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The Growing Popularity of Search Engine Marketing This article was contributed by David Hoegerman, VECTEC’s Search Engine Optimization Program Manager. Every spring, I make my annual pilgrimage to the East Coast Search Engine Strategies conference held by Jupiter Media, and as always, I am in awe at the growth of Search as an industry. The 2002 and 2003 East coast conferences were held in Boston and most of the participants were programmers and web developers. These conferences were filled with information on how to tweak web sites until they rank well in the free listings of search engines. During the 2004 conference there was a major paradigm shift; as “Pay per Click” marketing with Google AdWords and Overture gained in popularity, and Search Engine Marketing became mainstream. The conference moved to New York and doubled in size and length. Now, programmers and developers are greatly outnumbered by traditional marketers. One of the major changes that have been taking place, and that will have a large impact in the near future, is search convergence. Basically, this is the convergence of search with our everyday lives. Currently, you can go onto Google, Yahoo, or Verizon’s SuperPages.com and search for local businesses. For instance, if I go to www.google.com/local and search for “Newport News florist”, the results are pulled from a variety of sources, not just the web, and locations are displayed on a map. As most cell phones have GPS positioning, soon you will be able to perform a similar search from anywhere. As the phone already knows your location, a search for “florist” would show several nearby choices with a map. We are also seeing Internet style search engines jump from the Internet onto our desktop computers. Google and MSN have both launched desktop search tools this year. Using these tools, you could search from your computer for “beach sunset photos” to quickly pull up that vacation picture you took last year. From the same tool, you could then search the net and compare your work to the work of others. It is very likely that we will see Internet style searches jump to cable and satellite boxes as well as DVRs. As PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing has been around for more than 2 years, there have been numerous changes taking place in the industry (for those of you who don’t know, PPC ads are the “Sponsored Listings” you see above and to the right of “free” search engine results). The PPC industry now includes many new tools to help track success and fraud for these marketing campaigns. More changes are expected in the PPC industry over the next 18 months.The key to success in any PPC campaign has always been good metrics. Site owners need to know that for every dollar invested, at least a dollar in profit is created. Having a good reporting system in place allows the campaign manager to identify ads which aren’t producing an ROI high enough to justify the expenditure. Once poorly performing ads are identified, they can either be modified and re-tested, or dropped. Analysis tools such as Urchin, Web Trends, Net Tracker, and Index Tools are available to assist business owners take the guess work out of campaign management. You can expect VECTEC to be testing one or more of these applications in the coming months. As PPC has become more and more popular, so has related fraud. Fraudulent clicks can be generated by competitors trying to jack up your costs by clicking your ads. Fraudulent clicks can also come from site owners who display syndicated ads on their site, and click the ads to generate revenue. These clicks can come from human visitors, or advanced “click bots” (programs specifically designed to replicate human behavior and “click” ads). This year, I counted 4 vendors in the expo halls which offered some sort of fraud protection software or services. So, what’s the next big evolution in PPC? Shortly after the conference, MSN announced plans to begin testing its own PPC services (MSN is currently powered by Yahoo’s Overture). This service, which will begin testing in Singapore and France within 6 months, will allow users to sign up for PPC search ads, as well as other advertising opportunities across the MSN network. The big difference between MSN’s system and the current systems available at Overture and Google is that MSN’s system will be linked to their vast database of user data. Because users of other MSN features such as email or MSN Shopping have already registered their information with MSN, search ads can be created to target specific demographics based on gender, age, income, and location. For instance, different ads might display on a search for “fashion”, based on the gender of the searcher. This will allow marketers enormous control over their marketing efforts. If this becomes popular, one might see Yahoo’s Overture roll out similar programs. If your company has not explored some of the search engine marketing opportunities available through the net, it is still not too late to start. PPC offers the opportunity to significantly increase your market presence by introducing your product to new customers while adding to your bottom line. For more information regarding PPC, visit the Search Engine Marketing section of the PenSoft E-Business Resource Center. Plus, don’t forget to sign up for VECTEC’s spring forum featuring Yahoo! Search Marketing on May 19th! |
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