Do your homework before joining search

A defined SEO strategy is fast becoming recognised as a core element of the marketing mix (MWlinks.co.uk/JoinTheSearch) but, in attempting to demonstrate a link between search and offline advertising, there are key factors to appreciate before embarking on a campaign.

For example, brand owners can’t control SERPs (search engine results pages) and the keywords you incorporate into an offline campaign may also be ones used by competitors as well as pranksters deliberately optimising themselves to appear in the results. One way of combating this is to incorporate PPC (pay-per-click) search terms, which yield better quality searches from people who are intrigued and want to find out more. In addition, this approach is fairly cost-effective due to a lack of competition.

Choosing a set of search terms that are unique allows you to command greater dominance over the SERPs, which can then be incorporated into research and planning for future advertising campaigns. Selecting more generic terms will not only lose your message among the profusion of other search results, but be rendered useless when seeking to link data strategy to areas of offline promotional planning.

Alex Wares, Director, Mediarun