Google Authorship: An Often Overlooked SEO Strategy

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In the SEO world, quick and simple opportunities to boost performance are about as common as a cactus in Siberia.  The reality is that successful SEO strategies are dependent on intensive content development efforts, carefully optimized on-page tags, and a thorough attention to detail with your site’s technical health.  Those tasks don’t come easily, so when an opportunity as simple and impactful as Google Authorship comes along, SEO professionals should take notice.

Despite its low-hanging benefits, Google Authorship has surprisingly gone overlooked by many marketers.  In this post we’ll discuss the key benefits of the program and why you should spend the minimal time required to enroll.

The most tangible benefit of Google Authorship is its ability to differentiate your search engine listings and ultimately increase click-through rate.  When content on your site is written by authors enrolled in Google Authorship, the ranking page is eligible to appear with a headshot from the author’s Google Plus profile.  In addition, the listing will appear with a byline giving credit to the individual author.  Consider the results that appear for the Google search on the term “Bid Op Tool:”

authortag
These two factors increase the real estate of your listing and add visual appeal, both of which are likely to positively influence your click-through-rate.  Google recently completed an eye tracking study to measure the impact of Authorship Tags on user behavior.  According to their study, they found that users had a “60% chance of fixating on the annotation when placed at the top of the snippet block.”  In plain English, search results with an Authorship tag are likely to get clicked more than standard results.

It is still unconfirmed whether Google Authorship is an active signal in Google’s algorithm, but many SEO professionals feel that strong “Author Rank” will be an important ranking factor in the future.  Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, stated in his book that “information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”  If this is true, we can also suspect that domains are likely to benefit if Google sees “expert” authors regularly publishing on their site.  This would give organizations the incentive to build in-house content development teams focused on creating unique and valuable content.

These are obviously less tangible benefits that are harder to measure, but it is clear that Google values credibility and expertise.  With increasingly more quantifiable metrics to support these qualities, it would be prudent to anticipate their inevitable impact on rankings.

Writers can sign up for Google’s Authorship Program in just a few minutes.  You’ll need to create a Google Plus profile (if you don’t already have one) with a recognizable headshot, and a work email linked to the domain(s) on which you regularly publish.

For such a simple process, Google Authorship can have a strong impact on your SEO strategies.  To learn more about building a Google Authorship strategy visit Google’s Inside Search Feature or contact us today.

Guest Blogging is Alive and Well

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Overview
In a recent blog post, Google’s Matt Cutts discusses the pervasiveness of spammy guest blogging activities.  The head of Google’s Webspam team goes so far as to state, “So stick a fork in it: guest blogging is done; it’s just gotten too spammy.”  The purpose of this article is to clarify Cutt’s statements and help marketers decide how to leverage guest blogging efforts moving forward.

Clarifying the Details
The main point of clarification is that guest blogging is still alive and well.  Cutt’s article and prior videos on the topic were specifically targeting two audiences: blog owners and companies using guest blogs in ways that violate Google’s quality guidelines.  Best practices related to guest blogging are summarized below for each audience.

Blog owners: Historically, numerous blog owners have accepted guest blog posts from various sources, including businesses with which they had no prior relationship.  Google is simply encouraging these websites to properly scrutinize submissions to ensure they are original and high quality and offer relevant content to their blog readers.  This suggestion is given to website owners to help them avoid damaging the reputation of their blog.  For blog owners the premise is simple: offer your readers high-quality content and we’ll consider your blog high-quality, but offer them low-quality content and we’ll consider your blog low-quality.  Of course, higher quality blogs will rank better than lower quality blogs.
Guest Bloggers violating Google’s quality guidelines: Websites can violate Google’s quality guidelines in several ways.  Cutt’s article specifically brings to attention the following violations:

  • Buying links: This one is pretty cut and dry.  You shouldn’t pay for links.
  • Requesting followed links: Google doesn’t like it if you specifically ask for a followed link.  Followed links should be a natural result of other efforts, including your content marketing initiatives.
  • Spinning articles: Article spinning (the practice of syndicating the same article or similar iterations of the same article to multiple websites) is frowned upon.  After all, how can you provide unique content if you’re syndicating the same content to multiple outlets?

In terms of link building, guest blogging should only be used as a means to acquire high quality links (as opposed to a large quantity of links).  Additionally, companies shouldn’t use guest blogs as a primary, or even secondary, method for acquiring links.  The issue that Google identifies is that many companies realized that they could drive significant inbound link volume by mass producing guest blogs. When you’re after volume, your content development efforts will inevitably yield lower quality, less unique content.  When this effort is multiplied by the thousands of companies engaged in guest blogging, the product is a sea of low quality, or even spammy, content that damages the integrity of search results.  Clearly, this is something Google would like to minimize or stop altogether.

