Search Engine Marketing

Lately, it seems like decent size database now calls itself a specialized vertical search engine. There’s some clever marketing logic in positioning itself as such given that good search results are a cost-effective form of inquiries, leads or orders when a search-based marketing program is done well. And taking advantage of those vertical search engines will allow B-to-B catalogers to leap ahead of the competition. Consider the fact that search is the new cognitive framework for buyers of industrial, technical and business products and accordingly, industrial marketers must radically shift their marketing mixes to online channels if they haven’t done so already. Those marketers involved

Often you’ll find your Web site comes up No. 1 for a lot of important keywords. It’s tempting to consider relying just on the organic traffic for these keywords rather than using SEM. But doing both will increase the real estate your brand takes on the page. Test using both. —Kevin Lee, founder and executive chairman, search engine marketing firm Didit.com

9 ways to get your site search-ready for the holidays. The clock is ticking. Holiday shopping season is just around the corner. More customers will turn to your Web site than ever before. That means it’s time to tune it up for maximum search engine visibility. Here are nine traffic-building tips that’ll make your site sing “Happy Holidays” long after the season is done. 1. Link Building Links are the currency of search engines. Improving the quantity and quality of your inbound links will pay dividends. Add a handful of links from high-PageRank, relevant sites and you’ll see an impact within weeks. (PageRank

Much has changed in catalog retailing over the past five years. But as Michelle Farabaugh, a partner with catalog consultancy LENSER, sees it, there’ll be more change over the next five years than the past 30. She offered points and noted some key issues catalogers should be on the lookout for during a session at last week’s New England Mail Order Association conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): “Because search is so important,” she said, “it’s critical once we get customers to the site that they can acutally find what they’re looking for and we can find what they need and

You’ve often heard that the best way to find out what your customers want is to ask them, but once you’ve set up a focus group or decided to conduct a customer survey, what’s the best way to ask? Customer research needs to explore both emotional and rational motivations behind purchase and usage, according to a recent whitepaper from brand consultancy Hiebing. Following are a few tips on how to quiz consumers on their buying habits: * Ask consumers about real-life situations. Detailed surveys that include questions such as “When was the last time you purchased our brand?” or “Why did you purchase our

Over the years, I’ve made plenty of catalog purchases, but rarely simply because I was a catalog business editor. I only turned to catalogs when I needed something unusual or came across a killer sale. Otherwise, I bought my mainstream goods off the rack. Today, that’s changed. And the two vehicles that have impacted me the most have been the coming of age of e-mail and the remarkable ease of search engines. I find e-mail’s impact on me surprising, because less than five years ago, I’d delete any personal e-mail from just about any address I didn’t recognize. But now, I find myself looking

If attendance at affiliate marketing sessions at industry conferences is any indication, many catalogers and online merchants struggle with how to effectively manage and grow their affiliate programs. In a Q&A with Catalog Success associate editor Matthew Griffin, Kelli Beougher, vice president of distribution services at Linkshare, a New York-based affiliate network, offers some tactics that can enhance your affiliate program, setting it apart from the the competition. Catalog Success: Say a cataloger has an affiliate marketing program; the merchant manages its affiliates well and communicates on a regular basis. What are some next-level steps to improve on an existing affiliate program? Kelli Beougher: Beyond the

On the Web, data rules. The trick is to not allow it to rule you. To do that particularly when you’re trying to figure out just what customers, prospects and surfers do when they’re clicking around your site, the key is to measure the post-click value. So said John Marshall, chief executive officer of ClickTracks, a Web analytics software provider, during a session at last week’s DM Days New York conference. He offered several tips on Web analytics and tracking: * Determine the minimum amount of data you need for statistical relevance. He suggested that with fewer than 500 visitors, “you can’t get the type of

In a session during the DM Days New York Conference held last week, Amanda Watlington, chief executive officer of consulting firm Searching For Profit, offered up five tips on ways marketers can best position themselves in search engines: 1. “County fair principle: You must be present to win.” If your site isn’t visible to search engines, they can’t and won’t list it, she pointed out. “My client had a nice large site,” she said, “but navigation was invisible to search engines.” She advised the client to monitor how much time its site was active and live by checking logs and asking hosts when the site

Like any successful marketing initiative, a pay-per-click (PPC) search marketing campaign requires careful planning and regular maintenance. But should you perform campaign maintenance in house or outsource it? Oneupweb, a natural and paid search marketing firm, outlines the following triggers to help catalogers know when it may be time to seek outside help for their PPC campaigns in its recent whitepaper,”Fresh Google and Yahoo! Paid Search Strategies for C-Level Execs.” 1. Your current search budget runs out before the month ends. There are a few areas to look at if you’re having this problem. You could be the victim of click fraud, or your