AdWords folks. They're the traders of the online marketing world. They spend their time analyzing scoreboards, making little improvements and brainstorming their next ideas. They split-test their ideas, scale the best and ditch the best. In a world where scarce resources force them to make choices over budget, positioning and copy, they're having to think totally differently to SEOs.
Rand posted back in 2008 about the disconnect between PPC spending and SEO spending. Despite the well documented differences in results, PPC is a science from the outset, but SEO still leaves lots to chance. AdWords folks live-and-die by the following five rules. Today, you're going to learn how to adopt them as an SEO and win:
Perry Marshall once said that advertising is "one of the world's most wasteful and deceptive industries" since results from campaigns are so difficult to track. In an online world with universally simple, yet sophisticated analytics available, it's a totally different ball-game.
Sure, you understand the concept of profit and yes it is the end goal, but not in the same way as AdWords folks where not making money is an unforgivable sin from the word go. SEO and Social Media agencies can still charge $5k for a campaign that may or may not affect the client's bottom line (spending is speculative), but an AdWords account manager can't spend $5 without being accountable for every penny. AdWords clients can see what money is being spent on, and the results - there's no excuse anymore.
We're in the business of making money; whilst SEOs can be accountable, PPC folks are always accountable. We need to emulate PPC guys.
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You've used Google Analytics, but do you really know how to apply custom filters, advanced segmentation and setup tracking. Take Google's Conversion University course, take the exam and prove it to yourself.
Get yourself used to regular feedback. Computer games master this regular 'pat on the back' - get Geckoboard or some equivalent setup to feedback regular metrics that matter.
Pour through your Google Webmaster Tools, especially the 'Search queries' tab which gives similar statistics to what AdWords folks see on their dashboard.
Next up, rule #2...
PPC is still an investment - with each visitor (potential customer) you gain more and more user data. Direct marketers are conditioned to split-test mailings and harvest data to make continual improvements; AdWords and other PPC services make this even easier.
Tim Ferris used AdWords tests to name his book, 'The 4-Hour Workweek', knowing he'd get more 'instinctual' responses than the perhaps group-influenced results from a focus group (plus, AdWords is so much more scalable).
Yes, we spend our time doing tests, but we need to experiment like AdWords guys do as well, agonizing over their campaigns titles and numbers month on month. We don't talk about swipe files enough in SEO. When was the last time you tried editing and testing your title tags to improve your click-through rate?
Go through your bookmarks and draw together a list organized by factor of your favourite, most inspirational sites for improving your SEO. Rand's Head-to-Head Presentation from ProSEO Boston consisted of little more than showing off his awesome swipe file and his concept mashup.
Conversion rate optimizers put together awesome guides like this to help you on your website. Use the same tips and tactics to brainstorm and implement tests on your onpage SEO.
Rule #3 next...
Use words carefully.
In the business of signup forms, calls to action, headlines, sub-headlines, and AdWords advertising copy... few words make a huge impact. As well as being the most viewed pieces content, often the content that most influences your visitors.
Joshua Porter is an interface designer you need to be aware of. His advice - "The fastest way to improve your interface is to improve your copywriting" - applies just as much to your search campaign.
Start with these basics for understanding microcopy.
Look through all your title tags via SEOmoz PRO app or by downloading them with Xenu. Can you make them more relevant to your users? Can you add more trigger words?
Phew! The last-but-one rule...
SEO is like having an unlimited AdWords budget that harvests ~85% of the clicks from a given SERP, but that's a mixed blessing. Scarce resources, like a PPC budget force you to choose and optimize your input for maximum gain. Economics 101 in action.
Its like the difference between a funded startup and a bootstrapped startup. Jason Fried of 37signals explains the first thing a bootstrapped company has to do is turn a profit - or the owners go hungry - whereas the funded startup needs to spend the money first.
The PPC guy has to figure out and test where the money is, or they go hungry too...
