“Conversion Rate”, either online leads or sales, is no doubt the most important online marketing goal. Having driven traffic to your site, what can you do to improve the conversion rate? These are 11 ways you can do; feel free to add anything else you can think of to share in the comment.
Usability Test. This is the most important test. You need to know whether your site works fine in different browsers, whether it loads fast, whether it help visitors to find what they need (like an on-site search box),… Get a usability expert; it’s worth it.
Multivariable Testing. This is what Google Website Optimizer enables you to do, testing multiple changes simultaneously to find the best combination of website elements.
A/B testing, or split testing, one element on a web page is compared to a variety of single-variable test samples in order to find a better performing one. In many occasions this is what’s needed compared to multivariable testing.
Web Analytics. With web analytics, you can find out what and where your visitors click, where they leave the site, which pages have very high bounce rate, and etc.
Heatmap. Web heatmap has been used for displaying areas of a Web page most frequently scanned by visitors. Try out CrazyEgg.
Live chat. Put a live chat box on your site; get instant feedback from your visitors and improve the site accordingly.
Online Feedback. Ask for feedback from your visitors. I recommend 4Q tool and Kampyle.
Online Survey. SurveyMonkey is one very good online survey tool I have been used for a long time.
Competitors Site. Learn from your competitors; don’t just copy everything.
Testimonials. Add testimonials from satisfied customers and the media.
Logos. Not just your company logo but logos to reassure the visitors like Verisign Certificate, BBBOnline, HackerSafe, Trust-E,… and even your well known partners.
This is the central page of a series of posts on Search Engine Marketing for marketers at RockyFu.com. This is a PPC guide for marketers from strategic perspective with a focus on “what to do”; detailed PPC tactics and operations on “how to do” are not a concern in this guide.
Search engine marketing (SEM) consists of search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC). But, in many Asian countries, PPC is widely regarded as “SEM”. So, this guide does not cover SEO. Examples and illustrations are given based on Asia Pacific markets.
If you are a marketer and you have questions with regard to search engine marketing, please contact me here and I’ll share the answer as part of the guide. If you would like to share tips with other marketers, I’m glad to include them in the guide as well (credit will be given to you).
The Google Network is a large group of websites and other products, such as email programs and blogs, who have partnered with Google to display AdWords ads. Advertisers have the option of running their ads on Google as well as the Google Network for no extra cost.
its advertising network primarily consists of search network and content network.
Search network consists of Google itself and its search partners; ads are targeted based on a user’s search terms on search results pages. Content network consists of hundreds of thousands of websites and products that display Google ads by contextual matching. Generally, search network delivers more targeted advertising with higher ROI.
Benefits of Content Network
Reach. If you want to reach broader audience, content network helps. Just Google AdWords content network reaches over 70% of unique Internet users around the world.
Awareness. The content network has the advantage of reaching potential customers at different points of the buying cycle. If you are to launch products of a new category, search can hardly help (unless you run off-line campaigns) without content network driving awareness.
Branding. Most search networks (one exception is Baidu) only allows text ads, which makes content network more valuable for online branding campaigns. You can run text ads, image ads, and video ads on content network pages.
Google recently analyzed conversions, cost, and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) on the Content Network, and compared them to performance metrics on the Search Network across thousands of accounts and many geographic regions. It published a whitepaper, which suggests the following conclusions:
Ads on the Google Content Network can be an effective way to gain additional conversion beyond those you get via search.
When used in combination with Search, the median advertiser has a content CPA that’s within approximately 2% of their Search CPA.
The Content Network drives nearly 20% of total conversions for the median advertisers
Conversion rates are higher for advertisers who used either of two AdWords campaign management controls: the Conversion Optimizer and site exclusion.
In a follow-up, Google recommended the following actions:
Consider complementing your search campaigns with campaigns on the Content Network, if you haven’t done so already.
Use tools for content optimization such as the Conversion Optimizer, Placement Performance Reports, and the Site and Category Exclusion tool. They can help you further tailor your Content Network performance to meet your advertising goals.
You can find some tips on optimizing content network here, here, and here. It’s more important for marketers to realize the value and benefits of content network.
This is part seven of a series of posts on Search Engine Marketing for marketers. This part discusses PPC outsourcing and ways to identify a good SEM / PPC Agency.
