How to improve your site's search rank and capitalize on the changing search landscape.

1. THE NEW SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO):
USER BEHAVIOR, SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
& BRAND PREFERENCE
How to improve your site's search rank
and capitalize on the changing search landscape
Marketing Planning and Analysis Conference
10 February 2012
Mary Mac
Digital Marketer and Strategist

2. 2
“OLD SCHOOL” SEO
Your Google Search Results Were Affected by
• Having a well-built website
• Using converting keywords in the anchor text
(using keyword phrases that convert to action in the
visible, clickable text in a hyperlink)
• Inbound links from authoritative sites
• Other data collected by Google that you may
(or may not) have access to or influence

3. 3
THE NEW SEO
Your Google Search Results Are Now Affected by
• "Old School" SEO
• User behavior
• Brand preference
• Social interaction

4. 4
User Behavior Is Monitored by
• Time spent on site when clicking through from a SERP
• Bounce rate
• Bounce rate back to a SERP
• Use of the “block all results” button on Google SERPs
• Time on site
• Return visits
• Data collected by people searching via the Google toolbar
• Data collected by Google "Street View" cars that can
download browsing data from the wifi signals they pass

5. 5
Brand Preference Is Monitored by
• Brand mentions, shares and links in social media
• Brand mentions and links on trusted sites
• Searches with brand and domain names

6. 6
Social Interaction Is Monitored by
• Number of comments
• Number of “likes”
• Number of tweets
• Number of +1s
• Number of mentions
• Number of shares

7. 7
Digital Marketing Project List
Products / Services that I market
Projects Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
CONTENT
A
T
L
S
C
M

8. 8
USE CONTENT
• To describe service or product benefits -- what problem does
the service or product solve?
• To describe products -- what does the service or product do?
• For product procurement -- how do you buy the product?
• For user success stories
• For industry-related stories
• For blog posts and posts to social media, such as
LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook

9. 9
Digital Marketing Project List
Products / Services that I market
Projects Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
CONTENT
ANALYTICS
T
L
S
C
M

10. 10
USE ANALYTICS
Check Your Analytics for the New SEO
• What are users doing on your site?
• What is your bounce rate? How can you improve it?
• What is the average time spent on site?
• What are the average number of pages viewed per visit?
How can you improve these results?
• What search terms are used to find your site?
• What are the number of mentions of your Brand?
How can this be improved via content?

11. 11
Digital Marketing Project List
Products / Services that I market
Projects Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
CONTENT
ANALYTICS
TESTING
L
S
C
M

12. 12
USE TESTING
What to add to a page to test optimization for the New SEO
• Social sharing icons to articles and to descriptions of services or
products
• Online forum
• Display of tweets or Facebook posts
• Ratings from customers
• Links to customer success stories
• Videos related to products and services
• Sidebar with clicks to top-converting pages on your site
• Reiterate your company name in running text where appropriate

13. 13
Digital Marketing Project List
Products / Services that I market
Projects Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
CONTENT
ANALYTICS
TESTING
LEAD NURTURING
S
C
M

14. 14
USE LEAD NURTURING
• The sales funnel is broken
• Who owns the sales process?
• Sales process is co-managed by Sales and Marketing
• Sales process is owned by the customer

15. 15
USE LEAD NURTURING
“The art of marketing is to make people persuade
themselves that your company is the best for their needs.”

16. 16
USE LEAD NURTURING
“People do not like to be sold.
They like to buy.”

17. 17
USE LEAD NURTURING
How to influence potential buyers
• Intelligent posts as Status Updates on LinkedIn.
• A video posted by a happy customer to your site.
• A useful and concise White Paper written by an industry
analyst that describes the advantages of your product or
service.
• What else?

18. 18
Digital Marketing Project List
Products / Services that I market
Projects Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
CONTENT
ANALYTICS
TESTING
LEAD NURTURING
SEARCH
C
M

19. 19
USE THE NEW SEO
Your Google Search Results Are Affected by
• "Old School" SEO
• User behavior
• Brand preference
• Social Interaction

20. 20
Digital Marketing Project List
Products / Services that I market
Projects Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
CONTENT
ANALYTICS
TESTING
LEAD NURTURING
SEARCH
COMMUNITY
M

21. 21
USE COMMUNITY
Ways to build community
• In your emails, include links to the special interest forums
you have on your site.
• Invite existing customers to join your Facebook page
– give them a reward for doing so.
• Follow everyone who follows your Company Twitter profile.
• Use eCairn, Radian6 or other social monitoring software to
stay aware of communities that discuss your product and
services.
• What else?

22. 22
Digital Marketing Project List
Products / Services that I market
Projects Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
CONTENT
ANALYTICS
TESTING
LEAD NURTURING
SEARCH
COMMUNITY
MOBILE

23. 23
USE MOBILE
• More purchases are made via tablets than via
smartphones.
• Smart marketers send only the most relevant information
to people on their smartphones.
• People like to shop on smartphones and buy in person, or
via tablets or personal computers.
• Each business service and product is different. Marketers
need to test and find out what devices readers are using
-- and base segmenting decisions on that.

24. 24
Mobile Coupons
New options for mobile marketing
• Punchh.com
Mobile coupons for restaurants and other businesses to
give to customers to refer your business and to earn
loyalty points for frequenting your business
• Ifeelgoods.com
Mobile way for a business to reward shoppers with
Facebook credits (to use in Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc.)
when they shop for your services and connect with brands
on Facebook
• SpotZot.com
Mobile platform for "deals" whereby information is sent to
mobile devices based on location and intent

25. 25
Career Potential for
Digital Marketing Strategists
Because digital and social need to be built into corporate
strategy, companies are increasingly adding a Digital Marketing
Strategist to their Board of Directors to help the board make
profitable business decisions regarding the company’s online
presence.
“If a board wants…people who are on top of all the nuances of
digital and the new trends, they’re…going to recruit people in for
whom it may be their first board experience. Their perspective and
ability to provide unique insight will help keep the company as an
influencer in the industry.”
“Digital expertise on the board: An Interview with Dan Rosensweig”
- article from Spencer Stuart Consulting

26. 26
Source Material
The New SEO
http://bit.ly/new-SEO
Panda Short
http://bit.ly/Panda-short
Marketers Look to Integrate Email, Social and Mobile
http://bit.ly/integrated-plan
The B2B Marketing Manifesto
http://bit.ly/B2B-manifesto
Sales Funnel is Broken
http://bit.ly/funnel-broken
Why Sales and Marketing Alignment Really, Really Matters
http://bit.ly/Sales--Marketing
Why SEOs are Finding Themselves Reporting to Content Marketing
http://bit.ly/SEO--content
Silicon Valley Forum
http://bit.ly/SV-Forum
Board of Directors Adding Digital Marketing Strategists to Board
http://bit.ly/BOD-digital

27. 27
Follow the Best Web Strategy
on Twitter: @bestwebstrategy
https://twitter.com/#!/bestwebstrategy
on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/in/bestwebstrategy

28. THE NEW SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO):
USER BEHAVIOR, SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
& BRAND PREFERENCE
How to improve your site's search rank
and capitalize on the changing search landscape
Marketing Planning and Analysis Conference
10 February 2012
Mary Mac
Digital Marketer and Strategist