eMarketing Association’s Effective Marketing Seminar Todd Daum, Vice President of Marketing January 15, 2003

Manage Customers Driving Sales Key Steps Increase Conversions Bid to maximize profit and ROI Write and Manage Listings Select and Manage Keywords 12345

Select Keywords Best Practice: Examples: When selecting keywords, keep the customer in mind What would a new customer search for versus an experienced customer? Select a range of general to specific keywords that describe your offering e.g product lines, brands and part numbers Nike retailer: Running shoes, Nike shoes, Nike Air Jordans, Black Nike Air Jordans Book retailer: Mystery books, Books by Scott Turow, “Reversible Errors”, ISBN: X Electronics retailer: Electronics, DVD Players, Sony DVD players, Sony DVP-C660

Select Keywords Attract users who are looking to buy Diversify your shopper types Ensure your listings appear on your share of the 500 million monthly unique searches Rationale:

Manage Keywords Best Practice: Manage your search terms as a category Create categories that mirror your business and / or most easily allow you to manage your account Product lines, services High search volume versus low search volume Use category bidding Measure performance at the category level Rationale: Not all keywords need active management, especially low volume terms Allows you to manage more keywords by reducing complexity of your account

Write Titles and Descriptions Best Practice: Include the search term in the title and description Rationale: Research indicates: Perceived quality was approximately 60 percent higher in listings where the search term was included within the title and the description Customers gave those listings nearly 50 percent higher "likelihood to click" rating thereby giving you more clicks at the same price Example: Search Term: Sailboats Sailboats from Zephyr SeaCraft Zephyr Seacraft sells sailboats to private and professional buyers.

Write Titles and Descriptions Best Practice: Write titles & descriptions that are tailored, clear and factual Avoid superlatives Accurately describe what the user will find when they go to your site Shoppers use the title and description to decide whether or not to click on a site. If the title and description are accurate and clear, the user will know what to expect once they arrive on the site leading to higher conversions Rationale:

Title and Description Research 3A. Sail On Over to Zephyr SeaCraft Zephyr Seacraft will give you a ship-shape price on the finest sailboats ever to sail the seven seas! Click here today, and we’ll prove that working with Zephyr SeaCraft is a breeze! Term: Sailboat

Title and Description Research 3A. Sail On Over to Zephyr SeaCraft Zephyr Seacraft will give you a ship-shape price on the finest sailboats ever to sail the seven seas! Click here today, and we’ll prove that working with Zephyr SeaCraft is a breeze! Term: Sailboat 3B. Sailboats – Zephyr SeaCraft Zephyr Seacraft sells sailboats to private and professional buyers. A variety of small, medium and large models are available in various price ranges.

Title and Description Research 3A. Sail On Over to Zephyr SeaCraft Zephyr Seacraft will give you a ship-shape price on the finest sailboats ever to sail the seven seas! Click here today, and we’ll prove that working with Zephyr SeaCraft is a breeze! Term: Sailboat 3B. Sailboats – Zephyr SeaCraft Zephyr Seacraft sells sailboats to private and professional buyers. A variety of small, medium and large models are available in various price ranges. 3C. Sailboats from Zephyr SeaCraft Zephyr Seacraft is the premier seller of the finest sailboats on the market. Click now to see our fine selection of vessels.

*Top 3 Box Respondents were inclined to click on the more factual and less “salesy” listings (3B & 3C). Title and Description Research

*Top 3 Box Listing 3B goes into more detail compared to the other 2 listings. Listing 3A had the “gimmicky” statement in the description. Title and Description Research

Rationale: Research indicates: Users were more than 1.5X likely to click listings that are tailored Ampersands and “numbers replacing words” have a negative impact on likelihood to click and perceived quality Including the location can determine whether or not to click, resulting in more qualified leads Best Practice: Write titles & descriptions that are tailored, clear and factual Write unique titles and descriptions for each search term Avoid ampersands and numbers replacing words When the geographic location is relevant, include it in the description Title and Description Research

Plan Your Promotional Calendar Rationale: Ensure your titles and descriptions are updated and uploaded in time Ensure you capture your share of seasonal searches Best Practice: Plan your promotions for calendar year and manage your terms, titles and descriptions accordingly Examples: For flowers, gifts and card retailers Customize your messages for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, etc. Include special offers, discounts and/or free shipping

Select URL Best Practice: Match the specificity of your page to the specificity of the search Rationale: Research indicates: Users prefer a specific page to a more general page – 96% to 4% Online consumers want fewer clicks to find what they want 83% of internet users still use dial-up Examples: “DVD Player” searches should point to DVD player pages “Sony DVP-C660” searches should point to the Sony DVP C660 page

Bid to Maximize your Profit and ROI Best Practice: Bid an amount that meets your target ROI and profit metrics Track and calculate your ROI Use Auto Bid Use Premium Listings to increase traffic when appropriate Rationale: The best combination of ROI and traffic volume will ensure maximum profit Reduce the time spent on bidding and spend more time managing your business Utilize Premium Listings to maximize exposure across the Overture network

Drive Sales Best Practices: Ensure your the site looks credible and drives action Add key information (contact info, phone number, brands, BBB or Trust-E seals, etc.) The content of the page (copy, images, etc.) should be crafted to sell Photos should be large enough to see the detail while still loading quickly Include promotions or incentives to close the sale (free shipping, % off, gift with purchase, etc.) The shopping cart process should be easy to use Easy to add and remove items from the cart Easy to proceed to checkout Minimal information requirements Emphasize security - secure server and image of lock

Drive Sales Best Practices:Know your audience Gather key information (connection speeds, browser versions, display resolutions, etc.) Diagnose why your customers are leaving Track your customers’ click-path Where are your customers leaving and why?

Manage Customers Best Practice: Develop a program to increase repeat purchases Maintain a customer database Profile your ideal customers Focus on how to drive more ideal customers Develop tactics to build a relationship with your customers (ie. Newsletters) Store cookies It’s less expensive to persuade an existing customer to buy again than to acquire a new customer. Rationale:

Questions?