Bad times. Picture via Declubz
Don't think of SEO as an unlimited AdWords budget, but as an expanded AdWords campaign. The profit discipline has still got to be there. Although SEO doesn't have direct costs-per-click, but it still is very expensive in terms of time. The trouble is it's too easy to spend time like you've got waiting on the results later. Don't.
37signals plan on 'what takes two weeks'. They expect results at the end of that. If something isn't possible in two weeks, the task is too big (cut it up instead) or focus on something that will deliver results. You need to watch this video like your next meal depends on it.
Apply some 80-20 analysis to your SEO spending (both time and money). Where's the most money coming from? So if I cancelled 80% of next month's SEO budget, would you still meet your numbers?
And finally...
"Revenue’s Vanity. Profit's Sanity." The same principles apply to search - traffic is vanity. Yes, it makes you feel good but you can't go to the bank with traffic figures. You only need highly-targeted visitors that convert into customers.
When you're paying for each visitor to your website, boy are you going to try to extract the most value from each visitor. Not every visitor is a "hot" lead, so gaining their permission to follow up is essential. AdWords guys recognize the power of opt-in landing pages and follow-up marketing.
Whilst landing pages used in a PPC campaign might not be the most linkable content, it is still important to build content that engages visitors in the prospecting process.
Brainstorm alternative methods to maximize the value of your current search traffic. How can you capture their email address, and lead them to a sale? Is the offer not right for them? How can you link in alternative offers?
Closing Thoughts
AdWords is not expensive search marketing. It's direct marketing on steroids, and direct marketers appear to be the smartest guys in the business. It's a no-brainer to study them and apply what they know to SEO. So I may have accidentally, on purpose, published my public to-do list for getting good at SEO. And it's not like enough homework has been set already...!
The beauty of SEO is it combines the creative, artistic side of marketing with the rigorous, science that is online marketing; what do you think? Is it worth peaking over the shoulders of our comrades in paid search?
Ed this is a great post. I really appreciate you putting it together. It's a challenge sometimes to bridge the gaps beween the organic and paid marketing camps. I think we are better off now than we have ever been as a number of the leaders in the SEO sphere have spent the last few years really stressing the need to test on the SEO front as well as the need to deduce conversions and ROI from these illusive "traffic gains and losses."
I'll add another phenomenon I've seen a bit first hand over the years - it seems to me the paid search marketing world is more apt to test their skills with online courses, tests, etc. and offline workshops. I know over the years I've taken dozens of classes, courses, and tests not only because I think its important to stay on top of the latest information but also because employers actually required it. Its a prerequisite for the most part, and I'm pretty committed to this standard.
On the flip side many SEOs have voices to me (often over cocktails at conferences) that those tests are hogwash. It seems the organic side of things prides "doing and testing" in your own right so highly, that it may at times overlook the benefits of exposing themselves to a more regimented introduction, and advanced study of the channel. I know MarketMotive has seen this with so many people signing up for paid, analytics, and social, but with SEO getting people but usually a very international audience. It's definitely interesting. It may have more to do with what tests and courses are available and how good they are, but I have def noticed the divide there, and I personally think general marketers could benefit from a more formal introducition into both the organic and paid side of things.
Other than that I think you have covered some divides really well, I have felt many of them as I hire for team members, and from my days as a consultant (forced to work with organic consultants in other states and at times other countries). Thanks again for writing this!
Cheers Joanna!
Interesting about the formal education bit - perhaps SEOmoz should put together some kind of qualification/award, provided it was credible, and not "hogwash"? Or perhaps that's what's stopped you guys already doing something like that ;)
I think there's only so much you can teach people about the interface, but "doing Adwords" and "doing SEO" comes from practice. Perhaps some kind of problem-based exam based on real data?
See you at SearchLove London!
I think what compounds the issue of education and qualifications in the SEO world are 2 things:
As we AdWords folks say (well I do) - "Clicks for Show, Conversions for Dough"
Great post Ed. Rules 2 and 3 definitely I think can really improve results. Pretty much the smartest ways to test out which content for your meta data will provide better results.
