines owing to a specific audience.

Engine selection
PFP First tier – these engines are the search providers that will drive the majority of sales. With the strongest syndication and largest keyword inventory the variations in keyword, creative and bidding strategy makes these engines very flexible to manipulate.

MSN featured sites will, if negotiated carefully, provide a flat rate CPC that could result in guaranteed top 3 placements for a long period of time.

PFP Second tier – many of these second-tier engines have a good probability of driving some very cost-effective sales.

Sites like FindWhat and MIVA both have strong enough distribution network and keyword inventory to make them viable propositions.

The other engines may also have the potential to drive sales; however, the likelihood is lower so testing is recommended.

Organic – natural listings are essential to any strategy. For a sales-orientated focus the organic listings possess the qualities to improve any search campaign.

If optimized correctly the traffic received from this type of search has no direct cost associated with it and any sale generates a very positive ROI.

With up to 66 per cent of the screen real estate being taken up by these listings, this type of search engine cannot be ignored.

Vertical engines – an option for any sales focus, these engines have good distribution into sites that are relevant to specific subjects, namely the B2B audience.

Success may be possible here if the product or service being sold is directly relevant to the searching audience.

Engines such as Business.com or Industry Brains will have to be tested as the specific nature of their listings carry a premium over many of the other paid search providers.

Shopping engines – an option but one that should be seriously considered. If the product is viable, appropriate categorization within the leading shopping engines, such as Kelkoo in the UK and Shopping.com in the USA, can result in strong return on investment.

Keyword and creative selection
Once the submission type and distribution network has been identified (i.e. the engines) the next variable is to determine the components that go into representing the company within the vast array of searchable variables.

In many respects this next section relates mainly to the engines where keyword selection is possible (i.e. PFP engines), however, keyword research is also extremely important for organic search.

Keyword selection
Branded terms – these terms are as important for a sales strategy as for any other type of objective.

Being terms the most likely to drive qualified visitors to a website compared with any specific product term, the approach to be taken with the research of branded terms is to ensure that every variation is covered in the initial campaign launch.

Generic terms – generic terms will drive large volumes of sales: the issue will be at what cost.

Generic terms will likely drive a large percentage of traffic to the site and many other advertisers are aware of this, resulting in increased CPC prices.

Additionally companies adopt different strategies: some might be utilizing search engines for branding or awareness and have more tolerance to higher CPC costs than a marketer looking to make cost-effective sales.

The recommendation with generic terms is to use them in moderation and measure their success against distinct measurement and control parameters.

Product terms – product terms are essential for a sales strategy. As Generic terms hold value in search velocity, product terms hold value in relevance and high return.

Product term characteristics consist of driving low volume traffic that has higher conversion likelihood.

In order to drive enough volume to make a difference to the impact of a search campaign, it is recommended that a large number (number determined below) of terms be used.

To find the ideal number of product terms really depends upon the mechanisms used to measure success.

However, the following process should be considered when researching these terms (this relates to PFP engines specifically:

• Research process: As a starting platform it is important to ensure that the core areas of business are covered so an approach could be to determine best selling products and research around them.

 Once done, expanding the product keyword list into other areas of the business could be a viable next step.

• Build from success: adding keywords is often an interactive process based upon the success of existing keywords.

If a keyword has proven successful based upon the parameters set for the campaign, use that particular word via the Research Process to build new phrases.

Add these to the keyword inventory and repeat. This type of expansion is often referred to as stemming.

• Test: It is important in any search campaign to test. In this instance it is important to nominate a budgetary amount that can be used for testing.

Once identified add keywords and test over a set period of time until poor and good performers are identified.

Poor performers can be discarded, good performers can be added to the keyword list and keywords with an indifferent performance can be tested again.

Match types
When selecting keywords the match type is key to success. If the wrong match type is applied to a keyword, the resulting traffic number could jeopardize the overall return of the campaign.

It is for this reason that user discretion is applied to the match types and should any broad or advanced match types be used, negative keywords should be carefully researched. As an initial guide the following should be observed.

