SEMPO Title Slide S EARCH E NGINE M ARKETING P ROFESSIONAL O RGANIZATION ENTERPRISE SEARCH Bill Hunt Board of Directors, Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO)

Enterprise Search Optimization Reality Many brands and products Multiple language versions Numerous SEM programs Wide range of roles need to be included

Many brands and products

Multiple language versions

Numerous SEM programs

Wide range of roles need to be included

Identify and fix any barriers to inclusion and ranking on global site then deploy locally 2 B Model Searcher Intent and Searcher Stimuli to engage searchers and drive them to conversion Top-priority Imperatives Key Enablers Integrate Search Best Practices into marketing mix, content creation & management workflow 1 Develop a Search Center of Excellence to ensure the most effective strategy, process, and communications A Establish keyword governance for “Always On” D Leverage our interconnected network of sites to maximize your link equity C The Road Map to Search Dominance Deploy performance metrics to monitor and optimize implementation and improvements E

Enabler | Global Center of Excellence Centralized, Scalable Search Marketing capability that meets diverse Geo and business unit needs while achieving economies of scale. Define Central and Geo/Biz Roles Remove/Streamline Non-Value Added Roles Consistent World Wide processes Standardized Forms/Templates for Campaign Mgmt. Clear Communications and Expectation Setting Shared Goals and Metrics Keyword Selection/Management Creative Development Bid Management Global Linking Strategy Localization Keyword Optimization Global Campaign Management Effectiveness Reporting Qualitative Reporting Search COE Focused, targeted activities built on streamlined core processes - scaled worldwide. Centralized Process Communications & Standards Campaign Execution Reporting and Analysis Tools Framework

Enabler | Integrate with Existing Teams Integrate keyword profiles into all media Compliment internal teams with thought leadership & resources Organic Search and Content Development Agency Partners Corporate Marketing Corporate Advertising Web Team Communications Search Manager Integrate Search into all marketing activities Provide leadership and best practices Leverage new media and PR Search Team

Integrating Search Into the Marketing Mix Search Engines Awareness Generation Mass Media/Adverts Press/PR Events/Promotions Word of Mouth Create initial awareness of product/service Engagement, Lead Capture, Commerce Engagement To achieve maximum impact, it is essential to align search with other channels and communications media to increase “Searcher Stimuli” Corporate/Product Sites Blogs & News Sites Competition Search placements are key to direct those who don’t know where to go after initial awareness Social Media

Steps to Effectively Deliver Search at Scale Enterprise Search Current State Audit 1 Standards and Best Practices Expectation Setting Processes, Forms, Checklists Evangelism, Education, Communication Business Case Dev Defined Goals and KPIs 2 Implementing the SEO Program Page Level Audting Content Audits Context & Taxonomy Link Popularity Improvements Site infrastructure Changes 3 Analytics and Reporting Tool Framework PLP Monitoring Traffic Metrics Quality of Visitor Search Impact Metrics Keyword Refinement 4

Step 1: Current State Audit Detailed Audit of Search Effectiveness Multi-Step Checklist Spiderability of the site Algorithm Compliance of the Key Pages on the Site Keyword Prominence & Density Review Site Coding for bloat and traps Map Keywords to Key Content Pages 1

Web Production & Development Cycle The model Search Implications on Roles Brand – the brand representative ensures the page content is relevant and incorporated optimal keywords Web Developer - creates and modifies code – ensures there are no spider traps and prominence is established with CSS and HTML Copy Editor - Reviews and validates content – ensures primary keyword phrase is incorporated QA Specialist - Checks pages against submitted content and standards, and validates all links in the page – ensures there are no spider traps, keyword prominence and flags any URL changes and ensures URL is in Google site map. Search Impact Client Submits request Web Producer Reviews and adds instructions Quality Assurance Specialist Checks standards, links and content Web Producer Performs final review Brand Reviews and approves Request completion Launches to live servers Web Developer Develops code Graphic Designer Develops imagery Copy editor Edits / validates content

Search Implications on Roles

Brand – the brand representative ensures the page content is relevant and incorporated optimal keywords

Web Developer - creates and modifies code – ensures there are no spider traps and prominence is established with CSS and HTML

Copy Editor - Reviews and validates content – ensures primary keyword phrase is incorporated

QA Specialist - Checks pages against submitted content and standards, and validates all links in the page – ensures there are no spider traps, keyword prominence and flags any URL changes and ensures URL is in Google site map.