Dos and Don’ts of Future Guest Blogging
To ensure your guest blogging efforts are providing value and are not violating any of Google’s quality guidelines, we recommend you follow the following dos and don’ts of guest blogging.

Dos
Focus on quality, not quantity: This should hold true for all of your content development efforts.  High quality, unique and compelling content is far more valuable than stale, mediocre content.  Strong content helps build links naturally, improves brand equity and can be used more effectively as part of an overall content marketing strategy (see #4 below).
Target the right audience: Your content is only valuable if it’s seen by the right audience: your target market.  Focus on outlets that allow you to gain visibility among your customers.
Build relationships with 3rd party websites: Once you find specific outlets that help you access your customers, build a strong relationship with them so you have the opportunity to promote content with them on an on-going basis.  Frequency is an important metric in the context of content marketing and brand equity.
Think holistically: Your content should be developed as part of an overall content marketing strategy designed to help you generate more business.  Don’t spend your time writing content simply to get a link; the link alone is rarely worth it.
If you’re a blog owner, have a solid review and submission policy for all guest posts: If you’re accepting guest blog post submissions, make sure you review the articles prior to publishing them. You should be looking for high quality, unique content that provides value to your readers.

Don’ts
Don’t pay for links: This is the most obvious violation.  Google has been pretty adamant about this for years.  Never pay for links.
Don’t request followed links: This is almost as obvious as #1.  Followed links should happen naturally, but requesting them is a red flag to Google and should be a red flag to blog owners as well.
Don’t engage in article spinning: Repurposing the same article and submitting to multiple blogs is a clear violation to Google’s quality guidelines.  If you’re even considering doing this, then you should rethink your entire content development strategy.
Don’t overreact: Google does not take kindly to “black hat” SEO practices and guest blogging is no exception.  However, if you are developing and syndicating content the right way (as discussed above), you should have no concerns regarding your guest blogging efforts.  Companies should be able and willing to collaborate with 3rd parties to develop unique, interesting and original content to share with their customers and other interested readers.

Conclusion
Keep in mind that Google’s ultimate goal is to provide the most relevant search results possible.  Over time, guest blogging has been abused so much for ranking purposes by certain marketers (for some that term is far too complimentary) that a shadow has been cast over the entire guest blogging community.  If you’ve been using guest blogging properly as part of an overall content marketing strategy, then you should have nothing to worry about.  If you’ve been using guest blogs in an effort to manipulate search results, then you should stop immediately and rethink your strategy.  Guest blogging isn’t dead; in fact, it’s more alive now than ever for those who choose to utilize it properly.
If you need help developing a comprehensive content marketing strategy, or if you’re interested in learning more about how guest blogging should be leveraged moving forward, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Driving Sales From Your Facebook Followers

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It seems that just about every company has a Facebook page these days. Many companies are even devoting serious resources to develop new and fresh social content. From our perspective, it often seems that the motivation to join the Facebook fray is in itself ‘social.’ Companies need to have a Facebook page because their ‘competitors have one—and hey, everyone has one!’

All of these social efforts, whether strategic or not, have given many companies an impressive online following; it’s not uncommon for even small businesses to have upwards of 10,000 Facebook likes.

Facebook is, of course, a powerful communication tool. Companies can advertise their latest promotions, PR initiatives, and other relevant information to their followers vis-à-vis their Facebook page. But can Facebook pages be used outside of a communication function, and help to directly drive new sales?
First, let’s look at the composition of a typical Facebook audience. Facebook followers are predominately made up of existing customers. Facebook pages rarely rank organically for product/service level keywords, and product/service research is not something that is historically performed through social media. For these reasons, if a user has navigated to your Facebook page, it is most likely because they are already aware of your brand. Second, if a user has gone so far as to “like” your page, they are demonstrating some pretty serious enthusiasm in your company. So, we can infer that the majority of your Facebook audience will be comprised of enthusiastic existing or prospective customers. This is obviously good news to the sales-minded business owner, because an enthusiastic audience that has already qualified their interest in your business is certainly ripe for a well-timed direct marketing or remarketing campaign.

So, how does a business reach these customers? The issue with Facebook followers is that they are anonymous. There’s no name, email, or phone number to associate with a follower—just a digitized “like.” The obvious answer is to reach these customers through Facebook wall posts, but this is a very limited strategy for several reasons. Facebook wall posts cannot be personalized to speak to specific segments of your customer base. Also, wall posts are highly likely to be lost in the fodder of an active news feed.

