Maximizing New User Acquisitions:

Components of a Holistic Traffic Generation Strategy

Andrew Sullivan, President, eLine LLC

Jan 31, 2008.

Agenda

• Goals

• The Traffic Landscape

• Basic Strategies to Increase Traffic

• Suggested Natural Traffic Workflow

• Basic Tools To Understand Traffic

• Online Strategies To Pursue

Goals and Objectives

• Basic Understanding of traffic dynamics

• Understand ‘keywords’ and ‘keyword themes’ 

• Understand how to monitor keyword behavior on engines, competitors’ sites and on their own site

• Understand how that should inform content development and site architecture issues

• Example of an SEO-centric publishing workflow

• Understand how the different strategies of driving page views through engines or developing qualified impressions affects both traffic generation and ad sales strategies.

Traffic Landscape

Overview:

Search Engine Optimization

Paid Inclusion

Search Engine Marketing (Paid Search)

‘Social Marketing’

Everything drives SearchSearch Engines are catching demand and interest created

through many different media.

Brand

Print

OfflineCampaigns

SEARCH

SEARCH

SEARCHSEARCH

SEARCH

Reputation

SEARCH

BREAKING NEWS

SE

AR

CH

Alternative Newsweeklies

SE

AR

CH

Email Newsletters

Online PR

SEARCH

OnlineAdvertising

How to maximize Search: - PUSH the brand on non branded queries - PULL qualified users through Branded queries

Ultimately, the cheapest and best keywords are Branded Keywords.

Non Branded queries start the funnel. Measuring Latency between awareness and conversion is key to success.

Media that influences US Consumers

The Size of the Universe

Total US Internet Audience:178 Million Unique Users

Google: 111 Million Unique Users (62% reach)

Yahoo!: 75 Million(42% reach)

MSN: 52 million Unique Users(29% reach)

Source: comScore Key Measures. June 2007 stats

Google Dominates US Search

With 8 Billion US Searches Per Month:Identify opportunities through variance in your traffic

Anatomy of Search Engines

70%

30%

Paid Search

Organic Search

Source: 2006 iProspect / Jupiter Research Study

Yahoo!

60%

40%

Yahoo! Organic Listings

&

Yahoo! Paid Inclusion Listings

Paid Search

Source: 2006 iProspect / Jupiter Research Study

Industry Stats: Search Pages

90% of search engine users do not go past the 3rd page.

Source: 2006 iProspect / Jupiter Research Study

Industry Stats: Keyword Usage

Source: 2006 iProspect / Jupiter Research Study

Industry Stats: SE Position = Brand

Source: 2006 iProspect / Jupiter Research Study

Search Engine Optimization

• Definition: The marketing technique of preparing a website to enhance its chances of being ranked in the top results of search engines once a relevant search is undertaken

• Important Considerations– Pages must be indexed in the natural search index

– The search engine database must be able to identify content associated with the page

– Search engine algorithms decide relevancy

Search Engines are looking to present the most relevant search engine results based on the query.

Important Variables for SEO

External Links External Links External Links

DMOZ Listings KWs in URL Domain Links

Yahoo! Directory Listings

Yahoo! Directory Listings

KWs in URL

KWs in URLKW Density in Title Tags

KW Density in Title Tags

KW Density in Title Tags

Page KW Density Page KW Density

Page KW DensityKW Occurrence in Body Copy

KW Density in Links

KW Density in Links

Before Search Engine Algorithms rank the relevance of the website, the website must be properly crawled and viewed by the engines.

Key Considerations for Natural Search Optimization

1

2

34

Website Architecture• Control Footprint in Search Engine Index

Your Community • Hubs & Authorities• Quantity of Links• Quality of Links

Audience• Query Behavior• Opportunity

Content• Page Themes• Value to Users

Analytics&

Reporting

Content Optimization & ResponsibilitiesLooking at a holistic point of view, there are four primary considerations that are drivers of high visibility

on the natural search engine results pages (SERPs).

