According to the Internet\u00a0Advertising Revenue Report by the\u00a0Interactive Advertising Bureau and\u00a0PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, $23.4\u00a0billion was spent on online advertising\u00a0in the United States in 2008. This represented a\u00a010.6 percent increase over the year before and the\u00a0continued growth of the medium\u2019s popularity with\u00a0marketers. One of the biggest stories over the past\u00a0decade is not how the Internet has matured, but\u00a0how during that maturation process the medium\u2019s\u00a0interactive advantages have influenced how online\u00a0marketers spend their budgets.<\/p>\n
Early in the decade, when search marketing was\u00a0still in its infancy, the online landscape was dominated\u00a0by banner advertising. It was not unusual to open a\u00a0website and find multiple banner ads on a page. Used\u00a0to images and traditional bold messages, much of\u00a0this was an attempt to translate traditional \u201cbranding\u201d\u00a0advertising to the Internet model. During this time,\u00a0major online ad units such as \u201croll over\u201d ads emerged\u00a0and were primarily positioned on the home pages of\u00a0major destination websites such as Yahoo, MSN or AOL\u00a0for the greatest impact. While advertisers were initially\u00a0willing to purchase online advertising based on the\u00a0same reach model as traditional offline media, it did\u00a0not take long to realize that the greatest advantage of\u00a0marketing online is the immediate feedback of a \u201cclick\u201d\u00a0to a marketer\u2019s website. Purchasing decisions quickly\u00a0shifted away from the standard cost per thousand\u00a0impressions (CPM) to a cost per click (CPC) model,\u00a0setting the stage for the revolution in online marketing\u00a0called \u201csearch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fueled by the introduction of search engines that could index billions (now trillions) of Web pages and\u00a0page content, users learned quickly that it was far easier\u00a0to use a \u201csearch\u201d rather than visit numerous websites to\u00a0find what they were seeking online. Searching a topic\u00a0or term properly, a user could get a listing of the top 10\u00a0most relevant results. Even though users might spend\u00a0more actual time on content websites, they interact more\u00a0with advertising (clicks) during their time spent searching.<\/p>\n
The feedback received from Internet marketing\u00a0is second to none, and, while it might not offer the\u00a0dramatic branding opportunity of a Super Bowl ad,\u00a0firms can spend marketing dollars more effectively to\u00a0reach potential clients.<\/p>\n
Search marketing can be broken down into four\u00a0categories:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Paid Search Advertising<\/strong><\/p>\n Performance based, advertisers\u2019 ads typically appear at\u00a0the top, right or bottom of a search results page. Ads\u00a0are text only and, if done properly, are relevant to the\u00a0keyword phrase for which it is targeted. These ads will\u00a0only run when a specific keyword or phrase is searched,\u00a0so they can be highly optimized.<\/p>\n \u2022 Contextual Advertising<\/strong><\/p>\n An advertiser\u2019s message is delivered at the right or left\u00a0side of a content page across a network of websites\u00a0that are partnered with a search engine. The most\u00a0popular of these services is Google\u2019s Adsense, which\u00a0places ads based on relevant content and keyword\u00a0phrases. While this can be highly optimized\u00a0there is no complete control regarding on which\u00a0websites an ad will appear.<\/p>\n \u2022 Paid Inclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n Certain search engines, such as Dogpile, Excite\u00a0and Metacrawler use a mix of organic results and\u00a0\u201cpaid inclusion\u201d when serving search results to\u00a0users. Paid inclusion provides the ability for an\u00a0advertiser to gain placement at the top of the\u00a0results while not necessarily being identified as\u00a0a \u201cpaid ad unit.\u201d The drawback of this type of\u00a0advertising is that users are increasingly savvy and\u00a0seek clearly defined paid and non-paid results.<\/p>\n \u2022 Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)<\/strong><\/p>\n With years of research now indicating that users\u00a0prefer \u201corganically\u201d occurring search results,\u00a0primarily for their relevance, SEO is becoming\u00a0an increasingly important element for marketers.\u00a0Organic SEO involves working with the key\u00a0elements of a website \u2014\u00a0content, metacode,\u00a0website build, links and other on and off-site\u00a0features \u2014 to optimize that website\u2019s chances of\u00a0appearing high in the rankings when the most\u00a0relevant searches are made. Because there are\u00a0no advertising purchases being made, various\u00a0tracking metrics are used to gauge overall success\u00a0of these programs.