phil morgan, head of search, talks to students at the university of salford

Search & Social MediaWeek 1

Phil Morgan

About me• Head of Search at Delineo• Been working in search for over 7 years• Worked in-house and agency-side• Computer Science background (bit of a

techie)• 1st Class BSc (Hons) Computing –

Multimedia Systems – Leeds Metropolitan University

• MSc Computer Science – Liverpool University

@philipmorgan

© Delineo 2014 no ideas, information or material to be reproduced without written permission

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/philipgmorgan

phil.morgan@delineo.com

About Us

• Established over 30 years• Independent advertising agency, 40+ people• Members of the IPA (one of just 22 in the region)

Overview

• Current Search Landscape• Developing a Keyword Plan

• Google’s tools• Other tools and methods

• Key Search Metrics• AdWords

• Account Structure• Keyword match types• Writing a good PPC ad

• Some good books, blogs and Twitter Users to Follow

The Search Landscape

Image:https://www.flickr.com/photos/viglianco/

SEO is DEAD

SEO is DEAD

Lazy

SEO is DEAD

Lazy

(Which is good, for you)

‘Good’ Old Days are Gone

Not that long ago…

Why, what, how?

• Don’t put Google in the corner (and make them look daft)– J.C. Penney, Expedia

• Examples:• Article spinning• Paid Links (video here: http://searchengineland.com/matt-

cutts-video-google-determines-paid-link-185748) • And now, Guest Posts

• If it seems too good to be true and a bit

too easy…

Algorithm updates - Content

Image:https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortherock/

Algorithm updates - Links

Image:https://www.flickr.com/photos/leyla_arsan/

Algorithm updates - Local

Image:http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/57619/dastardly-and-muttley-in-their-flying-machines-the-complete-series.html

Google Still Our Fave

88.7%

6.3%3.3% 1.7%

Jan-14 Search Engine Share (UK)

Google

Bing

Yahoo!

Others

For non-believers…

http://www.bingiton.com/

It all starts with a keyword plan

Keywords aren’t cool though

• They are what will feed the rest of the campaign • They are at the heart of what progress will be measured

against – they drive the traffic that drives sales• They will ultimately make or break your search or social

campaign• Don’t be afraid to challenge what has gone before• Get them right and your campaigns will have focus and be

headed in the right direction, so take your time and do it right

• Get them wrong, rush through it or take a short cut…

And things probably won’t turn out as you expected

And things probably won’t turn out as you expected

Where to start

• Think core services– Use site structure, quiz the business owner

• Highest margin / Most profitable products

• Vanity (can be called brand awareness…)

• Competitiveness– What’s the likely time investment vs. return?– Is the site new or well established?

Look mum!

• Don’t chase rankings, ranking reports don’t pay bills• Don’t assume ‘you’ll do well for that one anyway’

[nike trainers]

Learn to love Excel

Img:http://www.etsy.com/listing/86173915/i-love-excel-pinback-button-set

• Google AdWords Keyword Planner

(incorporates estimator and KW Tool)

• Google Analytics – what’s performing well and might just need a boost

• Google Trends (prev. Insights for Search) – What’s the demand like between keywords, finding the right time

• AdWords Campaign Data (if you’re lucky) – Get hold of a voucher!

Let Google muscle help

Img: http://www.organicseomarketing.com/blog/

Google Keyword Planner• Replaces previous keyword tool (sad times)• Gives historical, exact search volumes• Still a good starting point

https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner

Google Trends

www.google.com/trends

Google Trends

www.google.com/trends

• Use Analytics to learn about your business / client

• What really is your best online seller – be objective and let the data lead you!

• It’s free! (Sort of)

• Not just a tool for SEO’s – can be fun

for non-search geeks (honest)

Google’s Training & Certification site

has lots of good info for free

http://www.google.co.uk/analytics/iq.html

Google Analytics

I love Google but…

What else is there?

Utilise Google Suggest• UberSuggest• ubersuggest.org

• Its free!

• Great for keyword ideas

• Easy export to text document

• Utilises Google Suggest so there’s a good chance there will be some search volume

www.semrush.com (free and paid)

CompetitorsWhat’s their site structure like?

On-page targeting – page titles and descriptions

-Use Screaming Frog (has a free version too)http://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/

Even sneakier…• Head back to Keyword Planner…

Competitor URL in here

Competitor analysis

• Balanced keyword portfolios are best• Think about short term and long term targets• Lots of products – may benefit from long-tail strategy

Refine your list

Think mobile

• Desktop search behaviour and mobile search behaviour are different

• Think mobile specific queries

• Shorter Queries – mobile users are lazy(doing something else at the same time)

• Optimise for Google Suggest

• Split data out whenever possible – important for AdWords campaigns

Key Search Metrics• Revenue!

• Non-brand aware search traffic

Tricky with (not provided) – look at organic landing pages

• Conversion Rate

• Exit Pages (Pain Points)

• Creating Visitor Personas and Profiles – • Qualitative Measures, time on site etc.

Applying Keywords to AdWords

• What are the main elements of an AdWords account• Keyword Match Types• What makes a good (or bad) PPC Ad

AdWords Account Structure

https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2375470?hl=en-GB

AdWords keyword match types

http://www.hallaminternet.com/2012/a-guide-to-adwords-keyword-match-types/

Writing a good ad

Do• Try and include keyword• Include a USP / offer• Be creative with display URL• Send to a relevant page• Use all available space

Writing a not so good ad

Don’t• USE CAPITALS• Direct all ads to the homepage• Pretend to be a competitor• Pretend to be someone else• Be afraid to test, try different things!• Be boring

Recommended Reading• Distilled Excel for SEO

• http://www.distilled.net/excel-for-seo/• Google Webmaster Videos

• http://www.youtube.com/user/GoogleWebmasterHelp• Search Engine Land

• http://searchengineland.com/• Moz

• http://moz.com

Save the good stuff• Evernote • Instapaper (iOS & Android)

Books• The Art of SEO (Eric Enge)• Advanced Web Metrics (Brian Clifton)

• Delineo @delineo• Me! @philipmorgan• Tom Mason @totmac (Delineo Social Media Guru)• Ross Hudgens @RossHudgens• Jason Acidre @jasonacidre• Matt Cutts @mattcutts (Head of Google WebSpam

Team)• Econsultancy @Econsultancy• David Mihm @davidmihm (Local SEO Expert)• PPC Hero @ppchero

Twitter

Thanks!

@philipmorgan

phil.morgan@delineo.com

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/philipgmorgan

https://plus.google.com/u/0/108361369505939953684/Still waiting for ‘my’ name!