| March 2006, Issue 24 | Subscribe | Contact Us | Archives |
Every year when we get in the real-life search marketing data for our annual Benchmark Guide I start grinding my teeth in frustration.
Why? Because the charts drawn from thousands of marketers' budgets and results reveal the truth about what works in search marketing … as well as the fact that most marketers are rushing like lemmings in completely the wrong direction. Here are the most pertinent numbers for you to consider:
- The average marketer spent 12% of his or her search budget on search engine optimization (SEO) last year. That's the art of tweaking your company's Web site so search engine spiders are more likely to notice it, and give you great organic rankings. (Organic are the results you don't pay anything for.)
- On the other hand, the average marketer spent 88% of his or her search marketing budget on paid search ads.
Focus on the Top Left Corner
As our eyetracking lab studies conclusively point out, most businesspeople surfing the Web don't pay attention to (much less click on) any of the paid ads that appear in the right column of the search results screen. Instead, they focus on the very top left corner of the search results page. This means, in Google at least, they look at the two most expensive paid ads and then the top 10 (free) organic listings.
The ROI from those two expensive ads at the top left is getting lower these days. Your competitors are bidding on the same terms you are, and even if you expand your pool of keywords to even out your per click budget with cheaper clicks … costs are going up an average of 25% per year.
In the meantime, the cost per click of the organic listings is going up zero percent, because they're free.
Yes, but do the clicks on those free listings convert as well for your offer? Our data shows they do. In fact, the average paid click for a free registration (lead generation) offer is just over 5% and so is the average free click.
The other good news about the organic listings is even the lower ranks are powerful. If you're below the top two for paid, only a tiny percent of surfers' eyes even see you. On the other hand, if you show up anywhere in the top 10 of the organic listings, an appreciable number of prospects will read your ad.
Overall Site Traffic up 38%For example, if you're paid ad number five on a results page, just .6% of viewers who click on paid ads will choose you. If you have the free organic position number five on that same results page, 8.6% of viewers who click on organic listings will choose you. Wow.
That difference is reflected in your overall site traffic. We asked marketers who conducted search engine optimization campaigns to tell us how their overall site traffic had changed in the six months since the campaign began. Marketers using in-house resources said their overall site traffic had risen 38%.
Why don't you do the math for yourself and see why I grind my teeth at night? Take your site traffic today, and multiply it by 38%. Then figure out how much you would pay for that traffic if you bought it from paid search ads.
Are you considering investing more in search engine optimization? One last piece of good news: If you decide to outsource to an outside specialist, you may see an average traffic lift in the 110% range. Yes, that's what the thousands of marketers who use outside SEO help told us they were getting.
Increase Your Investment in Organic Optimization
So you see, most marketers would get a much better ROI from search marketing overall if they reapportioned their budgets a bit. My advice: Increase your investment in organic optimization, even if you have to pull from your paid budget to do it.
However, when you pull ads, make it your least successful ads. Our data suggests the best tactic of all is to "dominate the search results page" with both paid and organic listings. For your best performing terms, make sure you're in both places.
Anne Holland is President of MarketingSherpa Inc., a research firm publishing Case Studies and Benchmark Data for its 173,000 marketing and advertising executive subscribers. Order a copy of MarketingSherpa's Search Marketing Benchmark Guide.
© MarketingSherpa Inc., 2006
| See Anne Holland in Person If you'd like to see Anne Holland in person, be sure to attend MarketingSherpa's upcoming Email Summit in Chicago. This two-day intensive summit for e-mail marketers is scheduled for April 20-21, 2006. Learn how to grow your e-mail list, improve your creative and measure your results. E-mail marketers will present their own campaign stories and show you what worked. Visit http://Email-Event-06.MarketingSherpa.com to learn more or call 1-877-895-1717. |
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About Bulldog Solutions Bulldog Solutions is the recognized thought leader and pioneer in sales lead generation using Web seminar campaigns and Web-based programs. Our unique multi-step process integrates marketing and sales efforts to increase reach, maximize marketing ROI, shorten sales cycles and boost top-line revenues. We have developed successful lead-generation campaigns and strategies for B2B organizations in many different industries, including technology, finance, science, health care, telecom, insurance and publishing. www.bulldogsolutions.com © 2006 Bulldog Solutions. All rights reserved. |