<\/p>\n Most Internet users prefer the organic\u00a0results that are returned when they make a\u00a0relevant search. The two main reasons for\u00a0this are the ever-improving algorithms being\u00a0used by the major search engines to deliver\u00a0relevant results quickly, and the fact that the\u00a0paid ads found on Web pages are often irrelevant\u00a0or too generic.<\/p>\n With all search marketing, whether paid or\u00a0organic, page one is the target placement. Users\u00a0seek relevance, so while it varies from category\u00a0to category, users will only go past page one\u00a0approximately 15 percent of the time.<\/p>\n The major search engines today are indexing Web\u00a0pages at increasingly faster rates and returning results\u00a0that are far more relevant than ever before. In Google\u2019s\u00a0latest beta release of \u201cGoogle Caffeine,\u201d testers are\u00a0reporting results that are delivered in twice the speed\u00a0of the current version of Google. \u201cBing,\u201d Microsoft\u2019s\u00a0search engine, will also be the default search engine on\u00a0Yahoo, under their new agreement. Bing\u2019s ads promise\u00a0that it will deliver the most relevant results of all search\u00a0engines. While not available yet, we are perhaps not\u00a0too far away from what will be \u201creal-time\u201d indexing of\u00a0Web content for users.<\/p>\n Until recently many people tended to think of the\u00a0Internet as this great online mall, an easy place to\u00a0search for retail items. However, service businesses are\u00a0some of the greatest beneficiaries of users going online\u00a0to do most of their research. While law firms need to\u00a0take a broader approach to their online visibility, they\u00a0also need to be positioned well or they will not be\u00a0found. There might not be an immediate \u201csale,\u201d but\u00a0one page found could be worth thousands of dollars of\u00a0business later.<\/p>\n For the legal services researcher, business is\u00a0not about spending $50 for a shirt, but potentially\u00a0committing thousands or perhaps millions of dollars\u00a0on a project or resource. The growth of the Internet\u00a0and the now trillions of pages included in the search\u00a0indexes provide an unparalleled amount of information\u00a0and resources for all users searching in business\u00a0categories, including legal services.<\/p>\n There are some obvious differences in search\u00a0marketing for the retail and service industries. Online\u00a0retail businesses will typically deploy a catalog or\u00a0directory of items that need to be indexed and sold\u00a0online. Specific ads can be purchased for each item\u00a0name or type, for example, \u201cmen\u2019s blue turtleneck\u00a0shirt,\u201d so when searched the ad appears. If properly\u00a0optimized, that same website should also appear\u00a0in the organic results of search engines in a similar\u00a0fashion. It is fairly easy to measure success, because an\u00a0item is either selling or it is not. With a retail site, there\u00a0is tremendous flexibility for implementing the SEO\u00a0process and being able to respond to the changing\u00a0demands of the search marketplace.<\/p>\n For service industry businesses, where a \u201ccatalog\u201d\u00a0does not exist, a broader strategy is often needed, and\u00a0this presents some challenges. Most major law firms\u2019\u00a0websites will have dozens of practice areas covering\u00a0hundreds of sub-categories. The content contained\u00a0is often case-related and, where not, the wording is\u00a0typically written by a team of legal writers and cannot\u00a0easily be altered for SEO. A law firm website usually\u00a0contains many pages that need to make their way\u00a0into the search indexes, most of which might only be\u00a0searched a few times in any given month. This presents\u00a0some major issues, the greatest being:<\/p>\n \u2022 Difficulties with being able to rapidly conform\u00a0content to best fit how users are searching for it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Papers are not written with the searcher in mind. What\u00a0do you do then when research later shows that users\u00a0are searching for the information presented in a paper,\u00a0but not with the phrases that are written into it. Think\u00a0of users searching for \u201ccoat\u201d instead of \u201cjacket\u201d or\u00a0\u201ccleantech\u201d instead of \u201cclean tech.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Getting the deep content of these websites into\u00a0the search engine indexes.<\/strong><\/p>\n With thousands of pages of content, most of it relevant,\u00a0the page-by-page techniques of SEO for smaller\u00a0websites are not viable, and software solutions might\u00a0produce better results.<\/p>\n To achieve SEO success in the service arena, a\u00a0firm\u2019s strategy should include two key efforts. One\u00a0is identifying the most important practice areas\u00a0for refined SEO development<\/em> and perhaps even\u00a0some paid search advertising. This is particularly\u00a0important for categories where a law firm might be\u00a0competing for placement with a nonlegal entity, a\u00a0good example being the outsourcing industry. Think\u00a0of a phrase like \u201chuman resources outsourcing.