SEO/SEM – the Case for Strategic Integration

By Richard ChavezVice President, SEO

Overview About PM Digital The Power of Search as a Marketing Channel Understanding the Customer Journey SEO/SEM Blended Reporting

(Deep-Dive Study) Term Not Provided at 100% (What to do?) Case Studies Key Takeaways

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About PM Digital

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A full-service marketing agency that helps leading brands achieve their highest online ROI through an unmatched combination of strategy, solutions and expertise.

22 Years in Business 300 Experts 8 Offices 200+ Media Buying Power

Internet Retailer Top Search Engine Marketing Vendor 2011

Paradysz Named to Crain's New York 50 Fastest-Growing Companies

Bronze award for Marketing Agency of the Year from the Stevie Awards

eTail Best In Class: Search

Industry Associations Awards & Recognition

The Power of Search as a Marketing Channel

Search engines (SEO and SEM) are a key driver to retail sites

According to Hitwise, search engines drive 37% of retail online traffic1

A PM Digital study revealed that search engines drive over 70% of retail traffic and 55% of online revenue2

SEM (40%), SEO (30%) – traffic SEM (35%), SEO (20%) - revenue

4 1. Upstream traffic, Shopping, Hitwise, 10/12 – 09/13 avg.2. % of total retail traffic and revenue driven from search engines, PM Digital Study

Understanding the Customer JourneySearch data from Google or Bing provides a quantitative understanding of consumer shopping behavior. That data can be analyzed and classified into the customer’s journey / sales funnel.

The goal is create brand awareness (visibility) and a compelling user-experience throughout the customer journey in multiple stages.

Each marketing channel has a specific role with each stage (SEO, SEM, Social, Email, Direct)

Items to consider when creating such a roadmap: Avoiding brand speak vs. consumer speak (ex. daypacks vs. backpacks) Apply sales funnel to taxonomy (navigation) Create categories based on primary product type, product use and

customer benefit or other relevant attributes

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Understanding the Customer JourneyThe customer shopping journey can classified into sequential stages.

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Awareness

Consideration

Intent

Due Diligence

Decision

http://gweb-think-tools.appspot.com/customer-journey-to-purchase/

Not common, mostly occurs

with high ticket items

Awareness

Generally shorter key phrases

Typically core business terms or category terms

Very high search volume Lower conversion rates Example:

handbags sweaters Dresses The North Face

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Awareness

Consideration

Intent

Due Diligence

Decision

Consideration Generally 2-3 word

keywords one identifier + the root Lower search volume Better conversion rates Higher amount of

keywords in this stage Example:

Brand + categoryCoach handbags

Gender + categoryWomen’s sweaters

Need + Categoryplus-size dresses

Brand + DiscountSteve madden coupons

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Awareness

Consideration

Intent

Due Diligence

Decision

Intent Generally 3-4 word keywords two identifiers + the root Even lower search volume Even better conversion rates Example:

Local (keyword)coach handbag store scottsdale

Brand + model (keyword)steve madden troopa boot

Price identifier + brand/product category + productsteve madden womens boots on sale

Best + brand/attribute + model/product typebest waterproof mens winter jacket9

Awareness

Consideration

Intent

Due Diligence

Decision

Due Diligence Common for high-ticket items Keywords to understand financial

commitments benefit/return of post-purchase,

warranty, return policy, reviews (product specific), comparison

Example: Brand + model + reviews/customer

service/aftermarket steve madden troopa boot reviews steve madden boot return policy whirlpool gold refrigerator reviews kenmore elite dryer vs whirlpool

gold dryer 2012 honda civic resale value

Less common for most retail shopping

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Awareness

Consideration

Intent

Due Diligence

Decision

Decision Generally 4+ word keywords four or more identifiers + the root Can include “Buy” or “Shop” exact specs of product search Example:

Buy + brand + model + attribute + value prop

black north face denali free shipping

Steve madden black troopa boot size 8

Brand + model + color/size + pricing + value prop

north face thermoball jacket blue free shipping

• Generally fewer keywords in this stage, many customers convert via direct load

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Awareness

Consideration

Intent

Due Diligence

Decision

SEO/SEM Deep-Dive StudyObjective: Combining natural and paid search data to determine opportunities for overall optimization to increase/maximize Search Engine Result Page (SERP) SOV.

Questions:• How do I use paid search data to help make natural search optimization

decisions?• Are there keywords I should be optimizing for in natural search?• Are there takeaways that can be shared with the SEM team?

Solution:This study contains paid and natural search data from the top-10 most trafficked PM Digital retail clients to create a combined view for each keyword in each stage of the customer’s journey to facilitate data-driven SEO & SEM decisions.

