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Author: Paula Keller French

5 Questions Your Medical Practice Should Ask Before Hiring a Paid Search Firm

When it comes to choosing a marketing firm for your paid search campaign, it’s important to do your homework—especially if you’re in the medical industry. According to Pew Research Center, 8 in 10 online health inquiries start with a search engine, and 72 percent of internet users said they looked online for health-related information. Beyond patients frantically Googling their symptoms, they’re also searching for medical care providers. The right ad agency will make sure you show up on page one of the search results.

But on top of a highly competitive and saturated market, medical practices also face added challenges to adhere to strict medical guidelines and discuss sensitive and highly personal topics appropriately. All said, a paid search campaign can do wonders to both improve your brand awareness and get new patients in your door. Here are five questions you should ask your prospective paid search agency before signing a contract.

1. What Experience Do You Have Working With Clients in the Medical Industry?

Your ad agency shouldn’t just know costs per click and search engine optimization, they should also know how to speak your language. More than that, they should know how to speak your language to your prospective patients. Search Influence has been helping clients in the medical industry stand out and rank in search results since 2007. In that time, we’ve worked with medical clients in 30+ cities across 18 states. Our experience ranges from plastic surgeons and dermatology clinics to hospitals, counseling services, and physical therapists. We use a holistic approach for every campaign to create brand recognition, improve ranking, and—most importantly—deliver qualified leads.

Our years of experience have helped us build a database of technical and demographic knowledge in order to strategically reach your desired patients where they’re at. In fact, we have helped our clients stay on the frontline of innovation by optimizing their sites for procedures as soon as they are approved and available to the public. For example, when the FDA approved gummy bear implants in 2013, we already had content written for our clients and were ready to run promotions to highlight this highly desirable option at the time.

We also understand the meticulous detail required to accurately reflect the standards and restrictions of medical societies, HIPAA, and the platforms where we promote your content. We know how to accurately post images in accordance with both American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) promotional guidelines or how to use language that aligns with Google’s expectations for websites in the medical industry—an issue that can even cause Google to suspend your site.

If you’re curious about the current state of your website or worried about a site suspension, you can contact us to help you get on the right track.

In addition to meeting all of the medical industry standards, it’s also important that you position your practice as a thought leader. Our deep knowledge of the subject matter ensures that your content is optimized and technically accurate. More than just knowing that gynecomastia is the condition and breast reduction surgery is the procedure, we also understand the discreet and laser-precise writing required to appeal to men who are searching for this sensitive topic. As your PPC agency, we will deliver results because we start with strategy, and we understand your business.

2. What Is My Cost Per Lead?

Your cost per lead will depend on market factors such as seasonality, the size of your city, and the number of advertisers in your area. However, at Search Influence, our typical target for plastic surgeons is $50-$60 per lead. For us, we care most about delivering you qualified leads that actually become patients.

So how do we actually calculate your cost per lead (CPL)? Let’s say, as an example, that you offer a procedure for $5,000, and you’re willing to pay 10 percent (or $500) in order to get a lead for that procedure. However, you know that not every lead that contacts you is going to become a patient. Let’s say that 1 out of every 10 leads who contact you about the procedure will actually become a patient. That’s a 10 percent conversion rate, which results in a CPL of $50.

Of course, if your conversion rate is higher or if your cost for acquisition is higher or lower than the example, we can adjust accordingly. The table below outlines seasonal averages for some of our plastic surgery clients to show how we can achieve results for your practice.

As a medical practitioner, your bottom line all comes down to how many patients are walking through your door (and how much you paid to get them there). For you, a worthwhile investment in paid search results in qualified leads that can translate into actual patients. We get that. That’s why we have built-in systems to seamlessly track your leads, and a post-launch schedule to fine-tune your campaign as quickly as possible. Not only will you have clear reporting, but you can also use our lead tracking system to create an organized database of qualified leads, allowing your team to close leads faster.