The solution to these issues is to be able to relate a “like” to a unique customer. Fortunately, we have developed a strategy to address this dilemma. There are several Facebook apps on the market today that help recruit user information. For example, North Social’s “deal share” app is designed as a “gate” for a deal or promotion. The deal is advertised on the company’s Facebook page, and accessed through the North Social app. In order to qualify for the deal, the user is instructed to complete a set of customizable criteria. For example, you could require a customer to enter their name, email and phone number to gain access to the deal. Alternatively, you can “gate” a deal by making users have to like your page (if they haven’t already done so) or share the deal with their own friends. The user’s information is automatically logged into North Social’s interface, and data can be downloaded to an Excel report at any time. Logically, the more enticing the deal, the more interaction it will receive. Over time, a company can effectively build a customer contact list by acquiring the contact information of their Facebook followers.

Once user information is obtained, companies can relate customer names with specific demographic segments or even past purchase history. Customized email campaigns can be launched to push frequency of purchase or cross-selling opportunities.

This “deal share” strategy is a great way to unlock the sales potential of your Facebook page. By turning anonymous Facebook followers into identifiable and unique users, a company can grow what is otherwise a communication portal into a powerful direct marketing and remarketing tool.

Is Your Anchor Text Diversified?

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How to Evaluate Your Anchor Text Profile:
Google’s latest algorithmic update, dubbed “Penguin,” is carefully evaluating anchor text diversification when determining website rankings.  In this article we will demonstrate how to evaluate your anchor text profile.

Read the full article

Making Optimization Signficant: The Role of Statistical Analysis

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Paul Benson and Mark Casali, co-founders of the online marketing firm Synapse SEM, LLC, have been published in the Search Marketing Standard Magazine.  Following an intensive research project with Babson College Professor Dessislava Pachamanova, Ph.D., Synapse SEM has developed a new suite of statistical applications and tools.  The corresponding article “Making Optimization Significant: The Role of Statistical Analysis,” co-authored with Dr. Pachamanova, explains how these tools can be introduced to help search marketers make better decisions and obtain deeper insights from the data they analyze every day.

Read the full article

Paid Search Branded Campaigns: Effective or Excessive?

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Every paid search campaign we build seems to elicit the same response.  No matter who the client is—a small local business, or a fortune 500 company—every client questions whether our campaigns should include branded keywords and ads.  In other words, should the campaign target keywords that include the company name and similar iterations?

We understand the client’s skepticism because paid search is often being used as a vehicle to gain visibility on search terms that otherwise organically fail to rank.  Branded terms, of course, typically have the strongest organic visibility.  So, let us reiterate the age old question from our clients and ask, why add a paid advertisement to a search results page that is almost guaranteed to have a first position organic listing?

In our experience paid branded ads have multiple benefits:

  • Competition – Displaying branded ads can be viewed as a defensive mechanism to protect against competitors usurping prized positions on branded keywords.  Stated differently, a company should never be in a position where a competitor is the first ad/listing the user sees on the page.
  • Real Estate – With all of the ad extensions now available, paid search ads can take up some pretty impressive real estate on the results page.  Depending on the level of competition on branded keywords, it is entirely possible to dominate 100% of the above-the-fold results with a paid advertisement and first position organic listing.
  • Psychological Effects – There have been numerous studies performed showing that when search results contain both a paid listing and an organic listing a user is far more likely to click-through to your website.  The two channels are proven to work symbiotically, and enhance your site’s credibility.
  • Cost – Ultimately, the inclusion of branded terms in a paid search advertising campaign comes down to cost-benefit.  Cost-per-click bids on branded terms are typically very affordable.  Consequently, total cost incurred on branded terms should make-up only a small portion of an overall paid advertising budget.

So, to offer a conclusive answer to our clients—we include branded keywords in your campaigns because it is the best thing for your campaigns.  Bidding on branded queries allows us to protect against competition, dominate above-the-fold results, and improve the credibility of your site; and all this can be accomplished within a very affordable budget.

Is Your Bid Op Tool Worth The Cost?

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By Paul Benson
Thousands of online advertisers in the U.S. rely on bid optimization tools (BOTs) to make their paid search campaigns more efficient.  These software “solutions” or “platforms” which typically leverage rule-based or algorithmic bidding, claim the upper hand against manual bidding strategies.  While it’s certainly true that in some cases these tools vastly outperform manual bidding, the challenge for advertisers is determining whether a BOT will prove cost-effective for their particular campaigns.

BOTs are perceived as superior to manual bidding because they are able to leverage historical data and automatically update bids based on the day of week, time of day, and other factors.  They also save time as advertisers no longer need to analyze performance and make bid changes on a relatively routine basis.  Unfortunately, just as BOTs create many efficiencies, they also generate significant costs.

