internal seo and promoted search results results
TRANSCRIPT
Presenter: Linda Caplinger
Global Search Lead @ NVIDIA
INTERNAL SEARCH OPTIMIZATION AND
PROMOTED SEARCH RESULTS
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
2
INTERNAL SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION:ISEO
“The process of optimizing your site’s internal search results
to help users find information
via a query
as fast as possible
AND
to take them to the most relevant results.”
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
3
WHY DO USERS RESORT TO SEARCHING ON YOUR SITE?
• Navigation lacks
• Confusing organization of content
• Information Architecture (IA) fails
• Marketing language <> user language
• Organic landing page fails
• They don’t trust your site
• Impatient
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
4
PROMOTED SEARCH RESULTS
Search results that show up on TOP of search results page (SERP) on your website.
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
5
BENEFITS
Control search results placement & “look – feel” on your site
Bubble up most relevant results
Direct users to eCommerce or other domains
Drop into sales funnel FASTER > higher conversions
Results are trackable & scalable
Increase time on site; page consumption
Makes for happier site visitors
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
6
KEY
Optimizing for SEO harnesses your Paid Search AND SEO skills.
If you are a SEM professional,
you already have the chops to do this.
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
7
ADDED BENEFIT
IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
8
7 STEPS TO OPTIMIZING INTERNAL SEARCH RESULTS
1. Get ahold of internal search query data (keywords + instances)
2. Scrub your data (stop words, characters)
3. Cluster or categorize “like” terms
4. 80:20 Rule: terms that cover the most queries
5. Write targeted ad copy (“paid search” skill)
6. Identify most relevant URLs
7. Add conversion tracking
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
9
1. GATHER KEYWORDS + INSTANCES
Google Analytics (search queries), Weblogs,
How much data?
• More = irons out variations, seasonality
• Less = campaigns, holidays, events
Export your query data as:
Full query string, Instances
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
10
2. SCRUB YOUR DATA
Remove stop words that your internal search engine ignores. Typically:
the, and, or, of, to, is, at, which, on, as
Remove characters if your engine ignores them
`-=[]\;’,./~!@#%^&*()_+{}|:”<>?
$ is usually NOT one to remove
Convert everything to lowercase
Sort a > z
Dedupe: excel or use a macro
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
11
3. CLUSTER LIKE TERMSCreating ad copy for every query is time intensive
For Google Appliance & Custom Search: think “broad match”
A “keymatch” for Tegra will return a promoted result for ALL queries that include “Tegra” in them.
Find queries that contain a similar keyword to hone in on:
Tegra 3 processor
Tegra mobile processor
Tegra mobile processors
Tegra processors
Write once, use multiple times.
Cluster these into “Tegra” category
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
12
4. IDENTIFY HIGH VALUE QUERIES
What’s a conversion to you?
High value ($$) products or AOV
Lead gen
Download (whitepaper)
Watch video
Consider marketing to:
Differing parts of the funnel
Personas
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
13
5. WRITE TARGETED AD COPY
No different than Adwords
Incorporate keyword (previous page: Tegra)
Insert query into title, description, and URL if possible
Ugly URL? Use a vanity or shortener
Include CTA
Images help CTR
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
14
6. RELEVANT URLS
Think: Adwords Quality Score
Alignment between:
Keyword > AdCopy > Landing Page
Are you taking the user to the most relevant landing page?
If you’re showing more than 1 promoted result, are they different enough to keep from confusing the user?
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
15
7. CONVERSION TRACKING
Prove value
Add conversion tracking to your promoted result URLs
Digital River: CID tag
Amazon: use your affiliate ID
Google Analytics: tag pages for GA and conversion script on confirmation page
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
16
LAUNCHLATHER > RINCE > REPEAT
Test variations on ad copy, images, and landing pages to find highest converting
Compare your promoted keymatch terms to your search logs to find opportunities for further promoted results (MS Access)
Isolate ZERO results queries > redirect user to sitemap or other experience.
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
17
DID IT WORK?
What determines success?
Reduced bounce rates after search results page
Lower repeat queries
Do a path analysis:
Query 1 > Page > Query 2 > Page 2 > Query 3 (eh…)
Query 1 > Page > Conversion (better!)
Increased conversions
Other…
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
19
APPENDIX
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
20
ADDED VALUE FOR INTERNAL SEARCH
Auto-compete suggestions
Images for Autocomplete &/or iSERPs
Image search results page
Meta data for pivoting / filtering results:
By Product
By Year
By Document Type (HTML, PDF, Video)
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
21
PIVOTING OR FILTERINGSAP results let user pivot on:
Content Type:HTML
Audio / Visual
Press Release
Industry or BU
Line of Business (LOB)
Customer’s Company Size:Small business
Medium business
Enterprise
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
22
PIVOTING OR FILTERING
Time intensive to add lots of meta data
Google can do “entity recognition”
Other pivot points:
Year of Publication
Language
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
23
CROSS DOMAIN APPLICATION
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
24
GOOGLE RESOURCES
Google Search Appliance (GSA):
http://www.google.com/enterprise/search/support/
Google Custom Search Engine (CSE):
https://www.google.com/cse/
Google Site Search:
http://www.google.com/enterprise/search/products/gss.html
GSA vs. Site Search: http://www.google.com/enterprise/search/products/
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
25
INSPIRATION
Adobe
Apple
CA
SAP
Symantec
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
26
DATA CLEANING
Older version of excel – remove dups:
http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/213355
#pubcon @lindacaplinger
27
FURTHER READING
https://econsultancy.com/blog/10407-site-search-for-e-commerce-13-best-practice-tips
#pubcon @lindacaplinger