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 Meet
SEO-PR spokesman, Greg Jarboe, specializing in
optimizing press releases for news search engines.
Jarboe states that half of what we know is obsolete
from what we learned yesterday. Besides the many
methods of marketing: SEO, PPC, affiliate, pod
casting and pay-per-call, major budgets and upgraded
internet speeds have created a second boom for
internet business focusing primarily on search
marketing as oppose to banner advertising. Interview
Recorded: September 5, 2005 Segment
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We
invite your comments, questions, feedback and suggestions.
Search marketing times they are a-changin |
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If
you compare Search Engine Strategies 2005
in New York with the same event in 2004,
you’ll find that 62 of the 116 speakers – or
53.4% -- were brand new. That’s because
32 of the 64 sessions were brand new. And
61% of the 100 exhibitors at the show were
also brand new. In other words, half of
what I learned at last year’s show
is obsolete, and I had to go to this year’s
show to find out which half! |
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there |
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Marketers
today are in the same boat that Mark Twain
was in the mid-19th century when he wrote
“Life on the Mississippi.” Going
upstream is different than going downstream.
Paddling by day is different than paddling by
night. Traveling in the spring is different than
traveling in the fall. And just when you think
you’ve learned all there is to learn about
the river it cuts through one of its twists and
turns and changes course. |
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire |
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We
all live in the real world, where none
of us can afford to start with a blank
piece of paper. So, where do you start?
What should you do first? What do you do
if you boss believes in The First Law of
Wing Walking: Never let hold of what you’ve
got until you’ve got hold of something
else. |
"Search engine optimization" has
matured into "search engine marketing".
Circa late 90's, the term optimization involves
strategies such as key word meta tags and invisible
text. Now SEO (aka 'black art') changed with
the invention of Google when SEO became more
than fooling Alta Vista into high rankings.
Not to mention, Yahoo Search Marketing, which
is credited with transforming the marketing
world with the invention of PPC forcing SEM
out of the picture and leading search engine
advertising to be the new technology. Companies
are shelling out top dollar for general terms.
Vertical Search
Jarboe elaborates on the term "vertical
search" which, translating to news and
images found at the top of search engine results
and even more so a new opportunity for valuable
real estate. Vertical search places high ranking
results near the top of the page where top performing
organic results were previously listed. Yet
another new method to learn being that the algorithms
for Google Search are different than for Google
News. A high ranking in Google Search doesn't
qualify for a high ranking in vertical. A few
helpful points about vertical : Google news
doesn't emphasize linking, when you're 30 days
old or no longer news you are removed and recency
and relevance remains a factor.
Try this for a "news" example. Type
in "gas prices" to Google Search.
Then try "gas mileage", you'll find
only the former pulls up a vertical. Let's use
a Toyota Prius on another example. The Prius
is a Hybrid vehicle which saves gas! Now, knowing
that seaches for "gas mileage" and "gas
prices"
have spiked, the next press release for Prius
better have "gas prices" incorporated
in the article in order to show up within the
vertical news.
Planning and Convincing Management by Measuring
Yet another strategy for SEM, RSS feeds and
Blogs are proving significant impact on search
results. When formulating a plan, refrain from
the basic one-year strategy, this doesn't cut
it for this dynamic industry. Planning strategies
for SEM involves having a plan to change course,
knowing when to change and being ready to shift
gears. In this world, plans are nothing and
planning is every thing. Convincing management
that change is due may be tuff. In an ideal
world, set side 10% of budget for the unexpected
and use the remaining 80% for your daily strategy.
Refrain from locking yourself into long-term
commitments so the ability to change spending
patterns on a quarterly basis remains. Management
wants to see the bold number in the bottom right
of the spreadsheet. Measure every element of
your marketing: advertising, organic, PR, tradeshows.
Let the numbers take you were you want to go,
when one option is failing, remove the funds
and place them into a new opportunity. It is
easy to convince management to halt operations
when you're losing money, just as it is easy
to start if numbers prove a ROI. Measurement
is critical to abandoning an old idea or selling
a new idea.
How To Measure
Measuring through web analytic tools can be
expensive, though can be validated when measuring
the use of survey forms, tracking phone number
requests and pay-per-call. "Call to actions"
are so inexpensive that you must be testing
them, it's a no-brainer. You must measure the
sales generated in order to know what strategy
is working, why it's working, and the cost of
implementation. Don't forget about web traffic
which is easier to measure: traffic, lead generation,
traffic conversions, are all tell-tell signs
of brand awareness.
Of course it is important to measure brand
awareness. If no one knows about you, how is
your company going to do anything.
Considering there are over fourteen million
blogs, they are popular and can prove useful.
Before creating a blog, make sure you know why
you are making one, how it fits into your marketing
campaign, how it is measured and to reiterate,
it must have a purpose. Try using a blog to
co-promote your press-release -that news Is
coming, highlighting the new change of the press
release. In turn, then use the blog to highlight
the press release. Try implementing a "Question & Answer"
blog for in order to ask guests for feedback &
answer questions.
As a marketer, we must keep in mind the buying
process: people must be aware & knowledgeable
of your offering, attitude or opinion need to
audibly reinforced by persuade that your offering
is better than the stat-quo, decision phase,
implementations phase and buyers remorse (that
worked I think I'll do that again). For each
of these key steps different information applies.
News is good on front end, tips (how-to info)
and tricks and customer service is very important
at implementation phase. This is all part of
the process of getting the innovation successfully
adopted. Provide the information sources for
the customer, such as a blog, in order to answer
questions such as: How do I set this up? Blogs
give practical and useful advice for different
stages in your marketing.
Jarboe gave a sample company incorporating
this type of technique of targeting different
points in the buying phase: PC Week = news,
PC Magazine = reviews, and PC Computing = ROI
after implementation
& how-to info + evaluating the benefit.
Measuring gives management proof. You can never
analyze enough. Research blogs, RSS, press releases,
each with their own methods of measurent allow
you to cross reference results.
Keep in mind: 11 million blog creators in the
U.S. alone, 500,000 blog posts per day, 37 million
blog readers, 51% of journalists use blogs regularly,
MSNBC and Fox have started podcasting.
Take note that any literature dated back a
year is out of date. Look at your business as
different projects. For each new product or
website start a new marketing scheme, if it
doesn't work don't use. When you find a new
method, then you've got a hold of something.
Learning resources can be books and conferences.
Such as the Search
Engine Strategies (NY, Toronto, San Jose,
Chicago), WebMaster
World (New Orleans, Vegas). Bring someone
else with you so that they can learn something
in a simultaneous session going on. Learn from
competitors. Analysis by paralysis - how long
should you research before trying.
by Brooke
Schumacher, coHost of eMarketing Talk Show
Websites Referenced
SEO
PR News Blog
this page...
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