Event Websites, Part I: Understanding Search Engine Optimization and Web Analytics John Curtis, Quotient Stephen Nold, ATI Ian Strain-Seymour, Apogee Search

Before we begin… Entry level session. Terms and tools will be clearly explained and defined so that anyone can learn the basics. Turn off Cell Phones E&feature=related E&feature=related Q&A at end, but questions are fine during the session

Search Engine Marketing Search Engine Marketing (SEM) –Improving traffic paid placement contextual advertising sponsored listings –Pay-Per-Click Campaigns –Display campaigns –Content network –Paid Directory Submissions –Tracking and Reporting

Search Engine Optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) –Process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results –The higher a site appears in search results, the more visitors –Different kinds of search including Web search, Universal (news, images, video, blogs) Local search Mobile search

Web Analytics Core benefits –Source of visitors –Behavior on website (click path) –Lead and sales data –Attribution Future direction: –Call center/phone sales integration –Advanced segmentation –Attribution

What is Search Engine Marketing? NA market: Google, Yahoo, Bing (MSN) –Specialized networks: Business.com, local, vertical players Search engines vs. Content Network Paying to have ads appear on the engine –Higher the bid, the better your placement –Quality Score is balancing factor

Measurement SEM Fundamentals Keyword Target Page Quality Score Ad Copy

Approaches to SEM In house management –Devote time: –Set tight parameters to prevent over spend Agency outsourcing –Clear goals –Multiple players What about bid management tools?

Skills Needed for SEM Success Organization Ad writing Willingness to Experiment Analytical skill Web design

SEM Checklist Focus your Ad Groups Watch your Quality Score Align keyword, ad copy, quality score Daily / Weekly review Weekly / Biweekly deeper dive Set aside 5-10% of budget for experiments

What is Search Engine Optimization? Setting your site up for highest target possible ranking in Google When done right, least expensive source of high quality traffic Long term game plan What is it not? –Not about gaming or tricking Google. –Not something that will be black and white An industry rife with snake oil salesmen

SEM Tools SEM Tools: Google AdWords, Yahoo Sponsored Search, Bing Search Advertising Keyword Research: Google Keyword Tool, Google Trends Competitive Research: SpyFu, Keyword Discovery Call tracking: Mongoose Metrics, Marchex

Measurement Fundamentals of SEO Content Site Structure Coding Links

Content Content of your page. –This should be you major focus. –Get this right before moving on Content of your tags: title, meta keyword, meta description, H1, alt, and H2 Targeting: max of 2- 5 terms per page Strategic in your selection of terms –#1 ranking on a low volume keyword does you no good

“Good content and linking to it is all we are talking about. That is 90% of what we are doing.” Arran Coole

Links Incoming links are votes on the relevance of the page (& site) for the term in the link More links is better, but –Quality matters –Diversity matters Links to home page, but –deep links for all of your target terms Future direction: social links & social graph is huge influence

Link Sources Web Directories Social Website Image Sites Social Bookmarks Press Releases Partners Articles Blogs Purchased Links Rented Links

Press Releases Great source for links –Get syndicated, so you end up with multiple links Real strength is –Ability to target specific words –Google treats as news Creation and Distribution of Press Releases –Optimize releases, look for HTML support –Consider local : can be more cost effective

Site Structure The organization of the site The structure of the URLs Use logical structures –Geo and date are well recognized Avoid going deeper than 5-6 levels deep

Coding Tags: –Title, meta keyword, meta description –H1, Alt, H2 Canonical link Flash –Embed into page, not stand alone –Use separate search engine file Be careful with redirects New: code for speed – page load time matters

SEO Checklist Great content on the page 2-5 terms targeted for each page Optimized tags Incoming links to each targeted page Google Webmaster Account Worry about traffic, leads, sales, not rankings

Tools & Resources Google (Yahoo, Bing) Webmaster Tools –Google Webmaster Tools Blog & videos Google Keyword Tool SEOmoz Competitive data: Compete, Quantcast, Spyfu, Keyword Discovery Authority Labs: rank checking

Analytics Variety tools in the market –Google Analytics becoming a standard –Tool cost = $0 –People cost (implementation & analysis) can be high Measure web traffic –Identify high quality sources –Make mid-course adjustments.

Implementation Add code snippet, “tag”, to each page –When page is loaded in browser, sends data back to Google –Data is anonymous Many CMS systems include plug-ins for automated tagging Watch for tag drift as new pages are added Consider auditing tool

Checklist of Key Web Metrics Traffic volume (visits, visitors) Conversions/Goal Completion –Leads, Sales – & Blog subscriptions, Twitter, Facebook Conversion Rates Traffic source distribution Top entry & departure pages Top keywords Quality of Experience: Bounce Rate, Time on Site

Analytics Tools Free Web Analytics Tools –Google Analytics, Yahoo Analytics Paid Web Analytics Tools –Omniture, Webtrends, Coremetrics, FireClick, Hitslink Audit: ObservePoint

Questions?

Contact Information John Curtis, | President Quotient Solutions Stephen Nold| President Advon Technology Ian Strain-Seymour | Director, Online Strategy Apogee Search