• The data timeframe was from 10/12 – 09/30 to ensure SEO performance data and peak holiday performance were included

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SEO/SEM Deep-Dive Study SummaryOverall, the best performance (revenue, orders and clicks) occur when SEO and SEM have strong side-by-side comparison. Performance drops significantly as SEO positioning declines for both SEO and SEM.

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SEO/SEM Deep-Dive Study (Awareness)

SEO Considerations Average Rank: 6.6 (page 1) Avg. 5.2 million searches / mo1

Content creation for homepage and top-level category pages Above-the-fold Maintain a good user-experience Optimize brand+category

Optimize and publish content via Google+ for increased brand ownership

14 1. Google Local, Exact-Match, U.S.

SEM Considerations Average Rank: 1.63 (page 1) Impressions: 236 million 5.88% CTR $0.74 CPC 17-1 A/S Exact match, Broad match modifier, Negative

match, Day parting to manage budget, Solicit reviews (Biz Rate) Sitelinks for key categories

SEO VisibilitySEO % Clicks

SEO % of Orders

SEO % of Rev.

SEO Conv.

SEM % Clicks

SEM % of Orders

SEM % of Rev.

SEM CTR

SEM Conv

SEM % of Spend

Pg 1 (1-3) 48.90% 49.26% 98.37% 1.65% 47.43% 48.43% 97.58% 9.64% 2.87% 84.28%

Pg 1 (4-10) 50.84% 50.64% 1.45% 1.63% 51.14% 50.80% 1.44% 5.46% 2.79% 4.64%

Pg 2 0.12% 0.05% 0.08% 0.77% 0.64% 0.42% 0.52% 0.81% 1.85% 5.15%

Beyond Pg 2 0.14% 0.05% 0.09% 0.51% 0.79% 0.35% 0.46% 0.44% 1.25% 5.93%

Performance Summary by Keyword Rank (Awareness, all SEM ranks)

SEO ClicksSEO

OrdersSEO

Conv.SEO Rev SEM Spend

SEM Impressions

SEM Clicks

SEM Orders

SEM Conv.

SEM Rev Total Rev

78.22% 83.44% 1.6% 84.89% 55.51% 49.94% 71.08% 70.82% 2.8% 73.89% 76.69%

Awareness Stage Performance Contribution

SEO/SEM Deep-Dive Study (Consideration)

SEO Considerations Average Rank: 5.35 (page 1) Avg. 3.6 million searches / mo1

Content creation for category and sub-category pages Create sub-categories and

remerchandise where inventory is available

Above-the-fold Maintain a good user-experience15

1. Google Local, Exact-Match, U.S.

SEM Considerations Average Rank: 1.17 (page 1) Impressions: 202 million 2.42% CTR $0.70 CPC 5-1 A/S Exact match, Phrase match, Negative match,

Day parting to manage budget Solicit reviews (Biz Rate) Sitelinks for key sub-categories

SEO ClicksSEO

OrdersSEO

Conv.SEO Rev SEM Spend

SEM Impressions

SEM Clicks

SEM Orders

SEM Conv.

SEM Rev Total Rev

19.19% 14.55% 1.2% 13.28% 35.91% 42.75% 25.01% 26.89% 3.0% 23.99% 21.26%

Consideration Stage Performance Contribution

SEO VisibilitySEO % Clicks

SEO % of Orders

SEO % of Rev.

SEO Conv.

SEM % Clicks

SEM % of Orders

SEM % of Rev.

SEM CTR

SEM Conv

SEM % of Spend

Pg 1 (1-3) 90.58% 89.58% 89.38% 1.15% 85.58% 79.38% 77.59% 4.11% 2.75% 75.87%

Pg 1 (4-10) 6.66% 8.61% 8.18% 1.50% 8.93% 16.11% 17.62% 1.21% 5.35% 15.34%

Pg 2 1.06% 0.68% 0.98% 0.75% 3.70% 3.63% 4.03% 2.03% 2.91% 4.56%

Beyond Pg 2 1.70% 1.13% 1.46% 0.77% 1.80% 0.88% 0.76% 0.30% 1.46% 4.23%

Performance Summary by Keyword Rank (Consideration, all SEM ranks)

SEO/SEM Deep-Dive Study (Intent)

SEO Considerations Average Rank: 5.8 (page 1) Avg. 588K searches / mo1

Content creation for product pages Optimize product reviews Write authorative product descriptions

Create local store pages, submit via Google + Local

Create promotional pages and promote on-site

Merchandise Nav by product attributes16 1. Google Local, Exact-Match, U.S.