3. How Do You Measure Return on Investment?

PPC is not a “set it and forget it” machine. Successful online ad campaigns should run on a continual loop. You have to look back to determine what’s working and adjust in real-time to build on successes. Our reporting can help you pinpoint the average cost per patient so you know your exact return on investment. You’ll know if your leads prefer to call or fill out a contact form, and you’ll gain valuable insights like location demographics.

Your PPC agency should also collect continual feedback from you about the quality of your leads in order to apply that information directly to your campaign and avoid any wasted ad spend. With endless customization opportunities—not a prix fixe package—your marketing firm should have a system in place to make things easy, but also be ready to break the rules to fit your budget and make your campaign a success for you.

4. What Procedures Are You Promoting and What Drives the Most Leads?

Remember that thing about endless customization? Yeah, that applies here, too. Your ad agency should have the know-how to build a holistic strategy that both grows your brand and promotes your most important services.

Brand building and search engine optimization are definitely comparable to the age-old chicken and the egg situation. You have to have some brand recognition if you want to rank high on search engines, and once you rank, you’ll get greater brand recognition. So what does that mean for you? Well, if you don’t rank yet, you’ll need to do more than simply optimize your content and build your link profile. You’ll have to create a dynamic strategy to build the overall awareness of your brand. After all, in the age of the internet, who says you can’t have all your eggs in your basket and eat some chicken, too?

Your online marketing agency can help you do just that. That’s why at Search Influence we start with a comprehensive kickoff meeting to understand the details of your business. Why? It’s simple. Formulating the right strategy first will save you money and get you the right leads.

Once we understand your business goals, we can target the right procedures and help you establish your brand around specialties and services that matter to you. We can also help you identify missed opportunities. For example, while aesthetic services aren’t the highest revenue driving procedures, they’re a great way for plastic surgery practices to continue generating revenue even when the doctor is booked with another client. Or, perhaps you specialize in rhinoplasty and want to be established as the leader in your market for that procedure. We can center your campaign on your qualification as a rhinoplasty surgeon to build your brand as the preferred specialist. It all depends on your needs, and your ad agency should do the setup work to understand those needs from day one.

5. On What Page Do Leads Land During a Campaign?

You can have beautifully written ads, but without the right landing page, your leads are highly unlikely to convert into patients. Especially when it comes to AdWords, you have to optimize for both your human readers and Google’s Quality Score. Google can spot landing pages that don’t align with the search term in the ad and actually make you pay more as result. For example, if someone searches for liposuction, clicks on your ad all about liposuction, then lands on a general page about body contouring services, then you’re missing the mark on user experience and Google’s best practices.

Without optimized content and a dedicated landing page, your chances of converting are slim.

A recent report from Unbounce placed the average conversion rate in the healthcare industry at only 2.9 percent. And if you’re using your homepage as your landing page, then you’re totally missing out. Your ad agency can create dynamic landing page content that makes it easy for prospective patients to take an action, with custom forms and click to call buttons that prove your return on investment. In fact, the same Unbounce report shows that healthcare businesses in the 90th percentile achieve conversion rates at 9.3 percent, and the right content and strategy can help get you there.

Landing pages are just one key element in a successful ad campaign. At Search Influence, we care about delivering a holistic advertising strategy focused on results. Contact our team to see how we can help optimize your medical practice’s online presence.

August 25, 2017
Three Top Picks for The Big Idea at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (March 11-18, 2016) is fast approaching, and we’re getting excited for the festivities. It’s a full week packed with events dedicated to celebrating, promoting, and helping New Orleans entrepreneurs from various industries from food to education.

Search Influence is proud to be participating, with our co-founders (entrepreneurs themselves) Will and Angie Scott, serving as a speaker and a panel judge, respectively.

Perhaps our favorite event of the week is the final event of NOEW: The Big Idea.

The Big Idea puts 10 entrepreneurs’ ideas in front of a large crowd and allows the crowd to vote for their favorite idea by purchasing a $25 voting chip they will give to the business of their choice.

Voting will take place now through March 7 on NOLA.com to select the top 10.

My Top Three Picks:

1. Bayou Baby Bites

Because your baby needs fresh food and you don’t have time to make it yourself!

