BuyerZone Q&A: Growing your business with search marketing

You've built your web site. You developed informative content, created intuitive design, and set up your shopping cart. But do you have the search marketing expertise to allow customers to find your site?

BuyerZone recently spoke with Mark Franklin, Director of Search Marketing for Datran Media, to learn how a search marketing firm can help you get the results you need.

BuyerZone: What are the top things a company should look for in a search marketing firm?

Mark Franklin: You should look at the search marketing company's reputation in their industry. How are they viewed by other businesses? Do they answer all of your questions completely and honestly? Since a search marketing firm will run and manage your search campaigns, you must ensure they are trustworthy and can deliver what they promised. Make sure to get references from each firm you talk to – reputable companies are more than happy to share this information to gain your confidence.

The search techniques you'll use will also depend on the vertical that you're in. Does the firm have a lot of experience in your particular industry? How long have they been doing this? Do they attend industry conferences like SES or ad:tech to stay on top of the latest innovations? Make sure to find if they have managed clients your size, and request case studies that show if the campaigns were successful.

Find out what their key search techniques are. For example, do they have an optimization tool that can automate testing for landing pages, or do they do the optimization manually?

Finally, don't let a search marketing firm (or any firm) pressure you into quickly signing a contract. It's important that you take your time to mull it over and discuss the decision with everybody in your organization that this will impact – sales, account managers, analytics.

BZ: What do you feel is the most valuable search marketing technique?

MF: It's actually a combination of techniques — SEO, pay per click advertising, directory listings. But using SEO and pay per click in tandem can actually help the other. By getting search rankings on the top and right sides of the page (paid sponsored ads) and the left side (organic search results), you position your company as experts in the industry. In fact, if you implement display advertising, it's possible to show up in a search engine three times on the same page!

In fact, one thing to avoid when looking for a search marketing firm is one that tries to push you to only use paid search techniques. Strong SEO practices mean free traffic and free leads for your business. It's important not to choose one over the other, because it's smart to maintain a balance for both.

BZ: What do you suggest to companies looking to do search marketing in-house?

MF: You must have people in house that understand SEO, bid management, and paid search really well. The reason a lot of companies look to search marketing firms is because personnel are typically trained by the agency where they learn everything about building a successful search campaign from scratch. This includes working with different search engines, using multiple techniques, and working with the appropriate tools. If it's a small enough campaign that doesn't cost much and you don't have much room for growth, it's certainly not worth the expense of paying a search marketing firm's fees.

But don't underestimate talent and knowledge. There are tons of people who can design and build a web site. But there are far fewer that have the savvy to get marketing techniques done properly on the web. The person you hire in house to do search must have a firm grasp on how search works and dedicate the necessary time to make a campaign successful. If your campaign is large and requires a lot of expert attention, you need to investigate a dedicated search marketing firm.

BZ: How does search marketing differ across industries such as health care, retail, or service businesses?

MF: As a whole, the strategy is the same. Businesses in certain verticals like doctor's offices or legal firms will use directories like Verizon Superpages or Business.com. This allows many of them to do more geo-targeted campaigns to go after local customers. Geo-targeted campaigns are less expensive because there are fewer targets, but it's typically money well spent for improved return on investment.

BZ: Are there any search marketing practices that are less effective than in years past?

MF: Businesses no longer bid on every keyword available. eBay, for example, used to bid on countless keywords to drive traffic to their site, even if the keywords don't match to the right landing pages. These days, Google penalizes sites for intentionally using unrelated keywords or black hat SEO practices that negatively impact user experience. This requires businesses to bid on appropriate keywords to go after targeted customers.

Also, don't put so much stock in page rank (the position your content shows up in a search request). It's not the most important thing anymore because Google puts a lot of emphasis on the content of the page. What makes you an authority on a subject? How many people are (freely) linking to your site? If you're getting traffic and people are linking to your content, then you must be an expert.

BZ: Compare search marketing with other types of advertising (magazines, billboards, TV & radio, etc). How do the successes and failures measure up?

MF: One great thing about paid search and SEO – you can accurately track the results. Television ads or billboards may provide great exposure, but it's much harder to quantify the results. With search marketing techniques, you can understand your exact ROI because you know exactly how each campaign performs.

Still, paid search isn't for everybody. To see any significant results, you have to use Google which is both competitive and costly. Many businesses aren't willing to allocate several dollars for a single click which may not result in a new lead or closed sale.

BZ: What's a typical mistake that businesses make with their search marketing efforts?

MF: Some companies don't invest research into hiring in-house search marketing help or choosing a professional firm. Often times they just make bad decisions — either picking an optimization tool that they can't use or small search engines with a poor reputation.

Poor organization is another thing that could sink a company's search marketing efforts. You must set up your search campaigns properly. The setup must be done correctly at the beginning, all keywords should point to the most relevant content, and there should be no broken links. By taking the time to set up your campaign (and the creative), you'll save yourself from a big letdown in the end.

BZ: Which is the best search marketing option for a company on a tight budget?

MF: Your best bet for immediate results is a pay per click campaign through Google. That's where to start if you want to get somewhere fast. SEO is certainly effective, but it takes time before you start seeing results. Even with a small budget, you can start a paid search campaign and see results.

Think carefully about the budget you have but also about what you're looking to get out of a search marketing campaign. If you have a real small budget, it makes sense to hire an experienced person to manage the efforts in house. If you have a large budget where you can spend big for big returns, you're best bet is an established agency.

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