• Branded terms: broad match types are acceptable for branded terms to cover all of the variations of a brand name.

• Generic terms: matching as specifically as possible is advised here unless heightened resource is provided, as the more broad or generic the match the higher the likelihood of irrelevant traffic that doesn’t covert well into sales and good return.

 Negative keywords are essential on generic terms as the multitude of searches possible is beyond the budget and aims of most marketing campaigns.

• Product terms: product terms, by the nature of the search characteristics (low traffic, specific search) held, can support a very broad (advanced) match type.

Creative development
For a sales approach the creative used must qualify a searcher as a potential customer and be compelling enough, with a call to action.

Branding creatives are those that continue a theme of maintain continuity with other branding or marketing activities.

In a sales strategy the branded terms can be used in multiple ways to increase awareness of a company’s particular brand, sale or product range.

This ties in very well with the specific creative listed below and as such the direct branding creatives are an option for this particular approach.

General creatives are those that represent the core benefits, offerings or values of a company but are designed to reinforce the fact that the searcher has come to the right place or found the right company.

In many instances search results are dominated with listings that might not be the actual site being looked for.

Affiliates, resellers, and competitors all might be buying or optimizing against a particular term and in most instances if the keywords being used are generic the likelihood of the maximum number of other bidders is high.

For this reason if someone is searching for ‘digital cameras’ and a listing from Canon appears with ‘digital camera’ written within the title and description the searcher is reassured that a trusted brand such as Canon is also presenting a link to ‘digital camera:

Specific creatives are those that utilize the titles and descriptions to represent a specific offer or message related to the keyword or searcher’s interest.

In many respects a specific offer creative is often used when a seasonal variable or event gives a company a short-term competitive advantage.

Measurement/control parameters
Once all of the actionable variables (i.e. engines, keywords, creatives) have been highlighted the next stage is to get an understanding of how to measure the performance against the objective.

In this instance it is sales so the following control parameters are used as well as the measurement thereof.

Control parameters
The most important variable here is to determine what the success metrics are and how they are to be measured.

In a sales strategy the perfect solution would be to make all traffic to a website accountable.

Understandably, many sales are generated offline from online traffic but to determine success online the following parameters should be considered.

• Return On Investment (ROI) – A simple calculation of revenue divided by cost, is one of the most effective ways of determining the performance of a search engine marketing campaign.

If a predetermined return is needed, a search campaign can be controlled to that particular level.

• Return On Advertising Spend (ROAS) – this calculation is the same as an ROI calculation except that the marketer will have determined what return is needed on advertising expenditure rather than advertising plus all additional costs of sale.

• Cost Per Order (CPO) – a CPO measurement takes into account the number of conversions (sales) generated by an advertising medium.

If the cost of advertising (in the case of search cost of clicks) is divided by the number of sales, the CPO is determined. Many companies have a range for a CPO and optimize within that range.

Measurement
With the identification of the control parameters the focus must now be to look at how to measure each of them to gauge success or failure.

Using measurements emanating back from the search engines and parameters gathered by tracking and analysis tools the following apply to the tracking of a sales (eCommerce) strategy.

Measurement variables
The essential criterion for measuring an eCommerce strategy is to be aware of all the parameters that determine success.

The most important variables to use are traffic, cost of traffic, conversions (generated sales) and if possible value of sale (which can be substituted for an average order value [AOV]). There are three means of obtaining this information.

1. Search engines: many of the engines, such as Overture and Google AdWordsTM, provide the search marketer with the option of taking all of the abovementioned data.

 This is free of charge in most cases or can be obtained with a small premium. The disadvantage with this type of tracking is that despite the information being free it is only available for a selection of engines and will not give a complete picture of success/failings.

2. Tracking tools: Please click here to learn about the detailed description of the tracking tools available to track the entire search campaign.

The advantage of a tracking tool is that all search submission types (PFI, Shopping Engines, PFP, Organic) can be measured in one location and, by analysis of performance, compared type for type.

The disadvantage is cost and resources required to manage such a tool.

