Search Engine Optimization Lifts Companies to the Top

In a world where Americans alone conducted 14.7 billion Internet searches in December, the importance of search engine optimization and the role it plays in marketing is more important than ever (ComScore.com, 2010). While Google is by far the most used search engine, accounting for nearly 66 percent of all searches in December 2009, according to comScore (2010), other sites also used, including Yahoo, Bing and Ask.


To compare how the different sites work, let’s look at two companies that sell similar products. I’ve been thinking about buying a new house lately so why not look at real estate and the different results those keywords turn up in the different search engines: Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.

On Google, Realtor.com is the first entry, followed by several other informational and news sites. Remax, in the fourth spot, is the first real estate company to pop up. Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, a regional real estate company serving West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, appeared on page 4.

In a similar search in Yahoo, Century 21 was in the top spot, while Remax didn’t even pop up in the first four pages, nor did Howard Hanna. Page 4 in the Yahoo search turned up multiple listings for real estate in Charleston, S.C., a frequent mix-up with Charleston, W.Va.

On Bing, a search for “real estate” found Century 21 on the first page, while Remax shows up on page 4. Howard Hanna is nowhere to be seen. Page 4 on Bing returns several newspaper stories that include real estate, including the listings in The New York Times. On Ask, the same search for “real estate” found Century 21 and Remax on the first page, Century 21 in position 13 and Remax in 14. On page 4 one will find Century 21 again but in a sponsored spot.

Realtor.com and Realestate.com come up first or second in all four searches. While neither provides local listings, they do provide several links and tools that site visitors likely would use. With all the real estate companies out there, the fact that Century 21 and Remax show up the most indicates they understand the importance of keywords on their title pages and in body text on their home pages.

Vanessa Fox, author of Marketing in the Age of Google and the blog Nine by Blue, said (2007) that many companies are too close to their products and Web sites to notice when they fail to use keywords that consumers would use. She suggests that all businesses really need to do to improve their searchability is to look at their sites through the eyes of their audiences. What do they see when they get to the site? Can they easily find what they’re looking for? “Ultimately, you care about users, not search engines,” Fox said. “You just want the search engines to let the users know about your site. And you want to make users happy once they do know about it” (Fox, V., 2009).

Companies that pepper their Web sites and title pages with keywords such as real estate, words that those looking to buy or sell property likely would use, will optimize their online presence, as both Century 21 and Remax have learned.


Reference:

ComScore.com. (2010, January 10). ComScore Releases December 2009 U.S. Search Engine Rankings. News Release. Retrieved January 22, 2010, from http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/1/comScore_Releases_December_2009_U.S._Search_Engine_Rankings.

Fox, V. (2007, July 29). The Power of Search: Making Your Blog Content Relevant. Nine to Blue Blog. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://www.ninebyblue.com/blog/the-power-of-search-making-your-blog-content-relevant.

You Can't Spell Success Without SE(O)

When I first saw the title of this course, Web Metrics and SEO, I was intimidated to say the least. I didn’t even know that SEO was short for search engine optimization, nor did I really know what Web metrics meant except something to do with math. I think such lack of knowledge among marketers and public relations practitioners like me is more the rule than the exception and contributes to Web analytics failures. While I would not suggest that every marketer and public relations practitioner should be experts in Web metrics, a solid understanding is necessary in today’s Internet-based world.


In my very elementary understanding of the issue, many analytical applications fail because they assume users know precisely what they need before the analysis begins (Gemignani, Z., 2008). Often times, marketers and public relations professionals depend upon a tool to track an answer with only a vague idea where to start. Zack Gemignani with Juice Analytics said (2008) that “the exploratory analysis that follows can feel like swimming upstream when the application isn’t designed to facilitate the journey.”

As any good public relations practitioner or marketer will tell you, research is a key factor in any successful campaign. But measuring for the sake of measuring without a goal is pointless. Mark Twain once said, “People commonly use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post; for support rather than illumination.”

Many a campaign has failed because no one really looked at what the statistics were saying. The reality is numbers don’t always tell the whole story. We must not make such assumptions if we hope our Web analytics efforts to be successful.