Integrate SEO into entire workflow Stakeholders of each segment trained within their segment Content Editors & Brand Teams Internal: External Relations, and other Marketing Specialist IA Teams and Template Owners Corporate Webmasters

Site Wide Algorithm Compliance Audit Site Fix: Detailed recommendations for changes to make the site more search friendly Page Fix: Detailed page level recommendations for changes to make specific pages rank higher Keyword Modeling: Detailed review of keywords and their ranking and conversion performance Diagnostic Area Next Steps Site Spiderability Detect any barriers to spiders Review page inclusion and frequency of updates Link Popularity Quantity & Quality of links to the site Algorithm Compliance Template layout Keyword Prominence Unfriendly design attributes Preferred Landing Page Development

Site Fix: Detailed recommendations for changes to make the site more search friendly

Page Fix: Detailed page level recommendations for changes to make specific pages rank higher

Keyword Modeling: Detailed review of keywords and their ranking and conversion performance

High Redirection of the primary domain to xxxx then to xxx Review this issues with Akamai to determine if you can remove the 302 redirect – this will allow the search engine to share home page links more effectively High Some title tags are not formatted well – they have an extra “-” that creates a hyphenated word Some title tags are not adjusted for prominence GSI will crawl the site an identify the title tags that need to be updated ad well as the template and business rules which need to be adjusted Target Keywords should be at the beginning of the title High Text site map on home page Due to the navigation problems identified we recommend adding a standard site map to the home page of the site. Medium XML Google sitemap should be used on the site We did not detect the site map during the audit since it had a different name than what is expected. The site map is validated and working. Recommend to convert from .txt to XML format. High Need to increase the prominence of keywords on the product and category pages to help the search engine understand the key phrases Use a stylized <h1> tag to show importance but keep look as it is now on the site – GSI is providing the recommended code change. Product pages do not have any real text on them since it is all contained in flash or snippets in product descriptions. High Separate the text from the flash – GSI to provided a detailed recommendation Add an additional text block to the bottom or top of the product page Search Impact Issue Recommendation Resource Impact Typical Mitigation and Prioritization Worksheet Low High High Low Medium High Phase 1 IT & Web Team Issues

Redirection of the primary domain to xxxx then to xxx

Review this issues with Akamai to determine if you can remove the 302 redirect – this will allow the search engine to share home page links more effectively

Some title tags are not formatted well – they have an extra “-” that creates a hyphenated word

Some title tags are not adjusted for prominence

GSI will crawl the site an identify the title tags that need to be updated ad well as the template and business rules which need to be adjusted

Target Keywords should be at the beginning of the title

Text site map on home page

Due to the navigation problems identified we recommend adding a standard site map to the home page of the site.

XML Google sitemap should be used on the site

We did not detect the site map during the audit since it had a different name than what is expected. The site map is validated and working. Recommend to convert from .txt to XML format.

Need to increase the prominence of keywords on the product and category pages to help the search engine understand the key phrases

Use a stylized <h1> tag to show importance but keep look as it is now on the site – GSI is providing the recommended code change.

Product pages do not have any real text on them since it is all contained in flash or snippets in product descriptions.

Separate the text from the flash – GSI to provided a detailed recommendation Add an additional text block to the bottom or top of the product page

Template changes have a wide impact Used the full search term Converted image to text so search engine can “read” and score with prominence Content is more relevant & compelling 74% of all traffic to page is from search engines After optimization: #1 or #2 in all Google and Yahoo countries

Used the full search term

Converted image to text so

search engine can “read”

and score with prominence

Content is more relevant & compelling

74% of all traffic to page is from search engines

Maximize WW Link Architecture Leverage enormous power of WW sites to build link equity Leverage Partners and distributed content to increase link equity Link Equity is the amount of positive value your website receives from the totality of “links” or “votes” for your content from internal and external sources which is the foundation of Google’s Scoring Algorithm.

Step 2 – Deploy Standards & Best Practices Define & Deploy Standards & Best Practices Provide comprehensive training to all key stakeholders in the web content workflow create consistent processes & written standards create communication & collaboration protocols & expectations 2

Brand Group Corporate Brand Level Programs Focused on maximizing brand goals by attracting and engaging product centric searchers. Brand site specific auditing and consulting Keyword level auditing & benchmarking Knowledge transfer and brand customized training Corporate and Category Compliance Monitoring Group Level Programs Focused on maximizing “Search Shelf Space™” by getting the entire portfolio ranked well to displace competitors Keyword Research and Prioritization Coordinate keywords across brands Auditing and Process Management Benchmarking & Monitoring Segment your Program Corporate Level Programs Focused on developing long and short-term strategies to maximize search as a marketing vehicle Develop and evangelize enterprise-wide best practices through a knowledgebase, POV documents and search engine update alerts and tackle infrastructure issues.