Great post Ed! I work a start up digital firm and we do the full gamut, so its great to see someone actually point to the need for cooperation between all the online teams. Rarely do PPC and SEO teams share when they have great resources on both sides. We've used PPC data for a client to revamp their SEO strategy by showing which keywords brought in the most profitable leads. Again great post!
Testing keywords on PPC first as a means of seeing which keywords are best to target for SEO is a great idea (one which I have not thought of before, although I am new!). Good Comment!
Very good article. I also believe ROI has to be measured in every campaign or business venture. Finding your niche in Adwords and getting your conversion rates higher takes a lot of time and practice. I have been studying some of the Google University lessons as well to fine tune some of my PPC knowledge and have picked up some useful tips during the process.
Very good post, Ed!
I would say this, about testing for PPC and SEO specialists. A-B testing for PPC can render usable results pretty quickly, in close to realtime. SEO testing, on the other hand, nearly always involves delays, waiting for the SE to pick up on the changes, and even a bit longer for Analytics and WMT to reflect them. So I think that may be part of the reason that some (most?) SEOs aren't as dependent upon test results. By the time we go through three or four iterations, we can lose a few weeks, and the client often doesn't have that patience.
In an ideal world, perhaps, all PPC folks would be well versed in SEO and all SEOs would have a firm grasp of PPC management. But that's not likely to happen, so my preferred approach is to collaborate with a PPC specialist. In the process, we'll both probably learn something, and the client's likely to get better service.
Great post and I've met a lot of people who have lost their shirt in PPC overspending and poor conversions. I think one of the best tips that I received when I first started using PPC advertising is that you have to write the ad FOR potential customers/conversions only.
Being too broad or general in your ad can produce a lot of clicks with no conversions, if your selling something, say so and give an incentive for the purchase.
High conversion clicks is always the focus.
This was a FANTASTIC post. So much great info and helpful insights. It's funny how you can get so caught up in the SEO side of things and lose sight of all those teeny tiny analytics, and then it's like complete gear switching to get back to PPC thought processes. But really the two are different faces of the same coin, as you have so adroitly pointed out. Thanks for your adorable graphics, too. It really is the little things that make a post enjoyable on top of all the valuable information. :) Rock on!
"They split-test their ideas, scale the best and ditch the best"
surely "ditch the worst"
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This post is a better perspective than the perspective I usually take which is why would someone spend $X into an SEO unknown when they can be measurably productive with PPC. However, the two shouldn't be apart. It's part of the total solution.
As for the analytics, as a Google Certified professional, I can say that analytics are critical to success in anything web based. Messages are different for each visitor group and you need to review over and over again to make sure the visitors match the message. Otherwise you are blind.
Very creative post man. I'm a PPC expert, have been for a while now. You bring some very good points about new things we should all be trying!
Great parallel between PPC and SEO. Search Engine Optimization should indeed be focussed more towards the Return on Investment and having an approach like the PPC folks will definitely help. Thanks for the post and the links to the other interesting posts.
Fantastic list Ed. I'm always thinking about
#3 - Use words carefully
but now I'll definitely start considering
#4 - Understand limitations
So you know, I'm going to start this week thinking about what I plan to see happen in two weeks for my clients, instead of 1 month. Care to share the most exciting impact you've seen occur in a short amount of time?
I would also love to hear about this! How did it affect the overall progress of the site?
Totally, completely agree with this blog post. Whatever your level as an SEO - if you haven't delved into AdWords you may be missing out on a useful experience. SEO has come so far but AdWords has been there every step of the way. The two go hand in hand, and newer developments including Retargeting and Multi-Channel Funnels (in Google Analytics) confirm this.
Cheers Ed
Great post and some excellent guidelines to follow in understanding adwords and applying important steps to be successful. Top stuff!
Great to read a post about PPC. All I ever thought was that there were semi-qualified individuals in this area. Boy, was I wrong.
