C3 2014 Main Stage Lou Cohen

1. BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL
HOLISTIC SEARCH STRATEGY
Lou Cohen
SVP – Digital Marketing
Head of Search, Affiliate Marketing & Lead Generation
Professor – Digital Marketing – Baruch College & NYU

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GETTING A CLEAR VIEW
• Hindsight
• Exploration
• Transformation
• Inspiration
• And then…

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HINDSIGHT: A YEAR AGO…
We were looking for the path through the mountains…

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• Global but Local
• Domain strategy
• Evangelism  Influence
• Attribution
• Prioritization
THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES…

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• “Secure search” made SEO harder, so we needed a new plan
• With the help of Razorfish & Conductor… we set out a new course
• The plan:
– Map all of the content on our websites
– Assign keywords against pages based upon traffic & index rankings
– Assess gaps of top potential keywords vs. mapped keywords
– Develop new content that addresses the gaps
– Update existing content to further optimize
EXPLORATION
It’s not just about Keywords anymore!

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• Yes… we’re going to be aggressive in Paid Search
• Yes… we’re going to be proactive in Organic Search
• Yes… we’re going to find new ways to activate our customers via
the many opportunities the SERP presents consumers with…
– Google+ (Local + Social & more)
– Google Compare (+in beta with Yahoo)
– Affiliate arbitrage
– Keyword level relationship between SEM, SEO, Compare, etc.
TRANSFORMATION
There’s more than SEM & SEO at play!

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• Build quality, unique, and useful content
– Fill in areas of opportunity to help reach more potential customers
• Ensure collaboration between media channels
– Optimize investments to ensure optimal ROI & increase volume
• Be the best you can & stay true to who you are
– Understand the brand & who our customers are
– Focus on the areas of strength & minimize weaker areas
INSPIRATION
Play to win, and do it the right way…

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ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM!
There’s always next year… but you have to start building right away!

11. LOU COHEN
@ProfCohen
Facebook.com/ProfCohen
Louis.Cohen@Citi.com