How to make SEO and PPC integration work
Whether it’s Google, Yahoo, Bing or Yandex, all search engine result pages (SERPs) showcase just two types of results: paid or organic. There is one big differentiation between these two types of results: Paid generates results using the biddable approach (PPC), while the ranking of results in organic are earned (SEO). The skillsets required to excel at SEO and PPC are quite different, which is why the teams tend to operate independently from each other. This is similarly true of the structure on the client side of things, where different people manage each channel. All this has led to a situation where each channel often has separate owners, budgets and KPIs. But when a user sees the results page, it's not a mixture of paid advertisement and organic listings. For them, it's one search page and that's exactly what search experts should remember when deciding their approach. Having high calibre specialist teams working on each of the channels is (and always will be) necessary, but a lack of integration will lead to a multitude of issues, for example: PPC money is spent where SEO is already strong and an additional PPC listing adds marginal value (which often is not worth the cost) SEO actions are not focused in areas where PPC is forced to spend excessive amounts when compared to the ROI, but where, over time, SEO can own the space There is inconsistent messaging instead of complementary messaging across paid and organic listings These common errors point to one conclusion: to achieve the highest ROI possible, SEO & PPC must work together. How to make SEO & PPC integration work The first step is to determine a unified view on how both of the channels are performing. This is done by gathering and storing data points from both first- and third-party data sources. Then the data is translated into information and analysed against business objectives, for example raising awareness or driving sales. It is important to be clear which areas of the consumer journey are covered and which are missing, as this way of looking at search enables the identification of missing content and which pages need to be restructured, optimised or enhanced. This prior work will allow the search teams to come up with actionable insights from which a data-led action strategy can be devised. This strategy would consist of multiple elements: Rigorous data analysis: Every day more and more data is being generated and becoming available for use. iProspect is constantly looking to introduce new data sources, as well as create new ways to use existing data points that enable smarter decision-making. Flexible budget management: If a client’s business changes, industry changes or new findings reveal that better ROI will be achieved through an alternative investment plan, the engagement has the flexibility to facilitate that. Ongoing testing plan: From bidding strategies and message-testing to Click-Through-Rate (CTR) modelling, exploring every opportunity to meet clients’ business objectives is key. iProspect has a very close relationship with Google and gets early access to search innovations before they are open to the public. Trend spotting: Search doesn't stand still and neither does the way people use it. Staying on top of new trends and identifying opportunities upon which to capitalise are a key part of the strategy. Regular communication: Close contact ensures that whatever iProspect is doing is completely aligned with the direction in which the client wants their business to go. One final point that needs to be considered is attribution. Because last-click attribution is the most commonly used attribution model and PPC campaigns tend to focus on the bottom of the funnel, attribution is often assigned to PPC. The drawback of this attribution model is that it almost entirely ignores the fact that organic listings (SEO) may have captured the user from more generic terms, or that the customer could have been exposed to content on other sites due to SEO outreach and influencer marketing activities. Without these, many users may not have built a strong enough relationship with the brand and thus wouldn't click on the paid listing and convert. By adjusting the attribution model this fallacy is mitigated. Why iProspect? SEO & PPC integration is not an innovation; it's an approach that allows you to improve the metric that matters most: Return On Investment (ROI). This is achieved by: Channel specialists: Just because the approach is integrated, this does not take away the requirement for each channel to be managed by an experienced team of search specialists Relying on data: Not just opinions when making decisions on overall and channel-specific questions. Considering the effect of any potential change: In either SEO or PPC on the overall search performance Easily detecting any anomalies: By comparing data between the two channels and identifying potential issues with data or performance. Having a long-term approach: With room for flexibility so the team can be more tactical iProspect's OneSearch is a scientific approach to SEO & PPC integration that brings together data, content, channel excellence and strategy, as well as budget allocation to achieve the best ROI from search as a whole. To learn more about how iProspect can help you leverage search to its fullest potential, please get in touch. 0
5 min read
Why Data Science Should be Part of Your SEO Strategy