If you have experience in SEM, you are probably aware of the benefits of this online marketing channel; otherwise, you may wonder why you should do SEM, for which you can refer to part one of this SEM guide.
If your company doesn’t have an in-house team to take care of SEM, you probably need to consider outsourcing it to an agency. In addition, when you have in-house SEM team but there’s lack of knowledge or language capabilities in certain markets you expand into, you can also consider outsourcing part of your SEM activities to a third party. You can contact me if you need SEM consultancy and freelancing.
What to Ask for in SEM Request for Proposal (RFP)
Company registration certificate
Years of experience
Past accounts handled
Past accounts managed in the same industry and the produced results
Number of staff (more importantly, for your SEM campaign)
Bio and qualifications of the staff who will manage your SEM campaign; roles and responsibilities; and, how many accounts each person manages.
Who builds and maintains the keyword list (and how)
What bidding system the agency uses. If they have their own system, it’s a good sign. But you want to know more details of the bidding system. You don’t want to pay an agency tens of thousands every month who rely entirely on machine’s input.
How the agency handles seasonal effects and promotions
How frequent a report will be submitted and the content of the report
Who will analyze the campaign performance
There’s a lot more you need to find out which company has what it takes to run SEM for you. Make sure you tie the campaign to your business goals and keep improving the ROI. Move slowly to a performance based model.
Identify Good Search Marketing Agencies
Here are some more tips for identifying good search marketing agencies/companies to work with.
Previous clients and testimonials.
Ask for a list of their previous clients. Big names like P&G would give you confidence. In addition, if the agency had clients in similar industries, you would benefit from their experience. If you know a friend or two in those listed companies, you can talk to them and about for their opinions about the company.
Case studies.
If the agency shows some case studies how they solved a similar problem you are facing now for other companies, they probably can help you too.
Word of mouth.
Do a blog search and forum search to find out what other people say about them. The buzz sometimes tells something you can’t find elsewhere.
Websites & Blogs.
Visit their websites and read their blogs, which usually tells a lot about them. If you are looking for search engine optimization services, you may want to check out their rankings in major search engines on industry keywords like “search engine optimization”, “Singapore SEO Company”, etc.
Ask them.
Listen to what they say and do a comparison. Ignore those fancy words like “top notch”. Check out more about what they have done in the past and find out their unique selling points which are going to bring you results. In addition, tell your requirement and ask for a proposal.
Meet them in person.
Invite a sales person and a person in operation. Sales people are good at telling stories; operation people tell you the real ones. You can also attend some well known conferences like ad:tech and Search Engine Strategies where you can meet lots of professionals.
It is important to keep an open mind while selecting search marketing agencies. Do your homework and build a win-win relationship between you and your agency.
Due to the technology differences between normal Internet and mobile Internet, it’s hard to keep tracking mobile sites with normal web analytics. Here are five mobile analytics you can choose to track your mobile sites.
PercentMobile Mobile Analytics.PercentMobile provides a very decent looking mobile analytics interface. You can check out the demo here. It tells percentage of mobile traffic as well as percentages of access by:
Wi-fi
mobile phone models
mobile brands
Screen Dimensions
Service Providers
Service Provider Countries
admob Mobile Analytics. The design is similar to normal web analytics tracking visitors, content, traffic sources and goals (defined as “events”). Watch the video for introduction:
Mobilytics™ provides accurate visitor statistics, and detailed information about the phones they use and their capabilities. This mobile analytics dashboard is configured by you, to show the information you need at a single glance. Check out the screen capture tour here.
Bango Mobile Analytics. Bango Mobile Analytics also helps you with your mobile SEO by letting you track the individual keywords across multiple search networks and adjust accordingly. You can map the results you get to by country, operator and handset and see important trends, such as what keywords are best in different geographic regions. You can sign up for a 30 day trial.
This is part six of a series of posts on Search Engine Marketing for marketers. This part discusses in-house PPC (or SEM for most Asian marketers) management.
The first question you probably want to ask before you hire anyone, “is it worth it?”, or “should I…” Ask yourself the following questions instead:
How much have you been constantly spending on paid search campaigns every month? More importantly, how much extra do you have to pay if you outsource to an agency or third party to do it?
How many markets do you target?
How many search engines do you use?
If you are rewarding an agency enough to hire an in-house, why don’t you? The dedicated PPC team can just focus on your business goal instead of several ones. Besides, you won’t hesitate when you want to share some insights about your business and marketing plans.