For example, Gerry McGovern in the Marketing Profs Daily Fix (2006) said just because someone is a repeat visitor to your site does not mean they are a satisfied customer. He cites multiple personal visits to the Cruise America site. After his first visit, he left frustrated, confused and annoyed because he could not get the quote function to work properly. A second try had equally frustrating results. Yet the numbers would make McGovern appear to be a satisfied, repeat customer (McGovern, G, 2006).

Similarly, a study by Jared Spool of User Interface Engineering comparing Gap.com with Newport-News.com further illustrates how measuring volume alone contributes to failure. The study found that Gap's site outperformed Newport News by a factor of 10. While the overall Web site design is credited for Gap's success, the study also found that the average purchase on the Gap site took 12 pages, whereas the average purchase on Newport News took 51 pages. The more pages people looked at, the less likely they were to buy (McGovern, 2006).

The lesson for both CruiseAmerica and Newport News is that volume is not sufficient to determine if a Web site is successful because it can blur reality. The numbers could represent loyal, repeat customers. But they also could just as easily represent disgruntled shoppers who leave a site without spending a penny. Better to also look at how long it takes a Web site visitor to complete a task than visits alone.

References:

Gemignani, Z. (2008, July 7). Why analytical Applications Fail. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://www.juiceanalytics.com/writing/why-analytical-applications-fail.

McGovern, G. (2006, May 19). Are You Measuring Failure? Marketing Profs Daily Fix blog. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2006/05/are_you_measuring_failure.html.

Phillips, J. (2009, April 9). Why Web Analytics Tools Fail. Online Metrics Insider. Media Post Blogs. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=103844.

Twain, M. (undated). Quotes from Famous People. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://www.myeyez.net/famous-quotes.shtml.

Web Metrics? SEO? Ugh! Where's My Martini!!!

As I continue my journey into the world of Digital Marketing Communications, I find myself in a sea of unknowns. My third class in West Virginia University’s DMC graduate program, Web Metrics and SEO, promises to be the most challenging yet, at least for me. You see, I’m a writer, and have been for more than 20 years. It’s a profession I’m good at and enjoy. It’s also one I selected because I didn’t have to take much math to finish my undergraduate degree.


After graduating with a journalism degree in 1987, and working in television news for four years, I found my niche as a reporter with The Associated Press. I spent 14 years with The AP before moving into public relations for the West Virginia Department of Education, where I am now. Still, I write. I am the primary writer for the department, writing everything from speeches, news releases and editorials to radio scripts, magazine articles and brochures. I have been in my position nearly four years.

Working for the AP was a fun yet demanding job, and I am glad I had the experience. I have written stories that have appeared in publications and on television broadcasts all over the world. I was the first reporter to talk to Jessica Lynch’s family when she first went missing, before the Bush Administration used her to promote the war in Iraq. This was one of the more interesting stories I worked on. Jayson Blair, who was fired from the New York Times for plagiarism, used parts of several of my stories without attribution. He was fired and I ended up in a New York Times article. Not exactly how I thought I’d be in the Times but interesting nonetheless.

I am not alone in leaving a job I loved for new adventures. In a recent article in The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg (2010) writes about how public relation practitioners are being inundated with calls from journalists looking to escape the profession before it dies, as opposed to after it dies. Many of them, like me, will need some additional education to be the most successful.

My years at the AP taught me a lot about research and writing but little about technology beyond laptops and cell phones. Everyone has that ah-ha moment, Oprah says. For me, that time came about a year into my job with the Department of Education when I was working on a marketing strategic plan and felt out of my element. It was a gap in my education for which my vast writing experience failed to prepare me. I’ve learned so much about new media in just two courses and am ready for the next step. Yet I admit I am intimidated by this class and the concepts of web analytics because of the math. I hope I am up to the challenge, and overcome my math phobia.

Reference:

Goldberg, J. (2010, January 20). The Great Journalism Exodus. The Atlantic. Retrieved January 22, 2010, from http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2010/01/another_one_bites_the_dust.php