What mom wouldn’t want to start their baby’s eating habits off right with locally sourced baby purees, created and handmade by a classically trained chef and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner who also happens to be mother to a 10-month-old? Bayou Baby Bites offers home-delivered purees of fresh fruits and veggies that your baby will love—even YOU would like this baby food!

Thanks so much for participating in our weekend giveaway! Congrats to the winners- you’ll get a personal msg from me ???

A photo posted by Celeste Landry Baer (@bayoubabybites) on Jan 17, 2016 at 7:37pm PST

2. Lionheart Prints

Because everyone loves a handwritten note.

Lionheart Prints makes the list because paper and the art of hand lettering is making a comeback. I love giving and receiving a handwritten note, whether that be a birthday card, thank you note, or a sweet note just because. Lionheart Prints makes that even more fun with their great designs and non-conventional sayings.

✨DID YOU KNOW?✨ This (and many other cards in our collection) is made from vintage foils used in old #MardiGras invitations? This fuchsia-rainbow foil swoons me every time. Stock up on Valentine’s now, before your faves sell out! ? #lionheartprints link in profile A photo posted by Liz Maute Cooke (@lionheartprints) on Feb 4, 2016 at 9:16am PST

3. Thinkerella

Because science IS cool.

In conjunction with teachers, Thinkerella creates after school programs teaching STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) in a fun environment to young children. I love it because it benefits both the students and the teachers by providing supplemental income to their salaries.

A thinkerParty is a great way for kids to have fun while learning. Visit mythinkerella.com to learn more and book yours. #nola #neworleans #kids #steam #stem #education

A photo posted by Thinkerella (@mythinkerella) on Feb 12, 2016 at 2:08pm PST

Vote for your favorite (or one of mine) today, and you can vote every day through March 7!

Heading to NOEW? Look for Will and Angie at the following events!

Local + Social: Like Peanut Butter and Chocolate
Tuesday, March 15, 9:00 am @ The Chicory
Will Scott will share insights on how you can make social + local online marketing work for your business.

SEO Is Dead, Again. Long Live Online Marketing!
Thursday, March 17, 10:00 am @ The Chicory
Will will present again, this time on how and why it’s not too late to get on board with online marketing.

Cox Business / Inc. “Get Started” Pitch Competition
Wednesday, March 16, 7:00pm @ The Chicory
Angie Scott will be joining a panel of judges to give feedback to entrepreneurs in a live Shark-Tank style pitch format.

We hope to see you at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2016!

March 1, 2016
Want to Ace the Interview? Be Ready to Talk About These 6 Things

I have been screening and interviewing candidates at Search Influence for over 5 years. I’ve seen a lot of resumes, and I’ve met a lot of great, interesting people. One of the things I love about our search for rockstar team members is that we hold group interviews for many of our positions, which allows us to meet so many more potential Influencers face-to-face. We understand that there is only so much a resume can express, and we believe that each candidate has a greater story to tell than a resume and cover letter can. (Yes, you should still leverage the many available resources online to help increase your chances of an interview invite by creating a resume that shows off your best qualities.)

If you ask a hiring manager in any company what they want to see or hear from a job candidate, your answers will greatly vary: 1- vs 2-page resume? Objective or no objective? Should I bring a copy of my resume? Should I bring notes? That will forever be the case, so do your best to read your interviewees and, ultimately, to be yourself and show off your best qualities!

You should be prepared to talk about these six things:

1. Why are you awesome?

First, remember what an interview is all about. You are there to talk yourself up and show off your skills and experience. There is, of course, a delicate balance with being overly confident, but it’s critical to not be afraid to brag on yourself a little bit.

2. What made you stand out in prior roles?

Many of our high-performing Influencers are such because they are driven to always improve themselves, improve results for clients, and be generally accepting of new and different responsibilities. If you were “Employee of the Month” at your summer internship or named “Top Campaign” in your capstone advertising class, share with us how you earned that recognition. It’s not about the award but the qualities that you displayed or the work you produced that led to it.