Who Are PPC Qualified?
The chances are, you don’t have someone to identify a qualified PPC person for you. These are the qualifications you should be looking for:
Web Analytics. Be familiar with the basics of web analytics; not necessarily the exact web analytics suite your company uses. If your company uses Google Analytics , sponsor him/her to take the IQ test.
Search Engines. Depending on your target markets, it’s important the search marketer has got experience in top search engines of each market. However, if a person is very familiar with one search engine (especially Google), it won’t be a problem to get used to the others.
Language Abilities. This is a must. The person you are to hire must be capable of reading and writing in all local languages in your MAIN markets.
Years of Experience. People get easily impressed by big names and years of experience. It’s not true that the longer one works, the better he or she becomes. It’s just that he or she has more chances in longer period of time to become better. Focus on the following experiences instead:
Related industry experience
Optimization. What have been done to optimize the campaign?
Past campaign objectives and outcome. Is it just driving traffic or ROI driven campaigns?
Monthly budget one has handled independently (and, you may want to ask how your candidate did budgeting).
Business Acumen. SEM is not technical work; someone without business acumen can hardly work out a proper SEM strategy.
Managing PPC Staff
There are two things people want more than sex and money… recognition and praise.
Mary Kay Ash quotes (American businesswoman, She founded Mary Kay Cosmetics (1963). b.1915)
Recognizing and rewarding your PPC staff from campaign performance are important to keep him or her motivated to constantly look for ways to improve your business. These are some KPIs you can consider for your PPC team:
Total Sales via PPC
PPC ROAS
PPC Cost Per Conversions (conversions could be better designed as: leads, downloads, sales, clicks, etc.)
Conversion Rate
It’s harder to hire an in-house PPC than one for an agency; look into one’s potentials to constantly improve your SEM performance. And, someone with a passion in digital marketing is always a valuable asset. The next part discusses PPC outsourcing.
This is part five of a series of posts on Search Engine Marketing for marketers. This part discusses branding in search, both organic search and paid search (PPC).
Some marketers have got an idea that SEM or PPC has nothing to do with branding. Is it true? You will see the answer in the studies below.
Impact of Branding on Search Ad Effectiveness
Microsoft and Sony conducted a research study to evaluate the impact of branding on Sony’s search ad effectiveness. The results illustrate that exposure to search ad considerably lifted purchase intent and drove likelihood of recommendation. Branded search terms proved to further enhance the value of search advertising. This study demonstrated:
Exposure of search ad lifted purchase intent and drove likelihood of recommendation.
Search ads with branded terms were more effective in driving brand lift than generic terms.
Audiences exposed to Sony search ads had less positive attitudes towards competitors’ brands.
The Brand Lift Of Search
In a whitepaper released by Enquiro, which is a study commissioned by Google, showed a significant correlation between companies in the top organic (natural search) and paid search (PPC) placements and consumer brand affinity, brand recall and purchase intent.
These are the key findings:
A 16% point increase in brand association when brand is in top ad and top organic listings
A 2.2x lift in aided brand recall when brand is in top ad and top organic listings
When brand is in top ad and top organic listings, purchase consideration increases 8% points
Consumers are less likely to consider purchasing a brand that doesn’t appear on the search results page
Even for branded queries, presence in top ad and top organic listings boosts purchase intent
In addition, the eye tracking study reveals consumer insights:
Brand fixations occurred in the URL and title of the listing; not in the description Best practice: Place your brand in the title, URL, and as close to the start of the description as possible in your ad and organic listings
Subjects with established affinity for the brand spent 25% less time on the top ad listing, jumping down to the organic listings 73% faster than the non-affinity group Best practice: Ad listings appear to have a greater opportunity to lift brand affinity among new customers; write and target them as such – especially for upper funnel queries
What do we learn?
Your investment in brand advertising increases with search
Advertise on unbranded and branded keywords
Tailor your ad to prospects, those with no established 3 brand affinity
Every time your site listing shows prominently in the search engine result pages (SERPs), branding takes place. SERPs basically include sponsored and organic listings, each of which consists of title, description, and display URL. You should use these three elements to encourage maximum awareness for better branding.
Should You Bid on Your Brand Name?
Some marketers don’t think it’s necessary to bid on their brand names as the website will most likely be the first natural search result. So, are you wasting money while you bid on the brand related keywords?