Keywords: Understand the keywords/phrases used (searched for) by your primary audience and develop strong themes within your site. The Search Engine essentially constitutes a new ‘audience’ (and a very transparent one) and it should be the copy writer’s responsibility to understand the language of this audience and craft articles to correspond with those expressed interests. The (online) copy writer then recommends a linking strategy and site architecture to the online editor.

Technical Architecture of the Website: (online) editorCrawlability / Indexing: All pages in the website should allow crawlers to find and index every page

and word in the website. Internal Linking: Usage of navigation bars, footers and sitemaps to emphasize and reiterate the

weight each page pulls.

Content of each page: - online copy editorTitle, Meta Descriptions, Headers, keyword density of each pageUniqueness of content within the scope of the website. One should limit the redundancy of keyword

theme to limit the competition to rank of that keyword from pages internally.

External Link Popularity – someone needs to ensure timely pick-up by engines and notification of linkable item to interested blogs/sites.The quality of links from external domains. Quality is determined by:

The relevancy of the origination URLThe link in static HTMLTheme keyword represented in the link from the external URL.

Search Engine Priorities

Currently, the top priority variables on-the-page for the three major search engine algorithms is the following:

• Incoming Link Quality (Static link with keyword in the Anchor text)

• Keywords in URL (target Keyword separated using hyphens) Research shows that the URL naming structure of a website is one of the top factors in determining rankings; therefore, URLs should always be as clean, concise, and informative as possible.

• Keyword Density in Page Title – Limit 10 words. Insert Primary Keyword Phrase as the starting keyword.

• Page Keyword Density – About 1 primary keyword phrase occurrence every 30 to 40 words.

Other Areas To Insert Keywords/PhrasesMeta Description – appeal to readers as this may appear on the SERPsPage Header – important visual aid for users to identify the subject of the content.Image ALT tags – tag the theme of the image so the engine can understand what is in the image.

Don’t Go Keyword CrazyDon’t worry too much about:• Inserting alternative keywords or synonyms on the same page. Find

the one most relevant keyword phrase theme for what you’re writing about and stick to it. You can always write about other keywords on a different page.

Remember to:• Reference an internal page through a link on the first occurrence of its

relevant keyword phrase. • How Important Are Title And Meta Descriptions?• Forty-two percent (42%) of searchers surveyed use the description to

determine if an organic search result is relevant.• Forty-one percent (41%) of searchers rely on the title to determine

relevancy of the results. • Fifty-nine percent (59%) of searchers use the title as the primary basis

for determining that an organic result is not relevant.

Website Taxonomy

Adult Store

Adult Movie Store Adult Toy Store Adult Apparel Store Gay Adult Store

Adult Movie VOD Store

Adult MovieDivX Store

Adult Movie DVD Store

Adult DildoToy Store

Adult Toy Vibrator Store

Adult Fetish Toy Store

Repeat the same as the straight

mall, but use Gay

Adult LeatherApparel Store

Women’s Vivid Apparel Store

Men’s Vivid Apparel

Adult VOD New Releases Store

Adult All GirlVOD Store

Adult Assorted Dildos Store

Adult CyberskinDildo Store

Adult Store

Adult Movie Store Adult Toy Store Adult Apparel Store Gay Adult Store

Adult Movie VOD Store

Adult MovieDivX Store

Adult Movie DVD Store

Adult DildoToy Store

Adult Toy Vibrator Store

Adult Fetish Toy Store

Repeat the same as the straight

mall, but use Gay

Adult LeatherApparel Store

Women’s Vivid Apparel Store

Men’s Vivid Apparel

Adult VOD New Releases Store

Adult All GirlVOD Store

Adult Assorted Dildos Store

Adult CyberskinDildo Store

Communicate a clear website taxonomy to the Search Engines and optimize each page to the appropriate Keyword Theme.