PPC is a strong form of advertising, although it can be very costly. It is most important to rank for the right key words, that are as specific as possible which lead to higher conversions. We can give help and advice to anyone wishing to learn about PPC, simply contact us at https://www.ariesdesigns.co.uk/
Aries Designs is a web design company in Barnsley, we specialise in web design and development and SEO, organic listings and PPC.
Regards
Josh
Aries DesignsDirector
Great job, Ed (again).
Not surprised at all. :-)
Practical information about PPC market. Thanks!
Being an experiance SEM guy, I use SEO and PPC for the max amount benefit. With that said, I find my SEO efforts to be more geared toward overall health of a website in search engines and my PPC efforts more focused on ROI.
For SEO, I say we need a blog with these keywords that generate search traffic, but for PPC, I say we need to stay away from a blog and those keywords and focus more on conversion not really traffic.
Anyway great article.
Great post. Have a look at this example of micro copy writing for a reminder of how impactful the right words can be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU&sns=em
I was afraid it was going to say something about looking at AdWords traffic. Thank goodness you proved me wrong.
These are excellent tips, and something a lot of SEOs have yet to discover. That's why I like blogs like SEOmoz, because it's all about the technical, nitty-gritty, data-driven things. They don't often throw out theoretical musings on topics, it's almost always a tested, methodical, reasonable idea.
I love me some SEOmoz. :D
Totally agree with everything that you say - I've said it before and I'll say it again, getting into PPC has made me much better at SEO.
On your first golden rule, I'd just like to say that thanks to the new Analytics you don't have to go digging around in Webmaster Tools for CTR data, it's accessible right in Analytics alongside traffic stats. Mmm, data...
Agree.
On the oither note it looks like most SEOs don't use conversion optimisation as much as they should.. as much as PPC guys do it at least.
Ditto! Adwords should be a training ground for anyone interested in SEO. As an SEO, I was never as open to split testing and writing variations of copy / titles as I've been after Adwords.
Have to say I'm considering suggesting that everyone I work with tries managing a PPC account for a few weeks, just to understand the split testing mindset, how it works and why it's awesome..
I think after today's WB Friday on ReTargeting, perhaps SEOmoz could look into some more paid search and paid online marketing training? Just a little bit - enough to get the science, but not too much to leave the bad taste in the mouth (reminds me of this Danny Dover WB Friday. Hehe...)
Great call to action and very motivational.
I personally think that a lot of SEO folks don't know anything or know a little bit about PPC. Me first :)It is just sooo much new SEO things, new onpage techniques and link building methods which come out every day. SEO gives a full meaning to the "permanent learning" phrase.
So, 24 hours in a day are really short to do everything and to read every article just for SEO, not to mention PPC and Adwords. This article explained some big missunderstandings between SEO and PPC and gives us reason why we should pay more atention into Adwords and mix it together, especially beacuse, as in article is well said - Adwords folks get bigger picture. I personally think that key to the success is mixing it. So, I see this article as a final incentive to learn more about Adwords. Thanks for very well written article which explained much things.
As a PPC guys I always look at the proportion of SEO traffic in a certain category or for a certain keyword. I also take a look at the performance and want to see surprises that I can take into account when doing PPC work.
In my opinion the two go hand in hand and by combining the data you can create a winning strategy!
Good post, I actually work in the largest PPC company in Australia so I deal with the PPC teams on a daily basis working with them all. The benefit is we have numerous guys on the PPC side of the business who have gone from SEO to PPC so they are very in tune with both sciences so to say.
I think you have many businesses who are in the market who do not have alot of PPC information to take on board so their grasp of the market is some what limited at times.
But in regards to making keyword focused titles and descriptions to drive conversions from a SEO point of view this is something I have been doing for a long time, as I work in large Telco clients I study what PPC guys are doing in the US market to mimic ad copy and then utalize it for my SEO efforts, works very well at times =)
But yeah ROI and conversion is also a focal point of my SEO =)
Great post, as much as I love SEO and the challenges and creativity it brings, I always feel like it just learning pure SEO (or just one subject matter, it doesn't matter how immense) can lead to tunnel vision. The problem with having tunnel vision is that it get's tough to actually slow down, take a step back and actually try to see things from a different perspective because we are so wrapped up on a single mentality and mindset that we always are "right".