3. Do you have relevant experience?

This is where interview prep helps. Study the job description and make notes on what job duties relate to the work experience you have. In the interview, draw the connection for the interviewer on what you have done in prior roles and how that relates to what you’ll be doing in your day to day.

4. Are you customer focused?

No matter what department, we are all here to support our customers and ensure we meet and exceed their marketing goals. Displaying an understanding of customers’ needs is critical. This is true whether you are interviewing for an Account Management position, where you’ll be interfacing directly with customers; in production, where you will be creating great work for customers; in web development, where you will be improving our customers’ sites; or in programming, where you’ll be making applications that help us better support our customers.

5. Why you are right for a career at Search Influence?

Demonstrate that you have the skills to do both the job you are applying for today and any future positions you may be qualified to move into after you are hired. Many of our Influencers begin their time with us in an entry-level position and grow into a position with more responsibility as they show ownership and capabilities to handle more work independently. A genuine interest in and enthusiasm for the work are the keys to long-term happiness in any job.

6. What questions do you have for us?

We don’t ask, “Do you have any questions?” Instead, we ask, “What questions do you have for us?” Having questions prepared is pretty standard interviewing advice, but, I am here to tell you it’s as important as “they” all say—not only for the company, but for you! You should have a good idea of what the job is and what you will be doing when you leave the second interview. You wouldn’t enter a long-term relationship without finding out a little bit about what you are signing up for, right?

For more keys to what makes our Influencers so successful, dive into our seven core values, CHARGED, or read this blog post that Hannah Selser, Account Associate, wrote on why she loves her job at Search Influence.

February 18, 2016
We Went to AdWords Bootcamp so You Don’t Have to: 5 Tips from the Experts
I had the pleasure of living and breathing AdWords for two full days on its home field—at Google Tech Corners in Sunnyvale, California.

We had some very focused discussions that dove into some of the newer features and the best practices for long-standing features. I share some of my key takeaways below!

1. Be present for your customers’ “micro-moments.”

These “micro-moments” are the key critical points in time in which your customers are searching for your products and services. You must be present when your customers’ micro-moments occur. You may want to increase your bids at certain times of day when more searches for your type of business are being done.

Ex: restaurant upping bids leading up to and during mealtime.

If your customer’s micro-moments aren’t as obvious as that of a restaurant, you can identify those high times by analyzing the following:
- Google AdWords: impression & click reports by time of day
- Google Analytics: visits by time of day
2. We can trust cross-device conversions.

If you work in AdWords, you’ve likely seen the column “Estimated Conversions.” Google has recently changed the name of this column from “Estimated” to “Cross-Device Conversions”

Only conversions with a 95% certainty will be included in this number.

Why do you care?

Search sessions are segmented for the same purchase throughout the day and across devices. Gone are the days when a user sits at their desktop at nighttime and researches everything they want to know within 30 minutes.

For example: instead, we’re talking two minutes at 7 a.m., five minutes at 9 a.m., ten minutes at noon, and maybe five minutes again at 6 p.m. to purchase.

3. You better not ignore cross-device conversions.

Why? 65% of transactions start on mobile.

I’ll be making it a priority to look at cross-device conversions in addition to the traditional conversion metrics (which only include users who search and convert on the same device). If you are looking at traditional conversions only, you are missing out.

In order to see this metric, you must have one or more conversions set up in AdWords. Then, Google will do the rest.

4. Leverage in-market segments and affinity segments.

In both AdWords display targeting and Google Analytics, you can find “In-Market Segments” and “Affinity Segments.” Analytics allows you to see this info about your existing site visitors, and AdWords allows you to target potential customers using these two targeting options.

This isn’t new knowledge, but I was given a fantastic example of what distinguishes the two, and I thought it was worth sharing:

Affinity Segments:

Users in this group have demonstrated (via the sites & pages they visit) what their lifestyle interests are.

Example: A user in an affinity segment for “automobiles” would read car blogs and articles about future car releases, and they would also watch YouTube videos about cars.

In-Market Segments:

Users in this group are actually in the market for a given category of product or service.

