Search inevitably comes back to the basic elements like keywords, content and links. But how we plan campaigns, create our content, and acquire links is now much more dependent on our customers and those talking about us online. See how the customer experience is impacting search and how businesses can help drive and encourage those conversations.

1. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE &
THE IMPACT ON SEARCH
CASIE
GILLETTE
•
DIRECTOR
OF
ONLINE
MARKETING
•
KOMARKETING

2. @casieg
I
just
got
back
from
London.
It’s
a
place
I’ve
never
been
and
I
needed
to
figure
out
where
to
stay,
how
to
get
around,
what
to
see,
where
to
eat,
…etc.
Before
when
I
was
planning
my
trip,
I
did
a
lot
of
searching.
I
looked
at
Trip
Advisor,
read
reviews,
talked
to
friends
and
I
asked
my
social
media
connecOons
for
recommendaOons.
When
I
was
there,
I
pulled
up
Yelp
and
asked
the
concierge.
It
was
a
lot
of
asking
&
a
lot
of
reading
reviews.
More
than
ever,
I
relied
on
not
just
my
connecOons
but
random
strangers
to
help
me
plan
my
trip.
And
it
turns
out
I’m
not
alone
in
this.

3. @casieg
70% OF PEOPLE CONSULT
REVIEWS & RATINGS
BEFORE PURCHASING
- BUSINESSWEEK

4. @casieg
15+ MILLION CONSUMERS
CONSULT SOCIAL MEDIA
BEFORE MAKING PURCHASE
DECISIONS
– KNOWLEDGE WEEK

5. 79% OF CONSUMERS TRUST
ONLINE REVIEWS AS MUCH AS
PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS
@casieg
- BRIGHTLOCAL

6. @casieg
If
you
take
a
look
at
TwiSer,
you’ll
see
tons
of
people
asking
for
recommendaOons.

7. @casieg
This
doesn’t
just
apply
to
travel
though.
People
are
asking
about
products
and
services.
It’s
B2B
and
B2C.

8. @casieg

9. @casieg
There
are
also
sites
like
Quora,
which
are
dedicated
to
helping
people
find
informaOon
by
asking
their
peers.

10. @casieg
GET MONEY
This
stuff
maSers
because
it
translates
to
real
money.
Consumer
purchasing
decisions
are
being
heavily
influenced
by
others.

11. 90% OF CUSTOMERS SAY
BUYING DECISIONS ARE
INFLUENCED BY ONLINE
REVIEWS
@casieg
– DIMENSIONAL RESEARCH

12. 77% OF CONSUMERS ARE MORE
LIKELY TO BUY A NEW
PRODUCT WHEN LEARNING
ABOUT IT FROM FRIENDS OR
FAMILY
@casieg
- NIELSEN

13. @casieg
Customers
now
have
the
power
and
this
is
exciOng.
With
social
media,
blogs
and
the
ability
to
be
connected
24/7,
we
as
consumers
have
a
much
bigger
voice.
But…the
flip
side
of
that
is
businesses
no
longer
get
to
dictate
their
messaging
and
what
people
are
saying
about
them,
especially
when
it
comes
to
their
online
presence.

14. @casieg
And
the
boSom
line
is
this
include
search.
People
are
searching
in
new
ways.
They
are
searching
for
answers
and
opinions
versus
simply
searching
for
a
product.

15. @casieg
And
that’s
not
where
it
ends.
The
search
results
themselves
have
changed.
Take
for
example
“hotels
in
London”
–
that
SERP
is
no
longer
a
list
of
hotels
in
London.
Instead
search
results
are
showing
review
sites
and
recommendaOons.
As
search
marketers,
our
job
just
got
more
complicated.
We
are
not
just
working
to
be
listed
in
the
search
results,
we
now
have
to
figure
out
how
to
make
sure
our
businesses
are
listed
in
the
results
within
the
results.

16. @casieg
And
the
staOsOcs
we
just
saw
tell
us
those
results
must
be
posiOve.

17. @casieg
Because
we
don’t
want
this…

18. @casieg
Or
this…

19. @casieg
What
we
do
want
is
this.

20. @casieg
We
want
people
to
talk
about
our
business
and
be
so
passionate
about
our
company
that
they
are
willing
to
taSoo
our
logo
on
themselves.

21. THIS IS SEARCH.
@casieg
But
despite
the
changes,
search
inevitably
comes
back
to
the
basics:
Keywords,
Content
&
Links

22. @casieg
Keywords
are
the
foundaOon
of
any
SEO
strategy
and
there’s
something
really
important
happening
here
-­‐
the
way
people
are
searching
is
changing.
For
a
long
Ome,
people
searched
in
a
very
broad
way.
They
used
one
or
two
keywords
and
then
based
on
the
results,
they
clarified
their
search.
Today
that’s
different.
People
understand
search
engines
much
beSer
and
they
know
that
search
engines
can
answer
their
quesOons
and
their
intent
beSer
than
every
before.