Being able to see things from many different perspectives pretty much just opens up so many different thoughts and ideas that can lead to new strategies in whatever field you are in. I like to think of it as playing chess vs watching chess, for me I can seem to see the correct moves and almost predict what will happen next, whereas playing it myself my view seems limited and it doesn't feel like I'm making the most optimal plays as I go along (Although I'm a subpar chess player so that could have something to do with it).
Hopefully that was a good analogy, I just think it's a good life lesson overall to have an open mind when it comes to learning from various groups and to gain as many perspectives as possible.
Sorry for the random stream of consiousness, great post though!
I totally agree - looking at other things outside SEO, heck even outside of marketing in general for ideas and tips how to do things can't be a bad thing?
Of the many Steve Jobs quotes floating around this week and last, his suggestion that creativity is just connecting things, so you want to be exposed to lots of different ideas in order to make those connections. Tunnel vision is perhaps only useful once you've got that killer idea in mind and you need to ship, but otherwise I totally agree!
Very motivational post .it helps me in learning ppc .with lots of information really great post...
I do SEO for retail sites, and my bosses' perception of whether I am successful is strongly influenced by the impact my work has on their Adwords spend and ROI by bringing in unpaid visits and conversions. This forced me early on to look at the financial value of keywords and stop getting excited over ranking for easy terms. I've worked to identify the search terms associated with each stage of our conversion funnel and built my SEO strategy accordingly. I've benefited professionally from cooperating (and competing) with Adwords to make money, and would recommend this to anyone who hasn't already tried.
Good post and excellent tips
I'm still very new to SEO, but have a bit of PPC experience.
The thing that really helped was using my PPC data to figure out which keywords to focus on for SEO. With PPC I was able to see which keywords actually resulted in sales. The unexpected thing was that my best paying keyphrases actually had less traffic. Without the PPC data I would have just went for what I thought would be my money keyphrases.
Great Post Ed, I worked for a song time as a organic analyst where I didn’t get my hands dirty with PPC but now where I make strategies of PPC I came to know that how data orientated PPC is and this contain lot of experiments, science yet accountable for every single penny you spend…
Simply Great post!
Funny, as I was reading through this post, I was thinking, he's missing the "there's more to search than merely directly connecting to buying customers," then I got to Rule #5.
My brother is something of a PPC Wiz, whereas I concentrate in SEO and dabble in PPC (more for the intel than anything). He's always pushing the science, which often doesn't get enough attention in the SEO world (I think mostly bc we're stuck with correlation). But of course, there are some things we can measure and test empirically, and I think too many of us just don't.
Good Post.
But correlation is such an exciting metric to go on - SEO can sometimes feel like stabbing in the dark, but when someone comes out with *CORRELATION DATA* whoopee... a to-do list. A formula. Easy peasy.
Reminds me of this old WB Friday: https://www.seomoz.org/blog/whiteboard-friday-correlation-causation-seo
What about using SEM (SEO+PPC) data as a starting point when getting started in social advertising like Facebook, twitter et cetera? Anyone has experience in this?
good stuff! I really like your creative treatment on the labels. Creativity counts!
Jay
Great Post Ed.
I definitely think that you can learn a lot about SEO simply from PPC. They are both interlinked and should not be divided as they are in some organisations.
I am relatively new to Search Marketing, I have predominantly done PPC so far and hope that I can take some of the skills from my PPC experiences into SEO work which I will undertake in Future.
Whatever i read about Adwords, this is one of the most wonderful article, as i have have observed tat mostly peoples believes on myths about Adwords. I hope every one should read this article to grow up their knowledge about the topic. Hats of for you Edfryed for sharing such a brilliant information.