embrace the chaos of integrated search and content strategies

London • 10–13 February 2014 • #SESLON @SESConf

Embrace the chaos of integrated search and content strategiesDavid FreemanHavas MediaHead of SEO

London | 10–13 February 2014 | #SESLON | @SESConf

@davefreeman

@davefreeman


Embrace the chaos and provide direction…@davefreeman


And have clear objectives for what you want to achieve

@davefreeman

Maximise efficiency

Maximise performance


Was September 2013 the end of PPC & SEO synergies?

No, encrypted search changes everything, but integration is

still possible @davefreeman


But, in this new world, you can only run integrated search strategies with Google

When Referrer data passed

Can you run integrated search

September 2013 Yes Yes

January 2014 No No

January 2014 (optional)

Not with encrypted search No

Yahoo! and Bing don’t pass referral data – in site analytics referrals will appear as

direct visits@davefreeman


And the basics become even more important than ever

Analyse paid search keyword data on a regular basis

Teams should meeting on a weekly and monthly basis to discuss integration

Use technology like SearchMetrics for insight


The key challenge is moving from exact keyword level accuracy to page level correlation

Tactic Pre encryption Post encryptionTesting incremental value of brand bidding strategies

Testing incremental value of brand + product bidding strategies

Testing incremental value of generic bidding alongside strong organic performance

Testing keywords using Paid Search then rolling out to organic

Research using Paid Search keyword data

Easily spotting when Paid Search URLs are not tagged for site analytics


At first, not having exact keyword level data is

scary

OMFG!


By embracing page level testing and data correlation, there is no need to worry

Page XDate Organic visits Paid visits Search visits

PPC On 11/01/2014 2,508,180 267,318 2,775,498PPC Off 12/01/2014 2,775,198 300 2,775,498

Page XDate Organic Revenue Paid Revenue Search Revenue

PPC On 11/01/2014 £6,780,274 £155,749 £6,936,023PPC Off 12/01/2014 £6,920,449 £15,574 £6,936,023

Ensure you run tests for a significant time period i.e. 1 month

We have lost keyword level data and, with it, data precision

But, we have page level data!


@davefreeman

It’s really easy to get this data and export it to Excel for analysis

Use the landing page report with

custom segments for

organic search, paid search and

search visits

Pages report

You will need custom segments for each traffic source

Apply visits and conversion metrics

Or use report builder if you have it


This all equates to this, right?


@davefreeman

So - set expectations. Stay agile, iterate quickly and succeed/fail faster

Iterate through a number of tests

Easier to measure and you won’t get bogged down in planning overkill

You will fail faster, learn quicker and adapt and perfect the process sooner – it’s better to hit issues on a small test

Keep tests small


But first…


@davefreeman

Get stakeholder sign-off at every stage and agree:

The aims

The test strategy

The keywords

The measurement framework

Timeframes

Set expectations


@davefreeman

Understand what to test by building a picture of search performance


@davefreeman

Plan a small number of well defined tests

Target page

Keywords

Length of test

Type of test i.e.day on day off with weekly

rotation

Launch date

Results feedback


@davefreeman

Create and agree a measurement framework

Measuring visits is generally not good enough to get reliable results

Measure revenue and/or conversions as well

Conversion rates can have a sizeable impact on incremental value

Visits Revenue+

Consider whether you want to look further than last click and consider attribution


@davefreeman

Plan how you will measure

Use site analytics – fully de-duplicated data

Ensure your site analytics is correctly configured – if unsure, get it checked

Agree how often the results will be analysed

Let all stakeholders know when results will be shared


@davefreeman

Analyse your results, agree next steps with stakeholders and implement changes

accordingly


@davefreeman

Tip: Hire maths/statistics grads or data scientists as part of your team


@davefreeman

Integrated strategies work Travel client case study

45% reduction in paid search budget

Paid search revenue down 50% - almost completely picked up by organic search

On top of the recovered paid search revenue, organic search revenue grew 5%

Only incremental paid search left on

Overall revenue from search up 4% with reduced costs


@davefreeman

Don’t take risks with your SEO performance

Never stand still – strong organic search is vital to an integrated strategy

Focus on a content led strategy

You will need to prove the value of content


@davefreeman

Great content is key – put your audience first and SEO/SMO second

Content is and always has been king

Rubbish content = poor user experience = no engagement

Don’t pollute the web with rubbish content under the banner of SEO

Don’t waste time measuring how effective poor content is


@davefreeman

When planning content, always have clear goals and KPIs


@davefreeman

And keep in mind that different types of content have different impacts and should be measured accordingly


@davefreeman

Create an Excel measurement matrix based on your KPIs – not knowing what success looks like is huge

point of failure for content

Over time, understand what success looks like and build in success thresholds


@davefreeman

Evolve your content based on results


@davefreeman

As with Search integration, stakeholder sign-off is vital

Initial brainstorm on the idea and theme and development of the design briefResearchApproval on research sources Design#1 draft delivery - Creative development paused#1 round of feedback Design#2 draft delivery - Creative development pausedContent is presented to internal teams for approval: Legal and Risk feedbackAdditional Stake holders feedback if required Feedback is collated and fed back#2 round of feedback to be deliveredDesign time for any additional amends (last round) #3 draft delivery - Final design submittedPR and Social teams informed of launch dateOn-site developmentContent LiveReport on progress of content first weekResults measurement - first cutResults measurement - second cut

6 stages of stakeholder approval for each piece

of content

3 stages of results analysis


@davefreeman

Insight and data are vital at all stages to build and seed great content

Understand what people search for

in each market

Recommend relevant content

for the website and outreach

Build citations and links to your

content

Monitor performance

against defined KPIs i.e. links,

rankings, visits

Customers find what they were

looking for


@davefreeman

Yes, it’s an infographic, but great content works

3,000 links and 1,872 shares

http://book.flythomascook.com/infographics/sunshine-and-happiness/

http://www.designboom.com/design/sunshine-and-happiness-infographic/


@davefreeman

You can even use survey data to get great coverage in major news publications such as The Telegraph, The

Independent, and The Daily Mail

Over 260 links and shares


@davefreeman

Content should be at the heart of collaboration between teams

It brings all the teams together around campaigns or events and will help drive more effective content


@davefreeman

So in summaryIntegrated strategies are still absolutely possible post encryption

Data sits at the heart of search and content integration

Make sure your analytics platform is configured correctly. Bad data = bad decisions

Stay agile and iterate quickly

Collaboration is key – content binds disciplines and gets everyone working to a common goal


Thank youDavid [email protected] MediaHead of SEO

embrace the chaos of integrated search and content strategies

Marketing

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