Total Search Marketing Optimization: Testing Paid vs. Organic Search

Demystifying Online AttributionTOTAL SEARCHOPTIMIZATION Jonathon D. Colman Internet Marketing Program Manager Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO) REI – Recreational Equipment, Inc. www.REI.com

Barriers to progress in search marketing1. Marketing programs that operate in silos  Doesn’t allow for sharing customer insights, tools, reporting  Cannibalization of results, diminished impact of the whole  Leads to duplicate, incomplete work and unproductive competition2. Giving credit where credit is due  Last-click analysis lessens cross-program collaboration, effectiveness  Delays insights into customer behavior in the “media mix”3. Advertising costs  No budget can support CPCs that increase without limit  Takes budget away from other strategic programs, new opportunities8

Solution: a Total Search Optimization strategyBy integrating your search marketing programs, you will:  Drive sustainable traffic and sales  Gain insight into customer behavior over multiple visits  Save budget for other strategic efforts and new opportunitiesBut wait – there’s more!  Test for efficiency in paid placements  Test for priorities in non-paid optimization  Increase competitive advantage9

Total Search Test #1 of 3: Correlation between paid and natural search10

Results of a controlled paid search “surge” Traffic Time Paid Search11

Results of a controlled paid search “surge” Traffic Test: Increase paid search spending on top-of-funnel Time keywords to drive more Paid Search awareness and traffic.12

Results of a controlled paid search “surge” Traffic Time Paid Search Natural Search13

Results of a controlled paid search “surge” Hypothesis: No impact on natural search. Traffic Time Paid Search Natural Search14

Results of a controlled paid search “surge” Traffic Time Paid Search Natural Search15

Results of a controlled paid search “surge” Results: Increase in natural search traffic. Traffic Time Paid Search Natural Search16

Correlation test methodologyHypotheses  Increased spend at top of the funnel will bring customers back for direct response  No impact on natural searchResults  Significant lift in natural search traffic  Sustained natural search increase after advertising spend returned to nominal levelsNext steps, additional testing  Analyze customer intent of natural search visits  Conduct additional targeted spends at top-of-funnel  Tip: Leverage internal political “pull” of paid search program to GTD17

Total Search Test #2 of 3: Subtractive placement in paid search18

Opportunity: You own 50% of center-column real estate above the fold. Test: Reduce spending to determine if non-paid programs will see lift.21

Subtractive placement test methodologyHypotheses  Savings realized from reducing maximum CPC  Increased traffic in non-paid programs  Question: Enough sales to make up for lost revenue?  Question: Lower qualification of visitors?Results  Not enough traffic or sales to make up for lost revenue  Significant drop in conversion when using only non-paid programsNext steps, additional testing  Test greater variety of seasonal terms across the funnel  Test additional levels of cost reduction/paid search ad positioning  Tip: Optimize natural search snippets to drive greater conversion22

Total Search Test #3 of 3: Additive placement in natural search23

Opportunity: You have the top paid search ad and it’s high ROI, but still spendy. Test: Increase natural search visibility to realize cost savings in paid search.26

Additive placement test methodologyHypotheses  Increased natural search traffic, decreased cost in paid searchResults  iCrossing study shows +53% lift in total clicks when a brand appears in both top paid and natural resultsNext steps, additional testing  Target seasonal terms across the funnel where ad costs are high and non-paid listings are invisible  Test messaging of high-conversion paid search experiences for use in natural search page content  Test ROAS of adding paid search ads for high-performing natural search terms without paid search coverage  Tip: Track lift in natural search impressions, CTR for test terms in Google Webmaster Tools27

Key takeaways of Total Search testing strategy Integrate your search marketing programs Optimize spending for cross-program efficiency Measure results across paid and non-paid search programs Reapply saved budget to strategic initiatives, testing Impress your boss, take a long weekend, and go camping28

Many thanks!Let’s continue learning together: • E-mail: jcolman@REI.com • Twitter: @jcolman • Web site: www.jonathoncolman.org 2929

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Total Search Marketing Optimization: Testing Paid vs. Organic Search

by Jonathon Colman @jcolman on Jun 10, 2010

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Total Search Marketing Optimization: Testing Paid vs. Organic Search Presentation Transcript