Example: A user in an in-market segment for “automobiles” would be looking at Kelly Blue Book, local dealership sites, Edmunds, TrueCar, etc.

5. Allow new features to make your life easier.

Last but not least, what I finally realized is that Google is constantly adding new features to AdWords to help us better spend our money. Given advertising is very much Google’s main source of revenue, this only makes sense.

As new features roll out, learn their benefits and capabilities, and adjust your process accordingly.

With consumer behavior changing faster than you can say “micro-moments & cross-device conversions,” there’s never an excuse to say “Well, we’ve always done it this way.”
November 2, 2015
Hang Out with LocalU and SI to Master the Art of Facebook for Business

With the recent changes to Facebook’s business integration, business owners may be puzzled about how to best use the social platform for marketing and customer interaction. These questions and more will be answered this Friday, September 25 at 11 a.m. EST at Local University’s live hangout featuring Search Influence CEO Will Scott. Scott will be joined by some of the biggest names in the local search & social community: Mike Blumenthal, Mike Ramsey, Matt Siltala, and David Mihm.

Local University, aka LocalU, offers full- and half-day crash courses in SEO and the basics of Internet marketing for business owners in various cities throughout the year. Past cities have ranged from Seattle, Philadelphia, Birmingham, and New Orleans. LocalU also hosts Google Hangouts discussing new and updated online marketing best practices.

September’s Hangout is sure to give business owners a deeper look into the importance of Facebook marketing, including how to navigate the updates to Facebook’s business interface.

With over 890 million daily active Facebook users, Facebook is an integral part of building customer relationships and brand awareness.

If you’re looking to learn more about the complex world of Facebook marketing, this hangout is one business owners won’t want to miss. Hang out with LocalU and SI as we discuss all things Facebook marketing: best practices, fan-building strategies, new communication features, and more!

RSVP today to reserve your spot and add it to your Google calendar automatically!

You can even begin submitting your Facebook marketing questions on the event page today as well.

See you Friday!

September 21, 2015
LocalU Is Coming To Dallas!
Local businesses and small business marketers in the Dallas / Fort Worth area are in for a treat! The traveling road show of local online marketing, LocalU, is making its way to Dallas, TX on Thursday, January 23. I had the opportunity to attend LocalU when they came to New Orleans, and we even invited some of our clients to attend.

Audubon Nature Institute’s Lani McWilliams even provided us her key takeaways from the event – there’s so much info presented at these events that she couldn’t even narrow it down to just 10. These top 14 takeaways are just a small sampling of the info that you will learn at LocalU to help market small businesses online.

What You’ll Learn:

LocalU, my friends, is a must see seminar if you want to learn all things related to local business marketing online, including:
- local search engine optimization
- social media
- review management
- paid online advertising
… and, at $89 with the discount code LocalU, it’s a steal-of-a-deal!

Who You’ll See:

At the half day / four hour event, you will hear from the brightest minds in local online marketing including:
- Search Influence’s own CEO, Will Scott
- Mike Blumenthal
- Mary Bowling
- David Mihm
- Mike Ramsey
- Ed Reese
- Aaron Weiche
When and Where:

LocalU Dallas
Thursday, January 23
Pegasus Ballroom/Magnolia Hotel on Commerce St.
Check-in: 8:00 am
Sessions: 8:30 am – 12:30 pm

The faculty hopes to see you there!

Buy tickets here!
January 17, 2014
The Return… of the Website

The website is back, y’all! Yeah yeah, we know they didn’t go anywhere, but for the last few years we have had a large shift to companies investing in their social media presence and building out experiences that their fans can interact with on Facebook.

It made sense 100% of the way at that point in time. That’s where the users were — on Facebook. That’s where MANY users still are. Facebook is still growing; albeit, not quite as rapidly as 2 years ago, but doesn’t it feel like you see at least one new aunt and uncle popping up on Facebook each week?

If it’s growing, then why does it feel like it has become stale?

The challenge here lies in the evolution of Facebook over the more recent years. Facebook started with a wall for each person. That was the only place, besides on your own profile, that you could write anything on Facebook.

