A few years ago search marketers started approaching us, frustrated by the fact that their campaigns were not working. Whether they were in search agencies or within client companies, they were doing some great work themselves, but it simply wasn't translating into business results. We dug deeper and started to audit search marketing projects to look at the elements and the breaking points. And that's how we built our 10 Steps to Successful Search Marketing.
The grounding is simply good classic marketing practice, but what's key is to track the search project long before the campaign begins and long after the customer clicks onto the client's site. By seeing search as a more extensive project you can spot weaknesses in the model and barriers to getting the real success it needs. The big conclusion we drew? This is a chain, and a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If one element has a significant weakness then the chain breaks. The simplest way to illustrate this is to remember that the most brilliant keyphrases, compelling advertising copy and smart bidding strategies will all amount to nothing if the landing page doesn't convert. But a weakness at any point will knock out the effectiveness of the campaign.
Download the flow chart and think again about search engine marketing. If you review your last campaign, were there any steps that could have been stronger?
Danny Meadows-Klue, Tutor
