Search Optimisationfor

Luxury Brands

Stephen PratleyMD - Shine Marketing

Search Optimisation forLuxury Brands

• The importance of search marketing for upmarket brands

• Challenges facing luxury brand websites• The importance of content• Getting other sites to talk about you• Integrating search with other marketing activity

The importance of search marketing for upmarket brands

• Over 65% of the UK population now online at home• 72% use the internet to research high value

purchases regardless of where they buy them • 42% of respondents cited search engine listings as

the most common way they search for products and vendors (Jupiter Media Matrix)

• Put briefly, everyone in the UK who has a credit card can now find out about your brand online, and will do so.

The importance of search marketing for upmarket brands

• Large or important purchases are more heavily researched online than impulse buys.

• Online shopping no longer automatically means ‘cheap’ or ‘discount’

• Increasingly, online is a way to find niche products, get faster delivery and finding more about a brand before purchasing.

Challenges facing luxury brand websites

• Smaller potential audience• Heavy reliance on image over content• Less willingness to engage with social media sites,

forums, facebook etc etc.• Overall fewer appropriate opportunities than for

mass-market brands• However – quality should be easier

Opportunities for luxury brands

• Fewer opportunities, but easier to leverage them• Recognise your USP’s• Create editorial opportunities• Back them up with strong images that other sites will

WANT to use• Remember it is the knock-on effect of the links you

want, readership is of secondary importance.

How do you achieve good search rankings?

• Visibility• Relevance• Popularity

Visibility

How do you achieve good search rankings?

• Visibility– A site that search engines can read and

understand

Basic Visibility

• Obstacles to Google– Flash menus– Text written as graphics– Forms

• Google can only read text & links• http://tools.seobook.com/general/spider-test/

– This shows what your page looks like to GoogleIf it can’t read your site, neither can Google

Relevance

How do you achieve good search rankings?

• Relevance– Content on your site that relates to the search

terms you want to appear on Google for.

What phrases do you want to rank for?

• What phrases are people actually using to find you and your competitors?

• ‘Luxury’ is actually not used by consumers very often except in travel & property.

• Will these phrases turn into sales?– ‘Luxury gifts’: probably not– ‘Buy men’s calfskin wallet online’ : probably

Keyword Research

• Search engine tools show what people are actually searching for– adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal– Wordtracker.com– inventory.uk.overture.com

Keyword Research

The importance of content

• What is content?– Copy– Images, and video – Interactive tools

• Why is it important– More text = a ‘long tail’ of longer search terms you

can be found for– Shows authority and knowledge

Popularity

How do you achieve good search rankings?

• Popularity– Quality, relevant sites linking to yours shows

Google you have authority in your market

Getting other sites to talk about you

• Link building for SEO is all about getting well regarded and busy websites to talk about you in a positive manner

• This should be second nature to PR professionals but few agencies have grasped the fine detail yet.

Getting other sites to talk about you

• Step 1 – sort your site out• In order to get other people to talk about you, you

need something worth talking about– Interviews– Opinions– New products– Celebrity endorsement– Event appearances

Getting other sites to talk about you

• Step 2 - Train your PR agency– Prepare some useful editorial, include quality

images that will help them.– Ask if the newspaper/ magazine has a website– Ask if you can feature on that as well– Say ‘you can buy the product / there is a list of

stockists’ at our site, can you link to us?– GIVE them the link

A few titles your PR agencymay not know about

• Don’t be too concerned about location• US sites are read in the UK and vice versa• The customer base for high-end good is global

Finding sites that will link to you

• Tools that will help you find other sites that may be suitable to approach.– Google Alerts : email alerts when your brand is

mentioned– Yahoo Site Explorer: sites that link to you or your

competitors– Technorati: Blogs talking about your sector– Hitwise: detailed analysis of UK traffic patterns

(paid for service)

Getting the link (the techy bit)

• This is what a link looks like– <a href=http://www.aspinaloflondon.com>

Aspinal Leather Gifts</a> • It has 2 parts

– Where it goes to: http://www.aspinaloflondon.com– The link text: Aspinal Leather Gifts

• It appears as Aspinal Leather Gifts• The link text is VERY important in telling Google

what your site is about

Integrating search with other marketing activity

• Your overall proposition• PR• Advertising• PPC• Affiliates & Partners

Summary Your checklist for SEO Success

• Decide on 3-4 phrases to target which will bring buyers to your site

• Create content about that subject either on product pages or on a more editorial section of your site

• Be forward about your heritage, expertise and other USP’s

• Remember websites when you plan your PR strategy

• Don’t forget to ask for links