PPC / SEM or SEO? or Both! Ugh!! Help Me!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Info pulled from an email, sent 8/13/09, from "Center For Media Research, Research Brief: SEO or PPC."

SEO or PPC

According to a new study by Engine Ready, based on traffic to 26 e-retail sites in a 12-month period that ended June 30, visitors who arrive at a retailer's site from paid search ads are 50% more likely to buy than those who come from clicking on a natural search link. The conversion rate from paid search is 2.03% versus 1.26% from organic search, according to the study as reported by Internet Retailer.

From Wikipedia:
Pay per click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model, used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines (SEO), advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market.


The current study is a follow up of a completed two year study in 2008 to identify the magnitude of any visitor behavioral trends based on traffic source in a way that could help marketers adjust their strategies to maximize value. Although there can be an almost endless number of individual traffic sources, notes the study, this study, identified and measured 4 primary traffic source categories that encapsulate all source origins:

• Organic listings
• Paid listings
• Direct access and bookmarks
• Other referrer

Most likely to buy are consumers who navigate directly to a retailer's site by typing in a URL or clicking on a bookmark, as their conversion rate registered at 7.38%. Consumers who came to an e-commerce site from another site or an e-mail converted at 6.58%, the study shows. The overall conversion rate was 3.6%.
The study found that:

• Paid search visitors bought the most, with an average order value of $117.06 versus $109.27 for those coming from other sites, $106.64 for visitors from organic search and $95.29 from direct referrals, such as from a bookmark or direct entry of a URL
• Average order value for all retailers in the study was $104.21, down 31.7% from a previous Engine Ready study that analyzed data from a two-year period that ended December 2007. Retailers said average order values from all channels have declined in the past 12 to 18 months
• The average time on a site per visit increased 5.8% from the previous study to 4 minutes, 33 seconds. Consumers who navigated directly to a site spent 5 minutes, 8 seconds. The study found consumers who spent more time on a site were more likely to buy, but that their average order value was not higher than that of other buyers
• Site visitors on average viewed 5.2 pages per visit, up 15.6% from the previous study. Those who came directly or from other sites or e-mail viewed the most pages, 6.2 on average
• Average number of seconds on a page dropped 9% from the earlier study to 53 seconds, which could be a sign marketers are doing a better job of presenting information on their pages in a more easily readable format, the study says. Paid search visitors spent the most time on a page, 66 seconds on average.
• 43.9% of all visitors left after viewing just one page, down slightly from 44.5% in the earlier study. Organic search produced the highest bounce rate, 48.5%, and direct access the lowest, 39.2%
• Direct access produced the largest share of site visits (40%), followed by other referring sites and e-mail (27.9%), paid search (19.8%) and organic search (12.3%)

This study is based on an analysis of 20.8 million visits and 108 million page views to 26 e-commerce sites from July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009. 21 of the 27 companies in the latest study also provided data for the earlier Engine Ready study.

Web 3.0 ?

Web 3.0 is here, but what is it?

Could this be it? Type in " www.BooneOakley.com " into your browser and you'll know what I mean.

Hmm...what say you?

SEO Optimization & 8 Simple Steps to Implement It

Search engine optimization (SEO) 8 simple steps to implement! Here's a clear, simple, straight forward search engine optimization (SEO) checklist that small and large companies can utilize.

SEO Quick Launch Checklist - Top 8 Simple Steps to Implement

1. Create a profile for free on www.LinkedIn.com and include link backs to your website and blog in your profile.

2. Create a profile for free on www.FaceBook.com and include link backs to your website and blog in your profile.

3. Create a profile for free on www.Myspace.com and include link backs to your website and blog in your profile.

4. Visit www.Blogger.com to set-up a free blog, and make sure you include link backs to your website.

5. Visit www.Wikipedia.com and write an article on your company -- when founded, services offered, etc. and of course include link backs to your company's website.

6. Visit www.TheFlip.com and order for around $100 a video camcorder. This easy-to-use camera makes it extremely simple to record and download videos to www.YouTube.com related to your company on a bi-weekly or monthly basis Sample movie topics include "public service announcements", "how to videos", "special offers", "recap of press releases", "industry analysis", "market trends as you see them", "tutorials", "relevant news worthy events", "new product announcements", and "new applications for existing products."

7. Visit industry related newspapers, journals, and consumer related websites and blogs to contribute to articles and blog discussions (e.g. "post your comments"). At the end of your comments, close by adding your name (or company name) and add a link underneath it. Make it very subtle otherwise you risk your comment or blog contribution not to be published.

8. Find out which keywords people use the most to find your company's products or service offerings on the search engines and then include them in strategic locations throughout your website and press releases. To not get technical, add the keywords in your copy's headlines and at the beginning of paragraphs and sentences. If you can tolerate a little tech talk, make sure the website's title tags and alt tags have your keywords in them.

That's it! If you want any additional color, or want to know why the actions above can help with your SEO efforts, please drop us a line.

Happy Selling,

Jeff Martin
Sales Driven Marketing LLC
www.SalesDrivenMarketing.com

40% CMO's Unhappy with New-Hire Talent Pool

CMOs at top US companies place the highest value on creative thinkers and leaders when they are looking for new hires, but 39% say they are dissatisfied with the availability of qualified employment candidates, according to research from Epsilon.

Only 5% of CMOs say they are “very satisfied” with the qualified talent pool of candidates when ‘qualified’ is defined as “someone who is able to handle their responsibilities on day one.”

Hardest-to-Find Characteristics

The CMOs in the survey also said that finding employees who provide leadership and inspiration, and who are forward thinking, modern and creative were the hardest to find:



“These survey results show a significant number of unsatisfied hiring decision-makers who are anxious to find candidates with marketing talent,” said said Epsilon CMO Steve Cone. “The results suggest that while hiring may be slow in 2009, job seekers who combine creativity and leadership with data mining or digital experience will have ample opportunities in corporate marketing or the agency side of the business.”

Apple Most Admired by CMOs

The research also asked CMOs to name the companies they feel display “best practices” in their marketing efforts and found that Apple - far above all others - does this best.



In fact, with the exception of Apple, Procter & Gamble, Bank of America and American Express, CMOs view most companies as stagnant and lacking innovation in their marketing efforts, Epsilon said.

Agencies Rarely Exceed Expectations

CMOs surveyed say that more than one third of work in their department is outsourced to contracted agencies, but more often than not, the agencies of record performed only adequately, or even below standards.

Asked to evaluate the extent to which their agency of record exceeds their organization’s expectations in a variety of categories, the marketing executives gave the lowest marks to price (9%) and return on investment (12%). They gave higher scores for communication (27%), knowledge of their business (24%) and client service (23%).



When the bar was lowered slightly to “meets expectations,” the scores increased significantly to price (71%), ROI (67%), communication (60%), knowledge of my business (62%) and client service (64%).

Strategy and Planning Least Likely To Be Outsourced

The survey asked CMOs to identify the marketing effort they would never outsource. Approximately 34% of respondents named strategy and planning services, which received the highest score. Other top scorers:



About the survey: Epsilon’s CMO Survey was conducted in two waves in the fall of 2008 among 180 senior marketing executives. Of the respondents, 100% said they are very or somewhat involved in determining company marketing initiatives. Additional in-depth information about CMO characteristics, preferences and viewpoints is available in a special report from Epsilon that profiles the American CMO.