1.
@stekenwright
How to be Amazon
Stephen Kenwright @stekenwright

2.
@stekenwright
Over the 2016 Christmas period
Amazon customers…

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@stekenwright
…purchased a watch every 1.5 seconds
phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2232897

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@stekenwright
…purchased the weight of a grizzly bear in gold
…and the weight of a rhino in silver
phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2232897

5.
@stekenwright
…purchased enough luggage to fill 20 Boeing 747 airplanes
phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2232897

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@stekenwright
…purchased enough 4K TVs to reach the peak of Everest 9x
phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2232897

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@stekenwright
So while we’re dealing with big numbers…

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@stekenwright
398,040,250

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@stekenwright
The number of products for sale on Amazon.com
scrapehero.com/how-many-products-are-sold-on-amazon-com-january-2017-report

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@stekenwright
4,470,000,000

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@stekenwright
The number of links pointing to Amazon.com
Ahrefs

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@stekenwright
Which contributes more to this visibility?

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@stekenwright
Customers care about inventory –
not authority

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@stekenwright
Amazon
45%
Google
34%
Retailer
21%
Bloomreach
Where do shoppers start a search?
2015

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@stekenwright
Amazon
56%
Google
28%
Retailer
16%
Bloomreach
Where do shoppers start a search?
2016

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@stekenwright
“People don’t think of Amazon as search,
but if you are looking for something to buy,
more often than not you are looking for it on Amazon.”
Eric Schmidt

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@stekenwright
Half-right

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@stekenwright
…really we’re all just @rachel_weber10

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@stekenwright
60 million people Googled for
cars on AutoTrader in July 2016
AutoTrader

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@stekenwright
50 million people Google for
flights on Skyscanner every
month
partners.skyscanner.net/travel-insight

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@stekenwright
What about people who Google for flights on Google?

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@stekenwright
Google is scared of niche search engines

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@stekenwright
…17 days later
techcrunch.com/2017/05/17/google-to-launch-a-jobs-search-engine-in-the-u-s

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@stekenwright
Time to revisit “search engine optimisation”

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@stekenwright
SEO *was* about building links

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@stekenwright
Now we build search engines

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@stekenwright
Until we get better at informing customers than Google…
Here …or here?

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@stekenwright
…it will continue to screw us
inc.com/john-lincoln/why-googles-new-buy-button-is-a-direct-shot-at-amazon.html

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@stekenwright
Shouldn’t you control your own search?
fortune.com/2016/02/04/google-ends-search-appliance

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@stekenwright
How to build a search engine:
start with search

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@stekenwright
30% of visitors will perform an onsite search
econsultancy.com/reports/site-search-report

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@stekenwright
Searchers generate more revenue
than non-searchers
econsultancy.com/reports/site-search-report

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@stekenwright
2.41%
5.45%
0.00%
1.00%
2.00%
3.00%
4.00%
5.00%
6.00%
Non-site search users Site search users
Average conversion rate
Non site search users vs. site search users

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@stekenwright
84% of companies don’t optimise
or even measure site search
econsultancy.com/reports/site-search-report

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@stekenwright
Turn on site search analytics
Click

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@stekenwright
Turn on site search analytics
Click

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@stekenwright
Turn on site search analytics
Make sure this
is checked

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@stekenwright
Find your report

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@stekenwright
Visitors whose search returns 0 results
are 2.5x more likely to leave
econsultancy.com/reports/site-search-report

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@stekenwright
Create variables in Tag Manager

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@stekenwright
What text is displayed for 0 result searches?

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@stekenwright
Variable #1 looks for CSS Selector called “#search-results”

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@stekenwright
Variable #2 codifies all pages with results as “Results”

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@stekenwright
Variable #3 scrapes the searched keyword

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@stekenwright
Create a tag to fire the event on Search Results pages

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@stekenwright
…and get this back

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@stekenwright
The Search Meter plugin does this for you
wordpress.org/plugins/search-meter

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@stekenwright
0 result searches are a
great source of content
B3

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@stekenwright
0 result searches for products you don’t stock
can drive merchandising decisions
B3

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@stekenwright
A successful April Fool’s for ThinkGeek…
nytimes.com/2009/11/29/magazine/29fob-consumed-t.html

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@stekenwright
…led to a successful product
thinkgeek.com/product/bb2e

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@stekenwright
0 result searches for products you *do* stock
means your site search needs some work

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@stekenwright
How to audit your site search

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@stekenwright
Questions to ask
Technology
 Which product/platform/tool powers it?
 Was it implemented in house or externally?
 Whose job is it?
 Is there a functional spec/search user journey document available?
 Is there another site with a search experience you think is good?

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@stekenwright
Questions to ask
Response
 Are there known use cases where search results are poor?
 Are the results returned (particularly first page) highly relevant to your query?
 What happens when you add more complexity to a query?
 How fast are results returned?
 Is relevance/speed consistent?

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@stekenwright
Questions to ask
Functions
 Is there an autosuggest/autocomplete feature?
 Can it cope with typos?
 Can you sort the results?
 Are queries for dates/numbers/special characters supported?
 Is the number of results shown correct/useful?

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@stekenwright
Garbage in, garbage out –
Poor/duplicate meta data ruins internal search
(and costs organic traffic)

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@stekenwright
Site search is not just for ecommerce…
…products = answers

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@stekenwright
An early attempt –
The ultimate guide to cruising

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@stekenwright
*The* search engine for cruise information in 2013
web.archive.org/web/*/cruise.co.uk

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@stekenwright
Making information more accessible…2013 style
virginholidayscruises.co.uk/cruise-guide

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@stekenwright
We built it for SEO

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@stekenwright
…but search for “drinks packages”…

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@stekenwright
Wouldn’t the results below the fold have been better?

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@stekenwright
Reasons to start with search –
2017 edition

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@stekenwright
“Alexa, ask Virgin Holidays what drinks packages
are available on Celebrity Equinox”

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@stekenwright
Alexa-powered devices (not watches or TVs)
were the best-selling products
on Amazon over Christmas

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@stekenwright
50% of searches will be voice searches in 2020
comScore

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@stekenwright
Cortana has 133 million monthly users
Microsoft

70.
@stekenwrightMicrosoft
25% of *desktop* searches on Windows 10
taskbar are voice

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@stekenwright
Alexa has convinced us to buy things
without ever seeing them

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@stekenwright
How’s that for voice search optimisation?

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@stekenwright
Time to get serious about voice search
conversational UX

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@stekenwright
Voice search ≠ speaking aloud
thenorthface.com/xps

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@stekenwright
“Optimise for voice search” = answer questions

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@stekenwright
Markup plays a huge role
Location is used
for weather –
which products
are suitable?
Sorted by
relevance, not
price (searchers
spend more
than non-
searchers)

77.
@stekenwright
If you don’t have the answer
What are you going to mark up?

78.
@stekenwright
Next steps
 Understand what your customers hoped to find on your site – and if they found it
 Make it easier for customers to find your content on your site than via Google
 Build and mark up a product database an answer database
 Make it your mission to answer every possible question about your product/service

79.
@stekenwright
Your search strategy: build the
one-stop shop for whatever it is that you do

80.
@stekenwright
Thanks
stephen.Kenwright@branded3.com
@stekenwright

81.
@stekenwright
Image credits
Reuters/Hannibal
Dallas News
Devon Janse van Rensburg
Jakob Owens
Mario Gonzales
Linval Ebanks
Dustin Holmes
Mallory