If you wanted to see what someone was saying, you had to visit individual Facebook profiles. Since 2006–and then expanded upon by “the new Facebook” in 2010–we have the News Feed. Facebook prioritizes what it thinks is news based on an algorithm of what it thinks you want to see. The problem is, I am pretty bored with checking my Facebook because the algorithm hasn’t quite got it right, and it’s too far gone to ever get corrected.

If you are a business, Facebook admits only 16% of your fans (I refuse to call them “like-ers”), are seeing your posts that you are putting all of that thought and energy into. Now I am not recommending you abandon Facebook — as you shouldn’t — buyers (especially women) are on Facebook, so learn how to improve your EdgeRank with our recent post by Laura Manning.

When Facebook users see only a couple new posts every time they check, they get bored. And bored on Facebook means your user starts to think “hmm… what else can I do on my mac, iPhone, or iPad?

I have found that I have started to wander the internet much more than I did a year ago. Facebook used to consume about 90% of my leisure internet use. Now it consumes about 20%.

What I am starting to find is an appreciation for websites again: a place where you can go and dive deeper into a product or service and really discover your options. Kind of how it was in 2000.

So for those of you who have truly been investing in your websites in the right ways over the past decade, who have recently started, or want to make an investment now, my prediction is that is the right time to do so.

The Key Things You Need to Remember:

1. Make sure they can picture themselves using your product.

Got a spa? Make sure they can see themselves in it. Got a house cleaning business? Make sure they can picture themselves sitting in their clean living room when you are done.

2. Sell it.

Sell what you’ve got to offer. Whether you’ve got, again, a spa or a house cleaning service, buyers want to read all the juicy details of how they’re getting a quality, comprehensive service for their hard earned cash. Explain every aspect of your packages, down to the last detail. Even if you think it’s insignificant, your buyers will appreciate it. Your customers want to know the benefits!!

3. Update your website.

Feature all of your products or services on your website. I want to know what you can do for me. No one wants to ask “do you do stump grinding?”

4. “Give away a little bit of the store.”

Search Influence’s Director of R&D, Amy Arnold, often preaches that each website needs to “give away a little bit of the store.” This means provide info on your site that you would typically share with someone when you have an initial call, consultation, or meeting with them. Yes, yes, it may be more than you want to put out because “what if they don’t call me” but trust me, this is the right thing to do. We have low bounce rates on sites that support this recommendation.

If you provide them the information they are looking for without them having to call you, you are proving to them that you have the knowledge — when you competitors are probably not.

The key learning here is simple — don’t ignore your website — your website should be updated almost as many times as your aunt comments on your recent pics on “the Fbook.” Your customers are searching, and they will likely find you if you continue to keep your website up to date. Of course, doing some off-site promotion of your site never hurt either, but that’s not the point of this post 🙂

Your website is being looked at more than you think. And if you don’t know how many visits you are getting to your site and from where they are coming, for heaven’s sake, install Google Analytics on it!

July 24, 2013
Surprise Oscar Winner: jcpenney’s #YoursTruly Real-Time Marketing Campaign

During this evening’s 85th Academy Awards, jcpenney used real-time marketing to capitalize on our here and now, instant gratification tendencies by launching a strong activation through social media. The goal of the Oscars campaign was to grab new viewers and continue to update their more-than-outdated, less-than-classy image.

To begin, their Twitter page, much like many Oscar attendees, put its best face forward with a glitzy makeover. Before this evening it’s very likely that you, your wife, girlfriend, or 20 something daughter certainly didn’t think of jcpenney as fresh, on trend, glitzy, luxurious, or modern. Some of you may not have even thought it was still a surviving entity.

Well, as long-time believer that shopping at this store was calm, easy, and reliable, I have been having so much fun spreading the news of the come-back-company. About 15 months ago, Ron Johnson, the man who made the Apple Store the addictive adult version of a candy store, stepped in as CEO of jcpenney and vowed to not just turn the company around, but completely transform it.

