Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Searches are Questions

Ok ... As I am starting to journey on this whole click experiance I have learned that internet searches are really questions. 

Website operators are actually the ones with a wearhouse of answers, the key is to understand the questions that are being asked. I have seen so many meta-tags answer questions that no one is asking I dont know what to think.  At best, the websites are irrelevant and annoying. At worst, they drive clients away faster than a dead skunk in a dumpster. I may not remember what I was looking for but I remember when I have to sort through the crap I wasn't. After seeing a company enough I start to assume that they list everything and offer nothing, they seem a little shady. They hurt their brand.  

As a marketer, my goal is to first communicate well and second to communicate creatively. This applies to the internet too, TV ads that miss the message are a waste of money. Internet meta-tags that yeild results for things that the searchers arent looking for are also a waste of money. The key is to look at your data to determine what are you getting hits on and where good is traffic generated. Then try to encricle that spending marketing dollars selectively.

What drives this post?

I know a company that spends almost over $20,000 per month on search advertising that generates little traffic, and very small leads. Most of the traffic comming in is comming from direct searches, !!!they enter our company name in Google!!!  The logic simply isn't there. I still need to look over that stats and analytics but flyover reasearch has already indicated I wont be supprised. If I am you will see a blaring retraction. 

Hopefully I can communicate in a presentation, that is captivating and convincing, better ways to allocate their communication dollars.