SEM Considerations Average Rank: 2.02 (page 1) Impressions: 33 million 2.22% CTR $0.86 CPC 4-1 A/S Exact match, Phrase match, PLA, Day parting

to manage budget Solicit reviews (Biz Rate) Sitelinks for key products, promotions, value

prop pages

SEO ClicksSEO

OrdersSEO

Conv. SEO Rev SEM SpendSEM

ImpressionsSEM

ClicksSEM

OrdersSEM

Conv. SEM Rev Total Rev2.41% 1.75% 1.10% 1.57% 8.23% 7.03% 3.78% 1.99% 1.50% 1.90% 1.82%

Intent Stage Performance Contribution

SEO VisibilitySEO % Clicks

SEO % of Orders

SEO % of Rev.

SEO Conv.

SEM % Clicks

SEM % of Orders

SEM % of Rev.

SEM CTR

SEM Conv

SEM % of Spend

Pg 1 (1-3) 88.83% 86.31% 87.36% 1.09% 80.32% 81.99% 83.05% 2.28% 1.53% 82.20%

Pg 1 (4-10) 6.63% 8.24% 7.33% 1.39% 9.57% 13.57% 13.48% 1.63% 2.12% 9.11%

Pg 2 2.15% 2.21% 2.08% 1.15% 5.48% 1.14% 0.93% 3.81% 0.31% 3.77%

Beyond Pg 2 2.39% 3.23% 3.24% 1.52% 4.63% 3.30% 2.53% 2.10% 1.07% 4.92%

Performance Summary by Keyword Rank (Intent, all SEM ranks)

SEO/SEM Deep-Dive Study (Decision)

SEO Considerations Average Rank: 2.67 (page 1) Avg. 29K searches / mo1

Content creation for product pages Optimize product reviews Write authorative product descriptions

Include value prop in page title, body copy (Free Shipping)

Optimize product images Include in XML sitemap Watermark if possible

17 1. Google Local, Exact-Match, U.S.

SEM Considerations Average Rank: 1.92 (page 1) Impressions: 1.3 million 2.22% CTR $0.94 CPC 4-1 A/S Exact match, PLA

Add reviews and value prop in ad copy (SEM and PLA)

Sitelinks for product pages and upsell pages

SEO ClicksSEO

OrdersSEO

Conv. SEO Rev SEM SpendSEM

ImpressionsSEM

ClicksSEM

OrdersSEM

Conv. SEM Rev Total Rev0.17% 0.25% 2.20% 0.25% 0.35% 0.28% 0.13% 0.29% 6.40% 0.22% 0.23%

Decision Stage Performance Contribution

SEO VisibilitySEO % Clicks

SEO % of Orders

SEO % of Rev.

SEO Conv.

SEM % Clicks

SEM % of Orders

SEM % of Rev.

SEM CTR

SEM Conv

SEM % of Spend

Pg 1 (1-3) 92.42% 84.71% 84.33% 2.04% 93.85% 94.60% 93.97% 1.80% 5.90% 95.05%

Pg 1 (4-10) 2.65% 2.28% 1.78% 1.92% 2.59% 1.43% 1.23% 6.66% 3.25% 1.63%

Pg 2 1.19% 3.51% 3.37% 6.60% 1.26% 1.30% 1.52% 7.04% 6.05% 1.04%

Beyond Pg 2 3.75% 9.49% 10.52% 5.65% 2.31% 2.66% 3.28% 3.73% 6.76% 2.28%

Performance Summary by Keyword Rank (Decision, all SEM ranks)

Term Not Provided at 100% (what to do?)

In Q4 of 2011, Google began encrypting the SEO keyword referrer data for users signed-in to their Google account (gmail, Google+, etc.).

In late September 2013 Google moved to 100% encryption (Term Not Provided) of all search clicks with the exception of SEM clicks. Individual keyword performance data (traffic, conversions,

revenue, etc.) are no longer be available via analytics (GA, Coremetrics & Omniture).

Yahoo and Bing have recently announced that they will/have moved to 100% natural search keyword encryption

18http://www.pmdigital.com/blog/2013/09/term-provided-100-means-brands/

Term Not Provided at 100% (Don’t Give Up!)