PAGE: KW Theme

Home: SF Bay Guardian: Home Page (lacks strong nav theme, keyword theme. Change to: San Francisco Bay Guardian: San Francisco Politics, Music, Entertainment, Where to Stay, Personals)

Main Music: SFBG: list category: Music (no strong keyword theme, main nav changes. Include specific keywords, like music listings, who’s playing in San Francisco

Minimize Duplication of KW themes.

Reference the ONE Authoritative page

within the context of other pages. Tactical Applications:

- Usage of Breadcrumbs

- Navigation Bars

- Internal Linking within the Body

Technical Considerations for SEO

Mitigate Duplicate Content– Site URLs with Session IDs can be indexed– Ref IDs can be indexed– Vanity Domains with Duplicate content being

indexed– Reposting Duplicate content can confuse

authority

So Who Does The Work?

• Understand ‘The Audience’ – The (online) Copy Editor

– Analyze keywords, phrases and themes people are searching on.

– Feed that information and implications back to editorial.

– Extend the Content to Social Networks

• Design Site Around Top Level Themes Or Keywords You Want To Own– (online) Editor/Publisher. In the ME and MINE world of the internet, how

does your content entice your audience to engage? Are you engaged? As a company? The site architecture and keyword themes inform internal site linking strategy – first mention of keywords link to theme landing page: War in Iraq, President Bush, Public Power/PG&E, Mayor’s Name, etc.

See What They SeeFor google, seehttps://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/siteoverview/ check webmaster tools and view google’s cache of your site to see how the

engine views your site (are session IDs being cashed, ref codes being cached, creating confusion for the engine)

And for Yahoo!

https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/

Key word density analysis tool and general competitor analysis overviewA good example is http://www.webconfs.com/keyword-density-checker.php

 as it provides not only a list, but also a visual representation of keyword density on any given url.http://keyworddiscovery.com/tour-density.html - keyword density tool and more

http://www.searchenginepromotionhelp.com/m/keywords/processor.php iBusiness Promoter (IBP) keyword density analyzer and keyword popularity tools

http://www.wordtracker.com – track how often a word is searched

Top 23 Keyword Density for SFBG.COMKeyword  Count   Density

 ; 284 .27%  world 30 .46% 

Pick 71 .07%  feb 30 .46%

Music 60 .91%  election 30 .46%

Endorsements 50 .76%  weekly 30 .46%

Bay 50 .76%   blogs 30 .46%

Guide 50 .76%  issues 30 .46%

Art 50 .76%  sex 30 .46%

Politics 40 .61% 

San 40 .61% 

Noise 40. 61% 

Film 40 .61% 

Local 30 .46% 

Pixel 30 .46% 

Vision 30 .46% 

Top 30 .46% 

Oil 30.46%     

keyword ranking, site comparisons across keywords, demographics, etc.• http://searchanalytics.compete.com – find out who is winning

mindshare of a keyword/phrase• http://www.quantcast.com/index.jsp - demographics, site comparisons• http://www.statsaholic.com/ - more of the same

• Compare synonyms using various tools available publicly. • To see how popular a phrase is, check out some of these resources:

– www.google.com/trends (Compare up to 5 different keywords to get how many searches occur in Google)

– https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal– http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Test Keywords And Themes

• Compare synonyms using various tools available publicly. • To see how popular a phrase is, check out some of these

resources:– www.google.com/trends (Compare up to 5 different

keywords to get how many searches occur in Google)– https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal– http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/

suggestion/

– general internet stats– http://www.comscore.com/

Track Trends In Search

• http://www.Searchengineland.com

• http://www.Seochat.com

• http://www.Seomoz.com

• http://www.searchenginejournal.com/

• http://www.Blackhatseo.com

• http://www.Searchenginewatch.com

• http://www.compete.com

• http://www.searchenginepromotionhelp.com

Paid Inclusion (Yahoo! Search Submit)

• Definition: Advertising program where inclusion into Yahoo!’s natural search engine database at a fixed cost per click based on categories where the advertiser belongs.