3. Homegrown systems: many companies have devised analysis tools that allow marketing departments to track the performance of a search campaign using the website’s existing logs.

By utilizing a code (such as an affiliate ID code) a company can identify the source of traffic and watch the progression of said traffic through the site.

If these data are compared with the data provided by the engines all of the variables for control are covered.

Detailed measurement
It is also important to ensure that measurement for an eCommerce strategy is as granular as possible.

Keywords should be measured individually so for some search engines, such as Google AdWordsTM or FindWhat that allow you to measure groups of keywords together these options should be ignored in favor of the singular keyword tracking.

For sake of reporting, keywords can be grouped together and summarized but in an ideal scenario keywords, engines and sales must all be recorded in minute detail.

Indirect conversions (deferred sales)
In addition, it is important to appreciate conversions both directly and indirectly. In other words it is vitally important to recognize that users may return to the site after a few hours, days, or even weeks, to conclude a transaction.

Measurement calculations
The measurement parameters for success will be marketer defined according to the business parameters of the company.

For many companies search is measured differently from other marketing activities, as it is accountable (i.e. revenue over costs).

Management and optimization
The final stage in working toward a particular objective is to understand the way to manage the campaign and to optimize the performance if it isn’t as good as expected.

It is important in understanding how to make the most of search engines and generating sales.

PFP management
The variables that require management are quite simple and represent the core foundations of a strategy around achieving sales via the search engines. The following are the said variables.

• Presence – ensuring that search listings appear under search terms that are most likely to prompt a click and an eventual conversion.

• Quality – ensuring that search listings that appear are converting the searcher into a visitor to a website.

• Cost effectiveness – making sure that all search campaigns are running the desired business goals set for the particular medium and objective (i.e. meeting an ROI goal).

Managing a campaign for sales (eCommerce) consists of two distinct methodologies, as with the branding and awareness campaign. These are:

 (1) Technology and
(2) Manual management

Technology ‘bid management’
With an effective sales campaign working with all types of keyword it is essential to use some type of bidding technology to aid in driving success.

The following stepped process should be considered when managing a campaign through a bid management technology.

Step 1 Research – It is critical to research the right keywords to use in a campaign and more importantly to apply bidding to each of them.

Elements such as bid price, keyword velocity and estimated conversion rate can be applied to terms and the price and position needed to sustain an effective campaign.

Step 2 Selecting keywords – keywords researched must be selected both by their singular ability to achieve the goal and as a portfolio.

Different bidding rules or practices must be applied to keywords with different capabilities.

Keywords that are generic, for example, may have stricter CPC limitations as they hold most risk in using a large percentage of a budget.

Brand terms, for example, may require top placements to ensure a brand-related search is always catered for within the top syndicated positions.

The keyword classification must be done based upon the research mentioned in point number I so that accurate keywords can be selected to achieve goals.

In applying the conversion principles, keywords should also be selected based upon conversion potential.

This applies to any kind of keyword management; however, applying the same conversion rate to a generic word as to a specific word may produce inaccurate projections.

When selecting the keywords to use and the bid price range or position range at whatever time of day, based upon whether the research demonstrates the keyword performing at the desired return level using averages.

Averages must be estimated in the initial setup of a campaign; then, as more realistic data are passed back from tracking tools, the averages must be replaced with actuals.

Step 3 Implement – once the keywords are selected it is essential to produce the most appropriate bidding rules for each term.

Selected terms that can justify higher positions must have rules different from those that hold more risk.

Use the selected keywords to apply bidding rules and implement the terms on an hourly basis.

In many instances bid rules must be applied to singular terms, however, in many instances, the same bid rule or bid management technique can be applied to more than one keyword.

As many of the terms indicated in Step 2 don’t hold a keyword velocity warranting concern, these can be grouped together and a ‘universal’ bid rule applied.

Some bid management tools are more advanced than others. The more sophisticated tools allow for market conditions and the performance of the keywords to determine the best bidding rules.

These systems take much of the guesswork out of bid management, as trend-based analysis determines the most appropriate time of day, day or week, by keyword, to place bids and listings to ensure maximum coverage within the PFP search engines.