\u201d In\u00a0that area, a law firm will be competing more with\u00a0actual outsourcing companies than other law firms,\u00a0so if that phrase is necessary for business, then\u00a0a proper level of human resources outsourcing\u00a0content will be needed to compete for those\u00a0organic placements.<\/p>\n The second effort would be to ensure that the\u00a0website is deeply indexed according to the search\u00a0indexes<\/em> so that \u201clong-tail\u201d opportunities for being\u00a0seen are realized. This involves deep research,\u00a0mapping, proper build, item and page and document\u00a0titling and website navigation. It is also imperative\u00a0to pay attention to what users are searching to find\u00a0a firm\u2019s services, not what the firm thinks they\u00a0are searching. There are tools that can reveal\u00a0how users are researching categories, and this\u00a0information is critical in optimizing a site so that\u00a0it comes up in those searches. This might mean\u00a0items need to be worded slightly differently on\u00a0a website or certain phrases added. There is\u00a0never a guarantee of placement for any page\u00a0or item, so any website element that limits\u00a0exposure needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n With any website it is important to avoid\u00a0shortcuts for optimization. In their efforts to\u00a0constantly deliver better, more relevant results,\u00a0the search engines have also developed better\u00a0tools to devalue the efforts of businesses that\u00a0seek to \u201ccheat\u201d to get to the top. The most\u00a0blatant techniques cheats used to try and\u00a0guarantee SEO success include:<\/p>\n \u2022 Link farms (paid and non-paid)<\/strong><\/p>\n Websites that exist for the sole purpose of\u00a0providing a link to other sites. Links are an\u00a0important tool, but must be relevant and provide\u00a0appropriate anchor text. A \u201cgood\u201d link would be\u00a0a client website or school with a reference link to\u00a0a firm\u2019s website.<\/p>\n \u2022 Spammed content<\/strong><\/p>\n The constant over-placement of phrases in\u00a0content.<\/p>\n \u2022 Funneling<\/strong><\/p>\n The creation of a pool of landing pages with\u00a0the only purpose of linking into the main site to\u00a0create the illusion of greater importance.<\/p>\n It is fairly easy to measure SEO success when marketing\u00a0a retail business online. It is not so easy to measure the\u00a0same success for a service business website because\u00a0there is no immediate transaction taking place, nor is\u00a0it common to ask \u201chow did you find us?\u201d Other metrics\u00a0must be relied upon to gauge the success of service\u00a0business SEO programs. These metrics include the\u00a0following:<\/p>\n \u2022 Search positioning for target keywords and\u00a0phrases<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Search positioning for \u201clong-tail\u201d keywords and\u00a0phrases<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Comparison of above items to leading competitor\u2019s\u00a0positioning<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Website traffic generated from the above\u00a0positioning<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Website page saturation (indexing) to the major\u00a0search engines<\/strong><\/p>\n In measuring success, it is important to note that\u00a0you cannot win every battle. Unlike retail where a pool\u00a0of very specific items needs to succeed to make sales,\u00a0there is a wide expanse of content for the service\u00a0businesses. Pay attention to the details and what the\u00a0research indicates. Be persistent at writing content\u00a0that matches well what users are seeking, and a great\u00a0majority of your content will be there at the top of\u00a0users\u2019 search results.<\/p>\n According to the Internet\u00a0Advertising Revenue Report by the\u00a0Interactive Advertising Bureau and\u00a0PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, $23.4\u00a0billion was spent on online advertising\u00a0in the United States in 2008. This represented a\u00a010.6 percent increase over the year before and the\u00a0continued growth of the medium\u2019s popularity with\u00a0marketers. One of the biggest stories over the past\u00a0decade is not how the Internet has matured,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[525,526],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-search-engine-optimization","category-seo"],"yoast_head":"\nBenefits of Search Reach across\u00a0Business Categories<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Strategies for Service Industries\u00a0Differ from Retail<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Success Is Difficult , but Not\u00a0Impossible to Measure<\/strong><\/h3>\n
This article was first published in ILTA\u2019s October 2009 white paper titled \u201cMarketing Technology: Making Connections, Keeping Clients\u201d and is reprinted\u00a0here with permission. For more information about ILTA, visit their website at www.iltanet.org.<\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"