23. @casieg
40%
USE MORE THAN THREE WORDS
via Statista

24. @casieg
KNOWLEDGE GRAPH

25. @casieg
ANSWER BOXES

26. @casieg
And
this
is
where
the
customer
comes
in.
You
need
to
know
what
quesOons
your
customers
are
asking
and
offer
content
that
answers
it.
You
need
to
know
intent.
How
are
your
customers
talking
about
you
online?
How
are
they
talking
about
your
product
or
service
or
compeOtor
or
industry?

27. @casieg
CASE STUDY

28. @casieg
CASE STUDY
Client
A
sells
cabinets.
But
it
turns
out
cabinets
was
not
the
right
term.
Their
customers
were
talking
about
them
using
words
like
“industrial”
and
“heavy-­‐
duty.”
Which
forced
us
to
change
our
strategy
and
the
content
on
the
page.

29. @casieg
2013
2015
2014
50% INCREASE IN ORGANIC TRAFFIC
CABINETS
INDUSTRIAL
CABINETS

30. @casieg
2013
2015
2014
50% INCREASE IN ORGANIC CONVERSIONS
CABINETS
INDUSTRIAL
CABINETS

31. @casieg
Talk
to
your
customers
whenever
you
have
a
chance.
Along
with
that,
start
finding
out
what
people
are
saying
on
the
web.
Check
review
sites.
Take
a
look
at
how
the
site
is
describing
your
product
or
service,
and
how
customers
are
talking
about
you.
Find
out
what
the
negaOves
are
and
what
the
posiOves
are.
These
will
help
inform
your
keyword
strategy
but
more
so
your
content.

32. @casieg
Look
at
referral
traffic.
Actually
go
to
the
sites
and
see
how
they
are
talking
about
you.

33. @casieg
AddiOonally,
use
tools!
Tools
like
FAQFox
and
SERPstat
show
you
what
quesOons
people
are
asking.

34. @casieg
Monitor
social
media
for
your
brand
terms
but
don’t
forget
about
industry
terms
&
compeOtor
names.
Understand
what
people
are
asking
about,
what
problems
they
are
having,
and
what
terms
they
are
using
to
describe
products.

35. CONTENT
@casieg
CONTENT

36. @casieg
There
is
a
disconnect
between
the
content
on
the
site
and
the
content
users
want
to
see.

37. @casieg
CASE STUDY

38. @casieg
Client
B
had
a
very
product
focused
site.
It
wasn’t
targeted
to
what
their
customers
needed
or
the
quesOons
their
customers
were
actually
asking.

39. @casieg
We
found
the
Spiceworks
community
had
tons
of
quesOons
around
their
product
and
industry.
We
took
these
quesOons
and
created
arOcles.

40. @casieg
Month
1
53% INCREASE IN ORGANIC TRAFFIC
NEW
CONTENT
Month
2
Month
3

41. @casieg
As
you
think
about
content
creaOon,
take
into
consideraOon
what
people
are
asking.

42. @casieg
Talk
to
you
customer
support
team.

43. @casieg
Find
out
what’s
already
driving
traffic
to
you
site
using
analyOcs.

44. @casieg
Buzzsumo
can
show
you
top
content
on
your
site
or
your
compeOtors
to
help
you
understand
what
your
customers
like.

45. @casieg

46. @casieg
Content
markeOng
must
have
markeOng.

47. @casieg
Which
social
networks
drive
the
most
traffic
to
your
site?

48. @casieg
3%
of
customers
drive
90%
of
social
engagement.
Find
the
3%
of
people
interested
in
talking
about
you.

49. @casieg
IdenOfy
relevant
hashtags
that
are
being
used
to
promote
your
content.

50. @casieg

51. LINK BUILDING SUCKS
@casieg

52. @casieg
These
are
links!
They
were
driven
by
posiOve
customer
experiences.

53. CASE STUDY
@casieg

54. @casieg
50 BLOGGERS = 100 LINKS
To
help
build
Client
C’s
brand,
we
targeted
customers
with
influenOal
blogs.
We
sent
them
products
and
in
return,
we
generated
over
100
links
on
relevant
sites.

55. @casieg
Say
thank
you.

56. @casieg
Send
your
customers
thank
you
cards.

57. @casieg

58. @casieg
CALL ME
Call
your
customers
to
check
in.
Ask
how
you
can
help
and
thank
them
for
being
a
customer.

59. @casieg
Show
your
customers
you
appreciate
them
by
promoOng
them
on
your
own
site.

60. @casieg
POST
Find
people
you
already
have
relaOonships
with
and
idenOfy
any
guest
post
opportuniOes.

61. @casieg
Ask
for
reviews.
People
are
more
likely
to
review
your
product
or
service
if
you
just
ask.

62. @casieg
THIS IS SEARCH.
Our
jobs
aren’t
easy
and
with
all
of
the
changes
in
technology
and
how
people
search,
these
challenges
aren’t
going
away.
But
the
good
news
is
it’s
exciOng
and
we
as
customers
have
the
insight
into
what
we
want
from
businesses.
The
key
is
translaOng
that
to
your
exisOng
adverOsing
and
search
markeOng
programs.

63. @casieg
THANKS!
CASIE
GILLETTE
•
DIRECTOR
OF
ONLINE
MARKETING
•
KOMARKETING