Manual management
Manual management is defined as the control of a campaign using limited additional technology.

The focus is to find work around mechanisms on the words and phrases being used to ensure that a campaign’s performance is maintained at all times.

Without a bid management technology this is a very difficult and challenging task, however, it is not impossible.

The way to master this is to focus on the tools and mechanisms provided within the industry that are freely available for all to use. In this instance these are the bidding vehicles provided by the PFP engines themselves.

The effectiveness of these mechanisms is in fact determined by the amount of resource allocated.

The question becomes that of frequency and updating techniques. Many companies choose to use different ways to overcome problematical resource issues.

One of the worst ways to ensure a top spot is to purchase the number 1 phrase using auto bidding, and to place a very high maximum bid but, as highlighted, this isn’t one of the better ways to go about it. Other methods more successful than this have been employed, as follows.

• Manage keywords sorted by importance: if the keywords are sorted by importance and relevance to a company’s products, services or branding exercises, more emphasis could be placed upon these words only and the remaining terms updated less often.

• Manage keywords sorted by cost: for the more fiscally challenged campaigns the management of keywords by price is critical.

In sorting keywords by those that have a high likelihood to run away with a campaign, these should be managed more carefully and more often than those that don’t have as high a probability of doing so.

This rationale is particularly important for the management of Google AdWordsTM and in reference to organizing campaigns to get the most from each keyword based upon a budget.

• Manage keywords sorted by performance: As a search engine marketing campaign matures, information becomes available from many sources on the performance of each keyword.

 If this is applied to a conversion parameter, performance can be determined. Whereas a bid management tool allows for hourly bid management based upon performance, the manual mechanism is a great deal more crude – when managing on an ‘as and when’ basis, analysis is only available at intermittent times.

 The latter form of management does give an element of control, however, as keywords that consistently perform well, related to sales, can be isolated and managed separately.

PFI/Feed management
PFI/Feed management is something that is often neglected by companies. The resource burden of the PFP engines nearly always outweighs the importance of managing feeds for engines such as Overture Site Match xChangeTM.

As with any listing that appears within any engine the parameters for management should be as follows.

• Ensure relevance – when preparing a feed it is essential to ensure the listings are relevant to the subject matter of the landing page.

The title, description, and optimized content (such as the short and long description of the product in question) all possess a similar relevancy and have a theme.

• Have One to One (1:1) ratio of listing to product (landing page URL) – as a prerequisite to using a PFI engine it is important to maintain a 1: 1 ratio of listing to product URL.

 In other words if the site has a listing for one particular product, there can’t be two listings in a feed pointing to that same product.

 This is important for management as updated feeds will potentially be processed faster when the feed is both relevant and has this ratio.

• Use strong creative – like any type of listing in any search engine the searcher is expected to click on the link if it is deemed to match the search query.
PFI listings should have all of the properties for compelling the searcher to click. Please click here for more data on writing strong creative.

It is also important to remember that in many instances PFP is most effective when managed in bulk, i.e. when an entire catalogue of products is submitted. Overture Site Match xChangeTM will only take listings of this nature.

Optimization
In many respects, using the search engines to generate sales requires constant optimization as many of the variables, such as keywords and market conditions (bid prices) as well as demand for terms and seasonality, change on a constant basis.

Many of the problems that are commonly associated with a strategy designed to drive sales and some suggested optimization techniques are presented for review.

The optimization of a strategy to generate sales is a dynamic and fluid process that must be repeated on a constant basis.

Market conditions change on a constant basis, both by the nature of the competition and by demand from the searcher, and, as such, constant manipulation of the criteria that determine success is required, especially in the case of PFP engines, on an hourly basis.

When using the optimization methods, it is important to ensure that enough of a timeline has passed to enable assessment to be done.

Optimization based upon hourly or even daily performance may not provide a size of sample large enough to enable determination of either success, or (as above) failings that need correction.

Table 1.

