Search Marketing Lab Report
Issue #29, April 2009

1. Welcome!
2. Feature: Landing Page Basics
3. Highlights from the Search Marketing Lab
4. Frequently Asked Questions... and Answers
5. Strategies from a Real-Life Success Story:ShakespearesDen.com
6. Final thoughts

1. Welcome!

Too much choice is worse than none at all.

Especially when you're trying to get someone to part with their money on your website. It's sales suicide to distract them with any options besides BUY.

You want to drive them straight from your ad or natural listing to your checkout.

And the very best way to do that is with a stripped-down landing page where they find what they're looking for, get all the information they need, and click on that call-to-action button.

It works just as well if you want them to give you their email address, or pass your page on to their friends.

This month our feature shows you how to eliminate all distractions and create a landing page that does its job... and nothing else.

A catalog site is just the opposite of a landing page. With all those different products, it can be just a confusing hodgepodge. But this month's case study looks at www.ShakespearesDen.com.

Everything the owners decide to sell has to either make them think, or make them laugh. So you can imagine the variety.

But through careful design and branding they've created a shopping experience that keeps people coming back... and through clever use of keywords, they're getting over 30,000 unique visitors a month with SEO and PPC.

Watch for search marketing news, too, and a forum Q&A on whether it's best to choose a highly specific domain name or go for something more general.

And for dessert, hip hop SEO!

Your Internet Marketing Center Team

2. Feature: Landing Page Basics

PPC is the fastest, easiest way to jump to the top of the search results and drive targeted traffic to your website.

But the question is: What are you DOING with your targeted traffic?

If you're not creating specific landing pages that are tailored to the EXACT keyword phrases your visitors are searching for, then all this targeted traffic -- traffic you're paying for! -- is going to waste!

Landing pages are the specialists of search marketing.

Each landing page works hand in hand with a very specific set of keywords. When a visitor clicks through a link and "lands" on that page, they find exactly the keywords they typed into the search engine, all wrapped up in copy that deals with exactly the problem they're trying to solve.

And that's what makes a landing page one of the most effective tools you have for converting your click-throughs into sales.

Think about it: you bid on the targeted keyword phrases that your potential customers are searching for, and you pay that bid amount every time a visitor clicks through your ad.

And then what?

Well, if they simply go through to your homepage, you risk losing that sale!

It's a proven fact that if your potential customer lands on your landing page and sees the search phrase they were looking for, they will stay longer on your site -- which means a greater chance they'll become a customer, lead, or opt-in.

Always remember that your visitors are looking for INSTANT gratification. If you can't answer "What's in it for me?" within the first few seconds of their visit, you will likely lose them.

And as PPC advertising prices climb higher and higher, you need to make the best use of each click-through to increase your ROI!

So how do you create a landing page that sells?

STEP 1:
Create keyword "groups" for each landing page

The first thing you need to do is some keyword research. You can do this in the pay-per-click search engine of choice, or using a tool like BeBiz.

Make a list of your best keywords for your subject -- the keywords that your target market is searching on.

Then, group your keywords by similarity, making sure that each group you create solves a particular problem for your audience. You'll want to use each group of keywords to create a separate landing page.

This chart from our December 2008 PPC tips article shows you how:

Click the image to access a PDF you can print for your reference.

Always make sure the content of your landing pages reflects EXACTLY what your visitors will be looking for. If they click through an ad for environmentally friendly cat litter, they should see "environmentally friendly cat litter" within microseconds.

Don't make them search for it. They'll leave!

STEP 2:
Stick to one single objective

When you are building your landing page, you want to focus all of your energy on getting your visitor to take ONE action.

Now, we've been talking about selling, but there are actually several possible objectives. Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter? ...Or buy your product? ...Or enter a contest? ...Or ask for a price quote?

Here's a list. Pick one!

Whatever you do, don't complicate your page by attempting to do too much at once. Focus on the specific desired action, and use everything on the page to drive your visitor to take that action.

Even your navigation can go! If people are coming directly from an ad, they don't need to find their way back to a page they've been on before. Don't give them the choice to click away from the page they're on... even if it's to another page on your site.