• Important Considerations:– Reaching the audience who is looking at Yahoo! Natural Search Engine

Results

– Web page content is customized by the advertiser.• Title, Description, Body

– Rankings are governed by Yahoo! Natural Search Engine Algorithm

Paid Inclusion is an alternative to SEO just for Yahoo! with a fixed cost per click

Paid Search Engine Marketing

• Definition: Advertising platform where advertisers pay based on clicks to the website.

• Important Considerations:– Inclusion into the advertising is based on editorial compliance of engines

– Bids are commonly based on performance of the ad, the quality of the landing page, and the bid amount.

• Yahoo! Position = CTR x Bid• Google Position = Quality Score x Bid• ASK Position = CTR x Bid

– Costs, exposure and efficiency can be controlled

Successful paid search campaigns qualify users and leverage of Long Tail of Search.

You must understand the Long Term Value of users won through SEM.

Paid Search 101: The 4 Levers

Creative LandingPages

BiddingKeywords

Find Qualify Convert Efficiently

The Complexity of Paid Search

On 1 paid keyword =

40 bid positions

24 hours in a day

365 days in a year (seasonality)

350,400 Different Bidding Scenarios in a year

Paid Search Agency Constellation

Worthwhile mentions:

• Efficient Frontier

• Optatio Paid Search

• Quigo

Shift In Attention & Authority

The Social Traffic Market• facebook gets nearly as many page views as google.

• Myspace gets more page views than google.

• Youtube gets nearly 2 times the page views of google.

• Traffic to social media sites is nearly doubling each month.

• 64 % of ALL online users visit myspace, 29% facebook, 35% youtube, 27% visit wikipedia

• Facebook adding nearly 1M visitors every week. – ½ older than 35– 100k older than 64

• 63% of all online users in Europe visit bebo.

• 49% of all online users in Latin America and 43% in asia visit orkut.

» Stats by Comscore.com

google20%

facebook18%

myspace24%

youtube38%

So Many Friends To Make, So Little Time

• Use Video & Slideshows

– Low production costs

– Automated distribution tools

• Trafficgeyser

• Use Feedburner to Extend Content

• Use Bloggsorganizer to Mass Publish

• Automate Friends Generation

– http://webviralmarketing.com/

– http://www.youtube.com/mrbuzzfactor

• Stay on top of Social Marketing trends

– http://womma.org/blog/

– http://www.youtubemarketing.net

– http://www.searchenginevoodoo.com

Cross-Over Between Major Social Sites

Pay Attention To Facebook: open API gaining momentum fast

General Overview of the Social Marketsocial media/networking

• myspace• facebook• ning• bebo• okrut• linkedin

content sharing sites

•wikipedia gather•youtube propeller•twitter metacafe•sqidoo last.fm•scribd hubpages•flickr photobucket

social bookmarking

•digg•technorati•del.icio.us•reddit•stumbleupon•Feedburner

They All Feed The…

Blogging Community

Plug Content Into Social Network

• Lists act as great RSS and Bookmarking content

• Develop Slideshows on key theme issues and post

• ‘Best of the Web’ lists

• Develop microsites for key issues that point to you and others

• ‘are you a friend of the paper?’

Diversify Reach

Enlightened Hedonism

• Put the User at the center, not the content or the company.• Associate content and interests with the user. It’s about ME

and MINE.• The site, your brand, and the content serve as a platform to

define and enhance their sense of place and their role in their local ‘tribe’ – your city. Your site amplifies their personality and interests.

• Their behavior and interests extend out to their network, pulling interested parties to your site.

• Paper’s huge content base supporting user chatter which entices inbound links and feeds SEO. The cycle repeats.

• It is no longer about your site traffic, but rather it is about your ability to mobilize, generate and facilitate action.

• Action vs. impression-based advertising.

Do You Know

what’s going on right now in New York?

and who’s making it happen?

find out username

password

Why You Can’t Rely On Content Alone

Thank You

Questions & Discussion