Sales driven strategy problems
PFP Engine Problem Optimization Technique
High Traffic, Low Sales Volume Scenario A: The most common problem here is that the keywords being used aren’t as relevant as need be.

If traffic is being received, there is interest but upon arrival on the site it is not finding exactly what is required and leaving without converting.

Revise the keyword list to weed out terms that are driving large volumes of traffic that isn’t converting.

Scenario B: The keywords being used are in positions too prominent within the engines.

Number 1 isn’t always the best option as in many instances the user may click without first determining if this is the right search listing to solve the query.

Attempt to lower the bid prices to lower traffic and attract more qualified users
High Sales, Low ROI Scenario A: The sales that are being generated are doing so at a high CPC cost.

Revisit the keywords and study the generic terms to determine if the cost to benefit ratio is working on these terms.

Using bid management attempt to control exposure of these keywords to the most optimum times of day that will generate sales.

Pay particular attention to the terms that are driving traffic and no sales

Scenario B: The products being sold cannot justify the CPC charges.

Study the CPC price in conjunction with AOV to determine if CPC prices are too high
High ROI, Low Sales Volume The keywords selected are too specific and the products aren’t getting enough exposure.

Revisit the keyword list and increase the number of generic terms and product terms to cover more of the searching audience.
100% Sales from Branded Terms The branded terms are masking the performance of the other terms within the keyword portfolio.

Revisit the categorization of the keywords and study the performance of the generic and product terms.

In most scenarios with a popular brand up to 90% of sales can be generated by branded terms.

However, in analyzing the performance of each grouping a more accurate portrayal of performance can be determined
High Traffic, Low Sales Volume The feed may contain too many products that aren’t converting or have more informational qualities (i.e. the listings show up when a searcher is looking for information on a product with no intention to buy).

Scan the feed for SKUs that are driving traffic and no sales and remove them from the feed
High Sales, Low ROI The products being sold aren’t justifying the CPC of the rate card.

As the CPC isn’t as flexible as the PFP engines the products must be optimized to a level whereby at the site conversion rate after a sample number of clicks (say 100) the potential sale can justify the costs.

Remove terms that a) may drive too much traffic or b) as per the example below, can’t justify the cost.
High ROI, Low Sales Volume Scenario A: The feed is too specific. Attempt to increase the number of products within the feed

Scenario B: Only a select number of keywords are showing up. Have the feed analyzed for possible improvement

Organic (natural search) engines
One of the strongest ways to increase sales at a very strong ROI is to adopt organic search engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

In many instances these mechanisms have low recurring costs, which are in actuality based upon the commitment from an organization to constant improvement, and can be very strong in driving top placements, under a company’s brand name in particular.

It is therefore one of the most important aspects of a search strategy designed around sales, however, is a great deal more complicated than that of paid search. For this reason the following should be utilized.

• Research when either (1) employing an outside firm to optimize a website or (2) placing a request for web designers or technical departments to implement websit changes, it is important to ensure that keywords that will represent the brand and company are used within the optimization process.

Above all else it is important to be listed organically against these terms alone as many searchers still to this day utilize search engines even to find company websites rather than typing in a website address.

• Measurement: for a sales strategy it is recommended that rankings are used as the control and measurement variable and that sales from organic traffic are measured by recording the data from log file analysis against conversion points within the website.

 While adjustment and optimization of words and phrases based upon success is difficult it is possible to record total sales and then measure additional organic optimization.

As organic listings aren’t as dynamic as paid listings, the optimization and control aren’t as fluid.

For this reason when optimizing organically it is important to accumulate a history or presence within the engines and build upon this.

The constant optimization necessary for organic search is performed via paying attention to detail regarding the keywords and phrases that are most important to a business and increasing relevancy, via code changes and link architecture, to ensure long-term presence.

Keywords: Vertical engines, Organic, Shopping engines, Keyword, creative, Branded terms, Generic terms, traffic, CPC, Product terms, term, search campaign, Match types, broad match, advanced match, negative keywords, Branding creatives, Cost Per Order, eCommerce, traffic, conversions, tracking, bid management, PFI management, Feed management, optimization,

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