By Catherine Parker on 2004/11/02
I was lucky enough to attend the Search Engine Strategies conference held recently in Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm is a picturesque, friendly, very organised city that is currently enjoying lovely Autumn weather of around 7 degrees celcius... about the coldest winter's day in Cape Town! Yes, I am a wimpy Capetonian, but I survived, and besides some meteorological insights, managed to come away with a host of exciting trends, ideas and best practices in search engine marketing.
One of the sessions I attended was moderated by Chris Sherman, president of US-based search marketing company Searchwise and associate editor of Search Engine Watch. Chris has a great way of stepping back and looking at the big picture when it comes to this dynamic industry, and the talk he gave was no exception. To give us this bigger picture, he talked about some common myths in the search industry - both for organic search engine optimisation and pay per click. Knowing these myths will give you a better chance of running a successful search engine marketing campaign for your own website.
Myth #1: A number one ranking is essential.
This is not always true. If you're at least in the top ten results, does this achieve your goal of search engine visibility? In most cases, it should. Is the added effort and time it takes to get you to that number one spot absolutely worth it, or could you achieve the same volume of increased targeted traffic to your site with a number three listing? There is a need here to balance the ego with the necessity of being the first result.
In terms of paid listings, many "compulsive clickers" tend to click on the first sponsored listings on a search engine results page without ever actually visiting the site concerned. And of course, the second and third positions are cheaper in terms of bid pricing for keywords. Because of this, you may be better off being in second or third position rather than at number one.
Myth #2: I don't need paid listings because I have a top 10 result on organic listings.
Paid listings that supplement an organic listing can work wonders for brand reinforcement and reach. If a searcher sees your result in two areas of the page, he is more likely to (consciously or unconsciously) recognise you as a serious competitor in that niche. For this reason, consider a pay per click (PPC) campaign as a means to increase reach on search engines while your organic listings are being improved through site optimisation.
Myth # 3: Search forums have the best information.
While search engine industry forums are an excellent place to soundboard new ideas, learn techniques and find out current industry information, too often what comes out of them is taken as gospel. The search industry is a strange animal in that the providers (the engines) try as much as possible to remain an enigma to the consumers (the searchers and optimisers) in their methods. Search engines aren't giving their secrets to anybody, and search engine optimisers can only give anecdotal evidence of what seems to work for them. The result is misinformation, and plenty of it.
As an example, Chris mentioned the "sandbox theory" - a supposed dampening filter that Google applies to a new site once it goes live and is first indexed on search engines. The theory, discussed ad nauseum in search forums, maintains that a new site will enter results pages and then drop completely for 2-6 months while its true value is determined by Google. But where did this theory come from? Is it fact? Chris has closer relationships than arguably anyone in the industry with major search engines, and stated that this theory should be taken with "one huge block of salt" (with much emphatic nodding from the Google systems engineer).
Remember what your grandpa taught you, and don't believe everything you read. If you don't remember this, then remember to add salt.
Myth #4: In a PPC campaign, the most expensive keywords are costly because they provide better returns.
The pay per click industry is a true auction environment. And just like in any auction, the most expensive item is not necessarily the best item, as "best" is highly subjective. The item is simply expensive because that is what the market has decided to pay. In an auction at Sotheby's, for example, is a Renoir original sold for $3 million better than a $1000 pop art ash tray? Well, it depends what you define as best - and what is most suited to your needs. If you have a modern high rise loft apartment filled to the rafters with Andy Warhol originals, the ash tray might be more appropriate for you, and therefore the "best" option.
In the same way, the most expensive keywords may not be the best for your pay per click campaign - it simply depends on how well suited they are to your needs. If you're Sony, the keyword "MP3 player" might be more expensive, but chances are it's not as effective as "Sony MP3 player" in terms of turning searchers into buyers. Decide what's best for your campaign, and structure your budget accordingly - not the other way around.
Myth # 5: Google is the same as Overture.
Many people think that when you decide to run a pay per click campaign, a Google Adwords campaign can and should be run exactly the same as an Overture campaign (the sponsored listings provider to Yahoo!, MSN and others). The truth is that the two engines are very different, each catering for a different audience and market, and each having unique settings regarding things such as broad and exact matching. If you're running paid ads on both Google and Overture, make sure you do your homework and find out what techniques work best on which engine.
It's about common sense
If you're embarking on a search engine marketing campaign, let your common sense guide you about what is and isn't a good search marketing strategy. Above all, be aware of some of the common misconceptions described above. If you're not, you could end up spending more on your campaign than you really should, and see a lower return on your investment.
