Paid search and SEO tactics can each vastly improve your website's search visibility. By combining the two tactics into one cohesive strategy, you can make your online marketing efforts even more effective.

1. Combining Paid Search & SEO
In Your Agency Marketing Strategy
Masters of Marketing Webinar
November 19, 2015
#MastersMktg
Dylan Brooks
SEO Coordinator

2. This Webinar Will Cover
• What Paid Search can do for your insurance agency
• What SEO can do for your insurance agency
• How the two compliment each other to:
• Grow the traffic on your insurance agency website
• Better qualify the traffic on your insurance agency website

3. A Quick Note
• This webinar will not cover how to set up/manage a Paid
Search campaign or the fundamentals of SEO
• I will include some resources on paid search and SEO at
the end of today’s presentation
• These resources will also be included in the webinar recap
blog article on www.getitc.com

4. First Things First
• What Is Paid Search?
• What Is SEO?

5. Let’s Look at a Search Result Page…
This search was for: “Dallas Special Event Insurance”
Paid Search Ads
Organic Search Results

6. Paid Search
• Ads placed in certain areas of search results
• Advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad
• Paid search ads managed by search engines:
• Google (Google AdWords)
• Microsoft/Bing (Bing Ads)
• Yahoo (Yahoo Gemini)

7. Paid Search Process
1. Advertisers target relevant keywords
• These are terms consumers are using in searches
2. Advertisers create search ads for keywords
• These look like search result snippets
3. Advertisers tie ads to a page on their website
• This landing page should match ad content
4. Modified auction determines ad placement
• Auction takes place when a search features a keyword the
advertiser is bidding on

8. Paid Search Auction
• Auction factors
• Keyword bids
• Ad relevance
• Landing page quality
• Advertisers who can master this process tend to
• See higher ad placements
• Pay less for clicks on their target keyword
• Get more conversions per click

9. Back to that Search Result Page…
This search was for: “Dallas Special Event Insurance”
Paid Search Ads
Organic Search Results

10. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Optimize website to appear in search results
• There is no charge for clicks on your search listing
• Search result placement is organic
• This is determined by search engines based on relevance
• The goal is to build a website that:
• Is visible to search engine crawler programs
• Focuses on relevant topics
• Best answers what a searcher is looking for

11. SEO Tactics
• Naturally add keywords to website that match
• Searcher intent
• Agency objectives
• Create valuable content that
• Focuses on relevant topics & answers questions
• Earns links from other authoritative websites
• Ensure website is accessible to
• Web visitors
• Search engines

12. Paid Search vs. SEO

13. Paid Search
Benefits
• Your ad can appear in
search results quickly.
• By targeting the right
keywords, you can attract
qualified consumers.
• It doesn’t require excessive
maintenance.
• It’s great for
seasonal/event-based
campaigns.
Issues
• It requires a large budget.
• Changing auction conditions
affect costs & performance.
• Visitors to your website don’t
always convert.
• Traffic to your website dips
when a campaign ends.

14. SEO
Benefits
• You don’t have to pay for
clicks to your website.
• Your agency can establish a
consistent presence in
search results.
• This presence can help
grow consumer trust.
• You can align agency
branding with search terms
valuable to consumers.
Issues
• It takes a lot of time, effort &
strategy to succeed.
• It can take a long time to see
consistent search engine
visibility.
• Low quality tactics or a lack
of a consistent effort can
destroy both search engine
& consumer trust.

15. So, Should I Choose Paid Search or
SEO?

16. The Solution: Do Both

17. Have You Seen These Stats?
• 34% of all U.S. website visits in Q3 of 2015 came from
organic searches (RKG Merkle)
• 50.2% of all Internet ad revenue came from paid search
ads in the first half of 2015 (Interactive Advertising Bureau)
• Paid Search ad clicks 12% higher Y/Y, as of Q3 of 2015
(RKG Merkle)

18. Going Mobile
• More than 50% of Google
searches worldwide come from
mobile devices
• Google now shows 3 ads at top
of mobile search results
• Clicks on Google’s mobile paid
search ads up 106% Y/Y, as of
Q3 of 2015 (RKG Merkle)

19. The Bottom Line
• You can exponentially increase your agency’s search
visibility by combining Paid Search & SEO efforts.
• With more consumers searching on mobile devices, it’s
important to combine Paid Search & SEO.
• You will likely be able to attract a greater number of
qualified prospects by combining Paid Search & SEO.

20. How To Combine Paid Search & SEO

21. Combining Paid Search & SEO
1. Determine website marketing strategy
2. Set search visibility strategy
3. Optimize website for search
4. Add targeted paid search campaigns to supplement
search visibility efforts during growth period

22. Determine Website Marketing Strategy
• Ask these questions:
1. Who (which consumers) am I looking to target?
2. Which lines of insurance am I focusing on?
3. What are my goals for website traffic growth?
4. When do I hope to achieve this growth?
5. How am I going to reach these goals?
• This is where SEO & Paid Search come into play

23. Set Search Visibility Strategy
1. Determine questions your target consumers ask about
the specific lines of insurance you’re targeting.
2. Create valuable content that answers these questions.
• This content can be:
• Blog articles
• Product pages
• Videos, graphics or tools

24. Optimize Website For Search
1. Add relevant keywords for the lines of business you’re
targeting to your website content & page titles.
2. Include clear Calls to Action & tie them to relevant lead
generation or quote forms.
3. Ensure the entire website is technically sound & visible to
search engines.
• You might need professional SEO help for some of this.

25. Add Targeted Paid Search Campaigns
1. Determine campaign targets.
2. Determine specific campaign goals.
3. Create landing page to match targets & goals.
4. Customize ads, keywords, schedule, geography & more
to match targets & goals.
5. After a month, evaluate whether the campaign is
contributing to your website marketing goals.

26. Combining Paid Search & SEO
1. Determine website marketing strategy
2. Set search visibility strategy
3. Optimize website for search
4. Add targeted paid search campaigns to supplement
search visibility efforts during growth period

27. Why This Plan Works
• You must determine an insurance agency website
marketing strategy first.
• You set the foundation for long-term organic search
visibility growth early on.
• Paid search acts as a short-term supplement.
• If campaigns are effective, they’ll bring in extra traffic while your
site is gaining organic search traction.
• If they’re ineffective, you can scrap them & double down on your
commitment to growing your website’s organic visibility.

28. Why This Plan Works
• You must properly target your audience from the get-go.
• SEO & paid search then combine to:
• Answer their questions
• Serve their needs
• You can attract qualified prospects to your website —
increasing the likelihood of conversions & improving ROI.

29. One More Thing…
• Supplementing SEO initiatives with Paid Search campaigns
can help your website rank in organic results more quickly.
• Although Google, Bing & Yahoo don’t give paid search
advertisers an organic search ranking boost…
• They do tend to rank websites that get high visitor engagement
• If paid search campaigns bring converting traffic to your agency
website, this will boost visitor engagement on your site.
• This scenario could indirectly improve your website’s performance
in the general search results.

30. Additional Resources
• Google AdWords Help Center
• https://support.google.com/adwords/?hl=en#topic=3119071
• Getting Started With Bing Ads
• http://help.bingads.microsoft.com/apex/index/3/en-us/51093/
• The Beginners Guide To SEO
• https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo
• These will all be included in the webinar recap blog article
on http://www.getitc.com

31. Next Masters of Marketing
• Techniques to Make Your Website More Effective
• Presented by Amanda Oldham, Website Coordinator at ITC
• Thursday, December 17th at 12:00 PM CST