If people are coming from the organic listings, then include navigation, but only to other relevant information on your site.

Remember the golden rule: Keep the process as simple as possible, and remove all clutter that detracts from your focus.

And finally, always include a call to action that TELLS your visitor what to do next.

Step 3:
Optimize your landing page for its visitors...
AND the search engines

The very first thing your customers should see when they get to your landing page is your main keyword phrase as part of your headline. Of course, this is beneficial for search engine optimization -- but try to make it as compelling as possible, too!

The key is to couple your keyword phrase with the biggest benefit your product has to offer. For example, if your main keyword phrase is "how to train an older dog," your headline could be...

How To Train An Older Dog to Do Anything You Want -- in the Next 48 Hours!

You'll want to focus on your main keyword phrase in your copy, too. Also work in some of the other keyword phrases in your ad group. That means you'll want to use "obedience for older dog " and "training for senior dog" throughout your salescopy as well.

(Google has a new feature that instantly shows you other relevant phrases for your keywords. More on that in the Highlights section.)

Here are some more great tips for optimizing your landing page:

• Use your main keyword phrase to name the page location. For example, the page could be uploaded to www.mysite.com/trainolderdog.
  


• Include your keyword phrases in your title tag and your meta description. For more information, refer to this Q&A from the forum: www.searchmarketinglab.com/private.
  


• Don't forget about keyword density! Your copy should sound natural, but make sure your keywords are used often enough that the search engines will find you.
  


• Include some relevant images -- but don't distract your visitors from the desired action! Use your keyword phrases to name your images. Use the same phrase in your image alt text as well. And use captions -- people read them, and they're another great place for keywords or relevance-boosting synonyms.
  
  In general, less-slick photos work better than professional looking ones (apart from product shots, of course). And the more relevant they are to the content, the better they work.
  


• Use formatting to emphasize your keywords! Use bold, italics, and highlighting to feature your keywords. This will help improve your SEO... but don't forget to emphasize the benefits for your readers, too!
  


• Use your keyword phrase in your call to action. For example, your call to action could say: Click here now to order "How To Train a Dog to Do Anything You Want"!

The great thing about landing pages is that the simpler they are, the better they perform. So know your objective, know your keywords, and put them both front and center.

3. Highlights from the Search Marketing Lab

Hear that rumbling? The mobile web is about to BOOM!

According to research by comScore, 22.4 million Americans access the Web every day using mobile devices.

There have been a lot of important technology changes in the past year, but one of the biggest is definitely the explosion of user-friendly hand-held gadgets -- not just the obvious iPhone, but other, less famous devices like Samsung Instinct, the Google Android, and of course Blackberries!

As these gadgets get easier and more fun to use, more people are jumping into the mobile Web. The fastest-growing content categories by far are blogs and social networks. And in general people are looking for:

• small bits of frequently updated information


• entertainment and time-wasters


• local information

Here are some numbers for you:

As you can see from the numbers, mobile Web growth is definitely ramping up. If you can provide any content that people are likely to want when they're on the move, now is a great time to start thinking about YOUR mobile Web marketing strategy -- BEFORE it really takes off.

"Searches related to": a present from Google

Google has added a helpful feature to its search results pages. After you enter your #1 keyword into Google, scroll down to the bottom of the results to find a table of links labeled "Searches related to:". Each of those links is a whole new Google search.

So what's the big deal? Search suggestions?

Exactly.

The thing about these search suggestions is that they weren't generated by any genius Google code. They are based on real searches that actual people perform. The suggestions are the most common ways that people refine their searches when they are looking for your keyword.

Here's an example. Say you search "train parrot". At the bottom of the listing, you should see something along these lines:

In the related searches, you can see that new keyword ideas are bolded. This gives you a great idea of what searchers, and therefore Google, consider relevant.

So if you wanted to make your parrot training page shine, you might consider adding keywords that describe the species your techniques have worked on (Indian Ringneck, African Grey, Quaker), or your methods (clicker training), or behavior you can fix (feather plucking, potty training).

ANY of these will increase how relevant Google believes your page to be for the keywords "train parrot". If you're building a landing page, this is a potential goldmine!

Of course, you should never make broad changes to your site without testing and research first!

