SEO & PPC Integration Strategy

Author: Artur Jach

Contact: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/arthurjach

Last updated: October 2012

Step 1: Identify overarching objective of the strategy

Ask yourself: why exactly am I doing this?

• Are you trying to deepen understanding of SEO/PPC relationship?

• Are you simply improving overall digital channel performance?

• Are you trying to use each channel’s learnings just to save PPC budget

• Or are you trying to save and then reinvest?

Answers to these questions will become an overarching aim of the strategy.

Step 2: Brainstorm ideas and relevant activities

Ok, I know what I want. Now, how do I get there?

• Brand bidding strategy – saving on brand terms and reinvesting elsewhere.

• Reallocating PPC spend from expensive generics with organic coverage.

• Maximising visibility – test PPC on keywords that are ranking organically

towards the bottom of first page in Google but which convert well.

• Increase trust and CTR – test if having both paid and organic listing increase

consumer trust and leads to an increase in click through rate.

• Share findings between teams – create and maintain GAP analysis with top

and bottom performing keywords for both channels.

• Synchronisation of copy – sharing PPC ad copy with SEO to improve copy in

search results and using well-converting ad copy in page titles and descriptions.

Step 3: Approach and methodology

• Put in place a set of ‘on/off’ tests to check if your strategy works

• Different applications possible, e.g. ‘day on/day off’Test & Learn

• Create and maintain a combined SEO and PPC GAP analysis• Use it as a benchmark and a source of reporting data• Automate data pulls with Excel plugins, e.g. Excellent

Analytics.

Combined GAP Analysis

• Make sure test plan is long enough, flexible and realistic• Remember about seasonality and other activity (e.g. offline

marketing) affecting the numbersTimeline / Planner

Step 4: Risk mitigation 1/2

I know the objective, how to get there and what I need. Is there anything else to consider? Yes, there is… a lot!

• Are you able to track the progress?Tracking

• Will they be affected by seasonality or offline activity?Timelines

• Which metrics you will consider: visits, revenue, CPA, SEO rankings, prominence of SEO listings (site links, etc.), seasonality of search volumes?

GAP analysis

• Are there any major website changes in deployment pipeline? Is the product under test going to change?

Website and product changes

Step 4: Risk mitigation 2/2

• Do you have time to identify test candidate keywords and time to run the test and get results out? Will this impact other work/clients?

Resources

• Will you have additional budget to support the test?Budgets

• How competitor bidding strategy will affect your overall search performance?Competitors

• Are you aware of the fact that, in short term, the test might have a negative impact on reported PPC performance?Reporting

Step 5: Delivery plan with timeline and deadlines

Agree on reporting template

Set test KPIs and test plan /methodology

Prioritise test areas

Finalise keyword selection

Schedule and run tests

Evaluate results. Feed them back into overall

search strategy