Brand Level Programs

Focused on maximizing brand goals by attracting and engaging product centric searchers.

Brand site specific auditing and consulting

Keyword level auditing & benchmarking

Knowledge transfer and brand customized training

Corporate and Category Compliance Monitoring

Group Level Programs

Focused on maximizing “Search Shelf Space™” by getting the entire portfolio ranked well to displace competitors

Keyword Research and Prioritization

Coordinate keywords across brands

Auditing and Process Management

Benchmarking & Monitoring

Corporate Level Programs

Focused on developing long and short-term strategies to maximize search as a marketing vehicle

Develop and evangelize enterprise-wide best practices through a knowledgebase, POV documents and search engine update alerts and tackle infrastructure issues.

Brand - Search Engine Style Guide

Share Knowledge with the team Collect and share best practices with the wider team using Wikis, Blogs or Team Rooms

Collect and share best practices with the wider team using Wikis, Blogs or Team Rooms

Step 3: Show Continuous Improvement Ensure Continuous Improvement Ongoing SEO Execution Audit Pages for keyword attributes ensure organizational & tactical alignment … by coordinating the ongoing SEO efforts of internal departments, agencies, IT, web dev teams, & 3 rd party vendors Refine Templates and Content 3

Enabler – Always-On Keyword Strategy Program Priorities “ 25 Topics” Search Performance Consulting This is where the Always-On Program comes in, it consists of a discipline management system to improve Search performance Monthly performance assessment Changes to ibm pages and paid plans

Enabler - Keyword Strategies & Governance Develop master “ Gold list ” of keywords that company “ Must Own ” Align keyword ownership to customer experience and business objectives Deploy keyword arbitration program to handle any competitive claims to keywords within the organization 35% of Intel’s Paid Search budget was wasted on duplicate bidding for keywords Brand A Criteria Answer Score Relevant Landing Page Y 1 Relevant Ad Copy Y 1 Tracking Metrics in Place N 0 Current Offline Campaign N 0 P&L Requirement N 0 Total 2 Brand B Criteria Answer Score Relevant Landing Page Y 1 Relevant Ad Copy Y 1 Tracking Metrics in Place Y 1 Current Offline Campaign Y 1 P&L Requirement Y 1 Total 5

Develop master “ Gold list ” of keywords that company “ Must Own ”

Align keyword ownership to customer experience and business objectives

Deploy keyword arbitration program to handle any competitive claims to keywords within the organization

Increase Brand Awareness via Need 70,000 How To related searches

Monitor the infrastructure Google site maps are required for larger complex programs Alerts problems before they get too bad Ensures all content pushed into index

Google site maps are required for larger complex programs

Alerts problems before they get too bad

Ensures all content pushed into index

Page Level Audits Identify all of the elements which are preventing the page from ranking for those keywords Provide best practice recommendations for making the pages more friendly to search engines

Identify all of the elements which are preventing the page from ranking for those keywords

Provide best practice recommendations for making the pages more friendly to search engines

Step 4: Prove the value of the program Define & Deploy a Tool Framework for Analytics, Management, Reporting Create Benchmarks to monitor improvement Monitor Preferred Landing Page Performance integrate with marketing information systems, portals, executive dashboards find insight & drive action via data analysis 4 Create Feedback loop to content workflow Optimize Searcher Continuum

Enabler | Project and Monitor Success Understanding the searcher allows us to accurately project future traffic Focus on the Tier 1 Keywords Demonstrate the incremental value of this traffic

Enabler - Deploy Performance Metrics Leverage Scorecards for governance to ensure consistent global performance goals are achieved. Helps prioritize resource allocation Effectively blend paid search and natural search for brand awareness and lead generation IBM’s global search performance increased 500% when BU level performance metrics implemented

Leverage Scorecards for governance to ensure consistent global performance goals are achieved.

Helps prioritize resource allocation

Effectively blend paid search and natural search for brand awareness and lead generation

The cost of not ranking… Measure the missed opportunity cost of not ranking well! Keyword 1 – Gained significant share of organic traffic resulting in a $16k reduction of paid search spend on that word Keyword 2 – Did not get any share of organic search resulting in $20k expenditure in paid search to gain traffic for that phrase Value Comparison

Measure the missed opportunity cost of not ranking well!

Keyword 1 – Gained significant share of organic traffic resulting in a $16k reduction of paid search spend on that word

Keyword 2 – Did not get any share of organic search resulting in $20k expenditure in paid search to gain traffic for that phrase

Q & A