Think about this first. Your website comes first in natural result on brand name search; but what happens when your competitors or affiliates bid on that brand name too? Without bidding on your own brand name, your natural listing could show in the second or even fourth position. Now, what’s the odd of clicking through? Lower than having bid on brand name.
At Chinese search engine Baidu, without bidding on your brand name could be a disaster as the whole listings on the first page could be sponsored listing. In addition, bidding on your brand name allows you to control the ad copy that appears in the sponsored search and control the landing page.
Remember the study I mentioned earlier? Appearing in both the organic and sponsored search engine results can increase click-through rates significantly.
Search Branding Measurement
Search branding can be measured through engagement. The following metrics can be helpful to you to get started:
Average Time on Site
Page Views per Visit
Form submissions
Downloads
RSS / Email subscriptions
The next two chapters discusses in-house PPC management and PPC outsourcing respectively.
Now you are about to launch a brand, before you broadcast it out, are there things you need to do as part of online strategies? Definitely plenty of.
Domain name. Register the top level domain names .com, .org, .net, and all country specific ones (like .com.sg, .sg, …) wherever you expect your brand’s presence. I know you are probably facing a list of dozens of if not hundreds of domain names to register; but, you may regret it if you don’t. Remember this, not just the exact brand name but different variations and combinations with your company names and product categories.
Trademark. Unless you are not serious about the brand you are about to launch, there’s no reason you don’t trademark it in all your markets you care. This is not only helpful when there’s trademark infringement issue but also valuable when you run PPC campaigns; you can protect your brand terms from being bid on by your competitors.
Search Engines. You want to make sure, the moment you launch your branding campaigns and some people look for you, they can find your official website in search engines. To do that, you need to optimize your site for search engines and at the same time, you can run PPC ads on your brand terms.
Websites. Besides usability and content, make sure your websites deliver the same marketing message as that of your off-line campaigns like TV ads and outdoor display.
Social Network. An overwhelming majority (88%) of marketers in a recent survey say they are now using some form of social media to market their business. Register on social networking websites with your brand names whether or not you have a strategy in mind yet for that specific social network. The ideal case is to register on all social sites; you can easily do that with knowem.com for $64.95.
Be proactive and it saves a lot more trouble if you do.
If you do SEM campaign in house, your budget just needs to include search engine cost. If you outsource to an agency, you probably need to include 10% to 20% account management fee on top of your search engine spend. How much should you spend on search engines? You should do the estimation for each search engine and sum up the total. Request for a proposal from search engines directly (which usually requires your monthly budget is between two to five thousand dollars depending on which search engine you use) or your agency to get the proposed total budget with projected number ofclicks (which roughly equals the number of visits).
In case you can only start with a small budget and will do it in-house, this is a simple way to work out the estimated spend and total clicks yourself:
Generate a list of keywords with search engine keywords tools like this, this, and this.
Referring to search engine market share in different market, relatively estimate the spend and clicks on other search engines. A better way is to refer to user demographic data in each search engine as well; but this sometimes requires experience.
The senior management is more interested in proposed budget and projected results. Now you’ve got the budget which is probably the maximum you can spend with search engines. You need to adjust it according to the current economy, industry, and company situations.
How to Estimate the Results
Let’s take the number of clicks on your PPC ads roughly as the number of visits to the site. Ask your web analytics guy to get an estimation of the site conversion rate (CR = number of leads divided by the number of visits).
Then, you can tell your management investing X amount of dollars in SEM will bring Y sales / leads, and the estimated ROI is Z. Of course, you need to show how exactly you get your projections.
The actual budgeting is more complicated; depending on which industry you are in, it could take days to finalize the proposal. Your job is to make sure you have specific goal in mind to deliver via SEM, track your SEM campaign performance, and keep improving it. The next chapter discusses branding in SEM and brand keywords.
So, you have two doors for your store and by mistake you put some kind of “Denied” sign on one door? That’s exactly what’s happening on Pizzahut Singapore’s website.
If a user typed “http://pizzahut.com.sg” isntead of “http://www.pizzahut.com.sg” can not access the website. This doesn’t make PizzaHut look good, does it? I admit I like their pizza, though.
Always do a permanent (301) redirect on one domain (www or non-www one) to the other. Be there when your customers expect you to even though it’s a small percentage.