Get Google data for Images, News, and Products

Google Insights for Search is a tool that every Search Marketer should get to know well. You can use it to compare search terms across times and locations, get a broad picture of regional interest, and find rising searches related to your keywords.

Up until very recently, you could only check out search terms that were entered into Google's regular Web search box. So if someone was searching your keywords on Google News (for example), they wouldn't be counted by Google Insights.

Google has changed that for the better. Now, Google Image searches, Google News searches, and Google Products searches are all taken into consideration when Google Insights are compiled. But you still have to look at each one separately.

In addition to that good news, you can also get a look at Google's categories.

If you search for "parrot", you'll quickly find that 25-50% of all "parrot" searches are related to Computers and Electronics! Turns out, parrot.com is a company that specializes in wireless devices.

That would have made for some very... interesting keyword suggestions! And can you imagine how not knowing that could really mess you up if you were trying to analyze your competition?

Once you've seen which category Google assigns to your type of search, you can search within that category for trends, etc.

Have you heard? There's a global recession!

ComScore reports that online searches using recession-related terms have had dramatic gains. It makes sense: When it's cold and flu season, Google is pounded with searches for a cure for the common cold; when the economy stinks, we're all looking for "discounts" and "coupons".

So if you want to put your website in front of as many eyeballs as possible, you might want to test integrating "coupon" and "discount" into your keywords -- and actually offer both.

4. Frequently Asked Questions... and Answers

What domain name to go with? It's a common dilemma for people who already have a business and for those who sell a number of related products or services.

Go micro, or go macro? A Search Marketing Lab forum expert offers advice.

George's Question

Dear IMC expert and fellow marketers,

Could you please comment on the following. I'll use a sample keyword to illustrate:

Let's say that my keyword is healthcare speakers and my brand name is Cool Speak, which has some recognition in the marketplace.

I need to choose a URL for my website and healthcare-speakers.com is available which would work best for search engines and anchor text inbound links. BUT it's not the best name for branding purposes and offline marketing.

SO: What are the search engine and other implications if I register my URL as www.healthcare-speakers.com and use www.CoolSpeak.com as the URL I give out to the market. Of course, the www.CoolSpeak.com URL would be redirected to the www.healthcare-speakers.com and be masked as well.

Any input would be appreciated!!

Thanks,
George

Charlie's answer:

Hi George,

The domain name is simply one of many factors that are taken into consideration by Google when ranking a site. In the long run, the domain name is not that important. (It is more important in other search engines like Yahoo and MSN.)

I believe that it is a little wiser to be "broader" with a domain name unless you know for certain that you're never going to use the domain name for anything other than a specific niche.

The domain name "healthcare-speakers.com" is specific to health care. If you wanted to expand into something other than health care with that website, the domain doesn't really allow for it and it will likely confuse people.

A domain like "CoolSpeak.com" could be used for any kind of speaker. Also, the FILENAME of the page is also taken into consideration by Google. So something like "CoolSpeak.com/health-care-speakers.html" would rank well in search engines for the phrase "health care speakers" and it would also collect good inbound links with the phrase "health care speakers."

I would advise that you go with CoolSpeak.com because of its opportunities for expansion into other areas.

You can also do very well with On Page Optimization (Title tags, headlines, content, etc.) and Google will look more at that stuff than it will at just the domain name. Even if all the anchor text on your inbound links said "Cool Speak" you could still rank #1 in Google for "health care speakers" by doing the On-Page stuff properly.

Charlie Ritchie

5. Strategies from a Real-Life Success Story
ShakespearesDen.com

Silas Lindenstein wasn't using his Theater Arts degree in his daily work life, but he had a shared dream with his wife of owning a theater of their own one day, along with a small store within their theater that would sell the kinds of gifts that playgoers, theater workers and drama junkies would love.

All this, of course, before they realized what owning a theater would COST.

That's why Silas opted to start ShakespearesDen.com, a store with all the items he wanted to sell in a brick-and-mortar location -- but located on Web!

Now, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales to their credit, Silas and his wife have achieved another portion of their dream: they have a brick-and-mortar location for their store... and it's even located below a theater!