It seems like conversations around Machine Learning and Data Science and how these 'buzzwords' will continue to affect the industry are happening more frequently. These advancements are and will continue to be important for both digital marketing and SEO. Before we delve into the 'how', let's look at two core concepts: 1. Data Science: Data is being generated every day to provide businesses with key opportunities that lead to better decisions. A relevant example is the creation of Netflix's award-winning show, House of Cards. Through in-depth data analysis, Netflix uncovered a strong crossover: viewers who watched movies with Kevin Spacey as a lead character also watched political dramas and films directed by David Fincher. This winning formula ultimately paved the way for the initial success of House of Cards. 2. SEO: In its strictest definition, SEO is about understanding how an algorithm (think: Google) ranks different elements (think: websites) and improving input metrics to get the website in a higher position for the target topics. Historically, there are two primary challenges that SEO, as a discipline, has always had: 1. Lack of clarity: search engines won't share the formula on how their algorithm works, but this is something that is changing all the time. 2. Third-party metrics: for a good understanding of how different parts of the ranking algorithm perform (in comparison to the competitors), one needs to use a wide variety of tools. Until some time ago, one would approach SEO using a combination of best practice and linear thinking i.e. we have fewer links than sites in higher positions so let's work on getting more links. Although this might work for less competitive verticals, a more mature approach is needed in most instances and this is where data science comes in. Data science allows us to combine various data sets and see which variable is likely to make the biggest impact. It all starts with formulating hypotheses, and selecting the right data sources and the metrics that these sources provide. This could be backlink information from MajesticSEO, state of information architecture from Ryte or site load time from PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse. The information gathered must be against both high and low performers to have enough data to see what exactly the differences are between the winners and non-winners. This is where data models that give insights on where the opportunities come in. These come with a level of confidence that signifies the likelihood of the change making a significant improvement. Once the changes are implemented, the model is revisited. Where needed, adjustments are made to create an ongoing loop of data-driven approaches that rely on science and not a 'gut feeling'. Keep in mind, search algorithms are different by country and vertical, and are constantly changing the models for each client. Conclusion Our dedicated team of experts are utilising data science to deliver better results for our clients by combining different data sets and leveraging proprietary tools to extract actionable insights for better ROI. Get in touch with the team if you have any questions around data science and SEO. 0
3 min read
How Brands Should Think about Pre-Sales in SEO
Historically, search engines have rewarded brands with "free" traffic for creating content. Over the years, the algorithm became more intelligent, more users started using search and more brands started creating content. As a result, the quality metric (and the rewards associated with it) evolved from having: some content to good content to epic content (interactive, rich media and propagated across multiple platforms) For a very long time, one of the strongest pillars of an SEO strategy was to create educational content. This content would allow brands to capture users during their research/consideration phase so that when they're ready to buy, they would have the brand affinity (or at least the users can be reengaged via paid channels). The importance of brand affinity is two-fold: it increases the likelihood of a potential customer using branded search terms during the purchase phase and that the potential customer will go directly to the brand's site, skipping search all together. One other point to mention: because it's not cost-effective for PPC campaigns to run against these types of terms, the absence of these ads within the SERPs means they will not impact the CTR of the organic listings. In the quest to provide a better user experience, Google has implemented three changes in the SERPs layout that have fundamentally changed this strategy. 1. Quick answer boxes 2. "People Ask For" 3. Rich media/information carousels To see this in action, look at the result for "how to clean an oven quickly" As you can see from the image above, if a brand's content is not in the answer box (commonly referred to as position zero), then your organic listing is below the fold. Therefore, you can expect to receive little to no organic traffic. We've now entered a stage where if you don't have a data-drive roadmap, or aren't realistically able to get into the answer box, reconsider the amount of investment in this content. Create good content to satisfy the visitors of your site as part of the consumer's journey however don't have high expectations when it comes to the organic traffic that these pages will yield. If you want to know the secret on how to get into position #0 and be seen as an authoritative source of information, get in touch with us. 0
2 min read
