SES Toronto 2009

I am en route to the second day of Search Engine Strategies (SES) 2009. I will be live-blogging my attendance, and I will be attending the following sessions:

• Analytics for Search: ROI, Engagement & Attribution
• Information Architecture
• Paid Search Quality Scoring: 201, 301
• How to Speak Geek: Working Collaboratively with your IT Department to Get Things Done

I will be adding to my blog throughout the day as I attend sessions, so please check back often to learn more.

KEYNOTE Emmanuel Rosen – Anatomy of Buzz

• buzz – person to person- increase positive communication
• old way – see ads and they buy
• Endnote – 40%/60% heard by word of mouth
• send mac user a coupon that they can pass on to friend – stimulus for buzz (20% coupons redeemed
• Ben & Jerry’s free cone day > few days before in 2008 > gift for friends > w/in 11 hours 250,000 fb users, ½ million fb users w/in 24 hours > hard to measure
• MAKE IT EASY AND FUN
• 73% buzz offline, 17% phone, 10% online
• 63% of buzz is positive
• category we talk about most – FOOD
• visual buzz – observing others using products – ie. Lunchables, Soup At Hand, Listerine pocket packs
• CREATE VISUAL BUZZ
• main value for Adidas on myspace – people seeing their friends associated with brand
• we imitate some and dis-imitate others – if “geek” is wearing it I don’t want it (Live Strong
• why trigger buzz?
• 30% of negative buzz comes from people who have never owned the product
• people forget to create buzz – give them opportunities to talk
• GIVE US SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT
• Will it Blend – blend an iphone came from users > got email that they blended upon their request – feeling of ownership (George Wright)
• PAY ATTENTION TO DISPERSION > just because there is talk in observers, does not mean that there is buzz volume > want buzz across heterogeneous communities
• TELL A GOOD STORY – stimulate customers to tell stories about brand – Tom’s Shoes Shoe Drop – social media with purpose
• MASS MEDIA BUILDS BUZZ TOO – not only the domain of guerilla/grassroots
• 17% of brand conversations refer to advertising
• ads can simulate or stimulate buzz
• WORK WITH HUBS – some people talk more than others – some people just have greater mass of communication, experts
• SIMULTANOUS INITIATIVES – several initiatives some will work, most will not
• measuring word of mouth? Scout Labs

ROI, Analytics

Brian

• using data to make changes online -quickly – using kpis
• always be testing – continuous approval process
• 3 key resources for success – people, tools,
• we need to stop focus on engagement – focus on money in the bank – if there is no money then who cares?

June Li – Turning Data into Dollars – ClickInsight

• data & reports – ask questions – segmentation analysis – take action
• we make data meaningful – not the tools
• DESIGN – get invited to design party – not after the fact – be upfront when goals are being set
• segmentation – what is the difference between those that convert and don’t convert? – how does these differ in their interaction with the site
• are there sources that drive more, are there keywords that drive more, are there times, places where there is more interaction
• segment according to what you will take action on

Anne-Marie – Search Query Audits – Outrider

• offsite search result – targeting goes awry
• broad match keywords – target more than what actually applies – more clicks but are they the right clicks? irrelevant clicks
• negative keywords – for clicks where this does not apply, use negative keywords
• hidden defect search result

• organic v. paid > paid 12% clicks, 96% of spend > harder to demonstrate value for organic search
• monitor value – eliminate noise through segmentation
• calculate potential > formula provided on slide
• localization – just give you have links does not mean you will rank locally, you need local links

Information Architecture

• interface after info architecture
• keyword based information architecture > taxonomy
• tested without content > once you can navigate with content
• no time wasted on orienting oneself > immediately can know where to go
• no marketing speak, technical jargon > use the language of the user
• define goals, come up with info architecture, taxonomy and usability testing then design
• linking gone wild – do not put links all over page > consistently
• page interlinking – internal links within site – horizontal and vertical linking
• url structure does not have impact on ranking – but it should be useful for users
• come up with taxonomy, page interlinking supplements taxonmy, come up with interface
• server performance – this comes last – can search crawl and inde
• how do you know if your site is doing what it should – analytics
• silo information into specific types of traffic
• steady or lower traffic, new competitors, search query changes all signal time to change website
• what do users need, how they are searching, and what the spider needs – leverage the se to create new site
• spiders urls to index, links to content, content to rank
• rich media can coexist with seo if it makes sense for the user too
• link juice – link popularity > all pages of domain “need to be touched”
• noindex – will stop it from being indexed regardless of whether it is linked to… robots.txt won’t do this
• rel=”nofollow”
• 301 redirection – one way that is authorized to pass link juice
• canonicalization tag- put tag in page that shows what the actual url should be – band-aid – new about 1 year – it does transfer link juice but not across domains (like 301 but when it is on the same domain
• xenu – spiders site and gives you info to sift through and order differently (free) and of course Google webmaster

Paid search QUALITY SCORE 201, 301

• adwords 1.0 – cpm but few tools
• overture cpc ads
• modestly monetized query – white space
• from no ads to many > seems like similar query – ie. multi-channel marketing to multichannel marketing
• adwords 2.5 – disincetivise lowball bidding on irrelevant terms, chase away annoying advertisers, address relevancy and quality with more than CTR > low quality meant inactive keywords or raise bid above min.
• 2.6 landing page quality – user response, editorial approaches automated, landing page load time > won’t be penalized for landing page quality (you don’t have to optimize each landing page
• information scent – good categorization, tight relationship of menaing
• multiple signals will alert google of poor quality score – automated – incorrect targeting, bad guys
• landing pages/website issues are binary
• basic build problems – wrong campaign settings,no ad testing, jumbled ad groups, keywords
• Quasi arbitrage
• careless start – broad keywords, high bids to rescue account with polluted QS > start completely new account with proper account build
• higher ad positions better click prices
• strong brand – clear goals – head start
• conventional business value
• query ambiguity requires extra patience

quality scores – david sprinkle

• known factors – CTR, query relevance, landing page quality, account history, geographical performance, maximum bid, bounce rate
• smart campaign architecture – small focused ad groups, kill non-performing keywords, pause ads, don’t edit, separate top performers, match types
• negatives
• landing page – keyword reinforcement, SEO 101, privacy/contact/T&C, load times, site-related keyword tool
• URL redirects within sites – use actual domain, 301s preferred, maintain URL parameters, changes may take weeks to register
• bid management – utilize available reports, create your own metrics, only use current data, give changes time
• load page in under 5 seconds
• YSLOW for firebug
• yahoo and msn focus on CTR and CPC, ad relevance, landing pages very literal, more literal than Google

HOW TO SPEAK GEEK – WORK COLLABORATIVELY WITH IT DEPT (what a fun session to attend at the end of the day!)

• cost of bad communication – bad blood with IT – MONEY
• business critical – digital is leading
• outsourcing – communication required
• when bad it is really bad
• no reason to avoid communication – IT will be glad you went first
• the new language is only cold at first
• there will never be a day where and IT are true equals
• praise the machine – engineers are the last to be praised
• personalize relationships – what drives them, what makes them tick when not writing code
• admit you don’t know – builds credibility, pretending hurts everyone, focus on what you need and what you know
• find IT who know business and design
• you will need warriors on FIERY FRIDAYS > builds respect
• mutual vision of success and integration
• manage expectations
• speak the same language > ask the right questions (be specific)

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