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SEM data is still available, making integration that much more important Google provides traffic data via Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) Tag URLs for SEO performance (conversions / revenue) Expand GWT by category to enable keyword expansion (Google allows 2k per account) Measure rankings by URL

Term Not Provided at 100% (Challenges)

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URL performance data is not always readily available via analytics

Coremetrics requires the Explorer integration Modification via the application Coremetrics provides minimal support

Omniture requires the Data Explorers/Genesis Integration Should not require a fee Easier integration New updates may be available at the end of March 2014

Google Analytics provides a seamless integration

http://www.pmdigital.com/blog/2013/10/prepare-seo-reporting-term-provided-100/

Term Not Provided at 100% (A New Outlook)

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By leveraging Google Webmaster Tools Click Data, SEO/SEM integration can continue in a strategic manner

Adding GWT click data and forecasting/estimating based on SEO performance Sitewide SEO conversion rate and AOV (recommended) SEM keyword conversion rate and AOV (conversion rates can

vary greatly) SEO conversion rate by remaining keyword data and AOV

Include metrics from other channels Display – keyword ads Social (hashtag tracking) Mobile

Term Not Provided at 100% (A New Outlook)

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Keyword GWT Clicks SEO Clicks SEM Clicks SEO Rank SEM Rank Orders- GWT Orders- Organic Orders- SEM Revenue- GWT Revenue- Organic Revenue- SEMkeyword 1 46,506 18,738 832,106 1 1.6 930.12 140 6,500 $139,518 $29,629 $1,485,997keyword 2 1,807 1,079 50,030 1 1.1 36.14 23 544 $5,421 $5,224 $128,107keyword 3 3 5 108 1 1.1 0.06 1 2 $9 $996 $396keyword 4 402 501 16 1 1.1 8.04 3 0 $1,206 $935 $0keyword 5 1,993 1,330 53,370 1 2.6 39.86 3 244 $5,979 $774 $65,618keyword 6 863 182 7,680 1 1.8 17.26 2 18 $2,589 $760 $3,558keyword 7 1,417 648 30,908 1 1.5 28.34 2 108 $4,251 $676 $32,520keyword 8 1,483 779 35,192 1 2.2 29.66 2 110 $4,449 $628 $32,114keyword 9 34 152 164 2 1.1 0.68 1 2 $102 $606 $216keyword 10 4,231 1,000 90,490 1 2.5 84.62 1 220 $12,693 $598 $46,808

CPC Total CPC Impressions Search Volume SEO Conv. Rate SEO Conv. Rate$0.08 $64,248 4,719,704 1,000,000 0.75% 0.78%$0.06 $3,150 108,608 74,000 2.13% 1.09%$0.10 $10 462 0 20% 1.85%$0.14 $2 74 0 0.60% 0%$0.10 $5,469 369,474 201,000 0.23% 0.46%$0.18 $1,410 80,576 60,500 1.10% 0.23%$0.13 $3,987 270,024 74,000 0.31% 0.35%$0.17 $6,102 1,087,486 40,500 0.26% 0.31%$0.14 $22 1,186 0 0.66% 1.22%$0.17 $15,681 634,632 246,000 0.10% 0.24%

Case Study (Western Wear)

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Challenge: A PM Digital Search Behavior Study of non-branded western wear

revealed that the SEM campaign only had coverage for 2% of the terms analyzed in the study

With little SEM support, the SEO performance of these terms was low even though rankings were strong

Client competitors received a lot of traffic from these terms

Solution: New SEM non-brand campaigns and increased spend (yearly budget was

already sealed, but client did approve additional spend)

Results: The increased coverage and spend led to a 25% increase in competitive

SEM clicks in Q4 2012

Case Study (Bedding Retailer)Challenge: Bedding retailer carried multiple brands and had

strong sales and rankings for the brands they carried While the SEO success was strong, it was limited to

top and bottom levels of the sales funnel Blended SEO/SEM data showed strong SEM traffic

and high consumer search demand, but low conversions for mid-tier searches (sub-category / brand + product type), content did not exist

Solution: PM Digital created sub-category pages at the

Narrowing Stage for three top-selling brands Pages went live in early October 2012Results: SEO orders increase: Q4 YOY: 32% SEO revenue increase: Q4 YOY: 27%

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Awareness(bedding)

Consideration(brand + bedding)

Intent(brand +

product type (fitted sheet)

Decision(brand +

product name)

Key Takeaways• Research the customer journey based on your products/services• Understand the behavior of each stage• Create / expand content to increase brand awareness for the entire

journey• Integrate SEO and SEM/PLAs to gain a complete view of customer

intent• Understand performance strengths and gaps by each funnel and

natural search ranking• Create content (home, category, reviews, local, etc.) to maximize

SEO and SEM relevancy to increase SEO rankings and SEM quality score

• Modify SEM bidding based on stage of the journey• Awareness > Consideration > Intent > Due Diligence > Decision

• SEO top rankings greatly influence SEM performance and vice-versa, so data sharing and optimization is paramount

• Integrate Google Webmaster Tools data to existing SEO data to capture a larger performance view25

Thank You!

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Richard ChavezVice President, SEOPM Digital212-851-8681rchavez@pmdigital.comwww.pmdigital.comBlog: http://www.pmdigital.com/blog/ http://www.pmdigital.com/blog/author/richardchavez/ Twitter: @PMDigital@richardachavez