There has been a slow, but certainly not subtle, roll out of a new store layout including mini brand shops, major tech updates and store renovations, and even a dramatically new “everyday low price” structure that so strongly alienated long-time customers and enraged critics that jcp back-pedaled and brought back the idea of traditional “sales” within months.

Throughout this time, Johnson had a flurry of critics but I always believed and still do believe they will succeed at their task of complete rebranding, taking the “affordable luxury” phenomenon to the next level.

Their most significant splash into the homes of their target demographic? Oscars 2013, when the company our children will know as “jcp” and my mom will always call “Penney’s” launched a feel good real-time cross-channel campaign that spanned from our televisions to our tweets.

In the commercial that aired this evening, jcp writes us a personal love letter stating, “Dear America, you deserve to look better and live better.” Why wouldn’t I want to shop somewhere that tells me I deserve more!?

The Key Components of the Real-Time Marketing Campaign:

In addition to appealing to our egos, let’s discuss the other aspects of the award-winning combination that made this campaign effective.

On-Time and On-Point Tweets

Early in the evening, @jcpenny tweeted a back-stage peek inside their social media command center. Many team members were on hand, watching the show on a larger than life projector, all well-situated for quick tweeting and ad targeting. I’m sure they were ready for quick fire graphics in case they needed to step up to the plate to try to out-Oreo Oreo, who gathered with their marketing team to attempt to re-create the magic of their Super Bowl 2013 social media win.

Demographically Targeted Twitter Ads

I am clearly in jcp’s target demographic. As I launched Twitter, this was the first thing I saw:

Even if I had not been popping open my computer to pen this post on the very campaign that was being targeted to me, I, or those out there with similar demographic profiles as me, would have been pulled into the well composed and thought out campaign.

Shareable Graphics

The rapid fire team rolled out right-on-time, clearly pre-planned graphics that tied in with the “Dear America” theme all while promoting niche, desirable products.

Strong Television Placement

Not only was the “Yours Truly” spot placed early in the broadcast, it had all the makings of a 90 second must-keep-watching commercial: the “who’s ad is this” mystery, a montage of memories, a cinematic soundtrack, clever word play, and continuing bold use of text throughout. All ending with the most important piece of the pie…

Calls-to-Action

If you happened to catch the ad, you saw the strong close driving you to jcp.com/yourstruly, a buy-now optimized mini site that directed you straight to the promoted products. In case you may have landed straight on jcp.com, they had a nice reminder of the evening’s festivities and invited all their new admirers to join them on Twitter.

The Free Prize Inside: $100 Gift Cards Galore

For many of those that jumped in the conversation, @jcpenney quickly returned their tweet with a $100 gift card. 2 big benefits here: 1. getting new customers into the store to see the new changes 2. creating social buzz. If you were given $100, you would tweet it, wouldn’t you?

That’s right. Congratulations, jcp. Although you didn’t have to try too hard here as I’ve always been a fan, I am sure you have turned a number of heads this evening on the red carpet.

You have our attention, and now, we’re tipping our hats to you.

Yours Truly,

plmk

February 25, 2013
The Power of Website Content: How to Improve Your Rankings
Today I’m here to tell you a little story about the power of website content. My cardinal rule is “If you want to rank for it, you better say so on your website!” The first step to improving your rankings for a given keyword is ensuring that your website provides valuable information on that topic.

Once you add that helpful information or “content” on that topic, laced subtly with keywords that people may search when looking for the product or service, you have a much higher chance of being found!

About 18 months ago, we started working with Audubon Nature Institute. Audubon is an everyday name here in New Orleans, as every child in the city and many beyond enjoy the Audubon Zoo, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, and more. As a result of their prominence, and their .org domain, auduboninstitute.org is an incredibly strong and authoritative website.

Audubon also has many offerings that go beyond the things to do in New Orleans that most New Orleanians and visitors think of each day. They also offer catering, children’s and adult birthday parties, tennis lessons, horseback riding, meeting space, wedding and event spaces, and many other things that one might not immediately think of Audubon for.

We wanted to help Audubon’s presence in search results for these other offerings, as they bring in revenue that helps support their attractions as well as conservation efforts. Their site at the time did have information on these offerings, but not in such a way that was keyword friendly for the search engines.