Silas and his wife share a passion for the things they sell at ShakespearesDen.com. In fact, when it comes to choosing inventory, they focus on fulfilling a couple of key requirements:

"Essentially, we're putting up things we'd like to buy, and really basing our business on what we love. It either needs to make us think or make us laugh. That's the standard."

Their love for what they sell is a big part of the "personality" behind their site and their products. And their customers appreciate the unique identity they've carved out on the Web:

"We're focusing on building a really consistent, attractive brand so that people take us seriously (or laugh with us!)

"Our mission statement extends through all the elements of the site, because the kinds of people that are searching for these products want a little more out of their Web experience.

"That means our design is professional, our content -- both on the site and off -- is a nice balance of education, wit, AND marketing. That's what makes us memorable."

They've put a lot of effort into making sure their web presence is top of the line, from exceptional, informative content to an eye-catching design. That's why Silas ended up outsourcing the recent re-design of his site to make sure he ended up with the most effective and attractive end result possible.

"For the current re-design, I wanted to have someone do the work who actually did that for a living! A really professional design sets you apart from the competition, and gives you the credibility and edge you need. It's definitely more expensive to outsource the design, but you also get what you pay for.

"And I think we've definitely earned more as a result of the re-design, so it's paid for itself.

"Before, when people told us they loved our store, I think they just meant the products and the selection. Now I think they mean the whole package is really appealing, and that's exactly what we wanted."

Now that he's got a great template to work from, Silas puts a lot of time into making sure the search engines are driving traffic back to his site.

He uses pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns to bring visitors to his door who are actually looking for the products he sells. By making sure he chooses laser-targeted keywords for his ads, he makes sure that he doesn't pull in "drive-bys" who simply won't convert into customers:

"Make sure your keywords are refined enough that you get the audience you want. You might get traffic from a loosely targeted keyword because Google is so large, but that traffic isn't going to DO anything for you.

"For example, we could target "Shakespeare," because not a lot of PPC users would be using that term, but I also don't want to pay for high-schoolers looking for information for book reports! And with the number of people searching for things like that on Google, I'd be paying a FORTUNE.

"We target "Shakespeare gifts" instead, and all the clicks we get tend to be far more meaningful. You want the traffic to mean something, plain and simple."

From there, Silas maximizes his efforts by using the same keywords in his search engine optimization (SEO) as he does in his PPC campaigns.

This includes making frequent updates in his content:

"The more we update, the more Google likes us. I don't know if other businesses have this problem, but there is a huge range of possibilities for search on some of our items.

"For example, the theater masks that people often are looking for (the happy mask and sad mask) are searched for under "theater mask" and "drama mask"... and a ton of other variations. We even experience variations on "theater" versus "theatre"!

"We just try different ones all the time to see how they fare. I sit my staff down and let them know what terms we'll be updating with pretty regularly.

"Google crawls our site every other day now, so the changes take hold quickly when we make them. You'll wait a few weeks, but that's not too bad an amount of time to see an impact."

Another hint from Silas: using the same keywords in your PPC ads and in your site copy is an excellent way to let your visitors know they've ended up in the right place!

If your web page shows up in a PPC ad AND the natural results for a keyword, you're twice as likely to earn a visitor's click!

Silas has used this strategy with his site, and has found that this "double listing" increases his chances of having visitors click through his natural listing:

"My big goal was to have our PPC ad right next to our natural search ranking at the top of results.

"I felt that would add a lot of legitimacy to our business, as well as really catching our potential customer's eye. They might not know what the difference is between the two, but they click on the central results.

"This saves us money -- in fact, the better our natural results have gotten, the less I've had to spend on any kind of PPC at all."

And we agree: any strategy that saves you money AND makes you money has to be a good thing!

6. Final thoughts

If you Google "search marketing" and "bust rhymes," you'll come up with this guy, the SEO Rapper.

Want paid search advice? How about this...

Check your results,
Reportin' is critical,
And set your goals right
Be Google Analytical...

Our new favorite SEO guru!

Thanks for reading. And don't forget, there's tons more SEO wisdom throughout the site. Take advantage of it...

And please let us know what you think. You can contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Internet Marketing Center Team