Through the process of optimizing existing pages and adding new pages focused on our topics at hand, Audubon’s website traffic for non-branded search related to these offerings increased in the triple digits, ranging from over 200% to almost 500% increases when looking at 8 months in 2012 compared to the same 8 months in 2011.
- 221% Increase in Non-Branded “Party” and “Parties” Related Visits
- 300% Increase in Non-Branded “Catering” Related Visits
- 437% Increase in Non-Branded “Wedding” Related Visits
- 498% Increase in Non-Branded “Venue” Related Visits
Minimal addition of links to these pages was required in order to improve the rankings that led to these increases in traffic.

In fact, before any link-building was done to these pages, and immediately after the optimized content was added and crawled by Google, their rankings for targeted keywords improved. Check out this shot of the top 28 keywords we were tracking. This shows rankings on Sept 1, 2011 compared to August 1, 2011. (The position on Google is to the left of the arrow, and the number indicated on the right of the arrow is the change in position. Where there is a “+,” that means the website is ranking on the first 2 pages for the first time for the given keyword.)

In this case, the power of targeted content is very evident! If you are a well established business with an authoritative website, review the information on your products and services and ensure you are making the most of the information. If you happen to be a smaller website, you should still complete this exercise, but you may need some additional authority-building for your domain as well.

Two Easy Ways to Improve your Existing Website Content:
- Write descriptive titles and headings.
Before:“Our Services”

After: “Our Accounting Services”
- Reference your product or service by name instead of using pronouns or generic terms.
Before: “The procedure lasts between 1 and 3 hours.”

After: “The breast augmentation procedure lasts between 1 and 3 hours.”

These are natural ways to reinforce what your website and your business is all about, and to help Google find you more relevant.

Share your experience with us! Do you have any experience with improved rankings due to small (or large) content changes? If you try our tips above, take a baseline to see where you are ranking before the edits, and then let us know how your rankings improve after a month or so!
September 21, 2012
Apple Maps + Local Search Kicks Google Maps to the Curb in iOS 6

Along with 200+ other new features on the new iOS6, the long awaited improvement to driving directions on your iPhone and iPad is here. No, it’s not a new and improved Google Maps app, but a homebrewed maps solution by Apple, including a local search database. As if I didn’t love Apple enough already, they’ve come up with something that can trump even Google Maps.

Apple’s press release today states “Local search includes information for over 100 million businesses with info cards that offer Yelp ratings, reviews, available deals and photos.”

Thanks to Greg Sterling’s Search Engine Land post, we know that Localeze is powering the local search listings database. You may recall that Localeze also the sole provider of Facebook Places data when it was first released.

How does this affect you as a business owner?

Well, if Google Maps have given you trouble in the past, you’re in luck. If you are one of the many businesses whose customers relied on GMaps to get them to you, you may have less customers driving to the wrong location now, provided your Localeze information is up-to-date and correct.

To ensure your business information is correct through Localeze, you can always submit to Localeze.com. There is a premium fee in order to get listed directly with their team; you should be sure to ask them about what’s already listed in their database that may already have your name, address, or phone number on it. Updating of your Localeze information comes with any organic or local SEO service with Search Influence, so if you’re working with us or plan to, you can rest easy that this is covered. (Of course, there are always some issues that might be stickier to solve, so just let us know if you think Localeze has got you wrong!)

We feel a bit better about directions being powered by this database, as we’ve found it much easier to “clean up” your presence if there are issues. The Google Maps system pulls from many different data sources, but since Localeze is just one, clean-up will be much easier to take on. It doesn’t hurt that this update brings a fresh face lift to the app, as well as turn-by-turn directions.

In addition to checking up on Localeze, you’ll also want to check up on your Yelp listing(s), including the sentiment of your ratings and reviews. These will also be integrated, just as they already are with Siri.

There will definitely still be lots to learn once we get our hands on iOS 6 and get to test out our customers’ listings in the new database, so until then, stay tuned!

June 11, 2012