On average, advertisers pay 5% of spend for BOTs.  For an advertiser spending $100,000 a month, this equates to $60,000 per year.  Some providers also charge a one-time implementation or launch fee up to $10,000.  At this cost, a company could hire a new specialist simply to handle bidding for the account..  It is also true that BOTs require integration with existing platforms, which may cause on-going frustration among advertisers looking for a truly “automated” solution.  This frustration is intensified when advertisers learn that BOTs will require consistent manual oversight, and sometimes intervention.  On a past account audit it was determined that the advertiser’s automated tool had spent nearly $6,000 in two months on a single keyword that generated an ROAS of just 27% (significantly below the ROAS goal).  Neither the tool, nor the keyword, was a new addition to the campaign, which made this gross oversight on the part of the BOT even more perplexing.

For this same advertiser, we noticed over the course of several days that only 4% of converting terms, on average, received a daily bid change, and 88% of converting keywords didn’t receive a single bid change throughout the monitored time period.  Furthermore, keywords that comprised nearly 80% of all conversions were displayed in a position of 1.7 or better.  Nearly 94% of these terms had a CPA at or below goal, signifying that little optimization could be done from a bidding standpoint to improve performance on these terms.  After analyzing the number of bid changes, and the size of each bid change, it was concluded that this particular bid tool saved the client between $500 and $1,000 per month; the bid tool alone cost more than four times that amount to run.
Innovations within the primary advertising platforms, AdWords and AdCenter, make manual bidding all the more attractive.   For example, marketers formerly relied on BOTs to factor in day of week and time of day when making bid changes.  However, now Google AdWords’ Ad Scheduling functionality allows advertisers to adjust bids (up or down) during specified days or times of day.  AdWords also gives insight into performance by time of day or day of week (as long as you have a Google Conversion Pixel in place).  As a result, advertisers can leverage day parting to effectively change bids by time of day and day of week, just like a BOT can.  All of this functionality is available for free directly within the AdWords interface; you don’t need to access, pay for, or become familiar with a 3rd party interface.

Despite the aforementioned challenges, there are certainly scenarios where a BOT is still a valuable and unrivaled tool.  Ultimately, the decision to implement a BOT should be evaluated on a case by case basis.  Fortunately, there are three criteria that will help point you in the right direction.  First and foremost, consider your industry.  Advertisers in the retail space, especially those with thousands of SKUs, are more likely to benefit from a BOT.  This is true simply because a BOT’s value increases as the number of keywords increases.  Sophisticated BOTS can accurately determine the right CPC based on not only historical performance of a particular keyword, but also on historical performance of related keywords.  This insight, although small on an individual keyword basis, can add up to thousands of dollars across an account.

The second consideration can be referred to as the PPC Gini Coefficient.  A variant from its economic definition, the PPC Gini Coefficient can be calculated by dividing the number of converting keywords that are meeting or exceeding your goal and are in an average position better than 2 (1.9, 1.8, etc.) by the number of total converting keywords.  The higher your PPC Gini coefficient, the less opportunity there is for bid optimizations, and therefore the less useful a BOT will be.  A coefficient of 70% is considered high, while 50% is considered relatively normal.  It’s possible that your campaigns contain keywords that are exceeding your goal, but are in a position below 2 (2.1, 2.2, etc.) simply because the CPCs haven’t been properly adjusted.  If this is the case, these terms should be removed from the calculation.

Finally, if you’re currently using a BOT, you should also consider the frequency and size of bid changes.  This data, along with click volume, can give you a reasonable sense for how much money the BOT is saving you every month.  Keep in mind, however, that every time a BOT decreases a CPC to gain efficiency, it may be also sacrificing conversions.  It’s also important to understand whether the bid changes are more commonly max CPC increases or decreases.  Surprisingly, out of all the bid changes implemented for the advertiser mentioned earlier, 94% were decreases in max CPCs.  Therefore, in this particular case, only cost savings were considered; potential revenue generated from increased CPCs was ignored.

If you’re still struggling with the decision of whether to implement a BOT, consider contacting one of the providers to request an estimate.  Marin Software has an internal tool that estimates your increased ROAS if you were to adopt their software.  While these estimates are commonly ‘optimistic,’ this additional information may aid in your decision.  It’s difficult to test a BOT, since significant upfront work is required to integrate the software with your account.  Therefore, you should collaborate with an experienced SEM expert or agency to conduct a thorough analysis based on historical campaign performance.  If you’re already using a BOT, don’t fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy.  Carefully evaluating the efficacy of your bid tool could save you thousands.

Google Introduces AdWords For Video

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Earlier this spring, Google expanded their paid search advertising capabilities by launching their new video advertising platform “AdWords for Video.”  The program’s launch immediately turned video content advertising into an affordable, targetable, and measurable medium.  AdWords for Video operates under a pay-per-view model where the advertiser is only charged when users have watched their video in entirety, or for thirty seconds—whichever is shorter.
In terms of set-up, all an advertiser needs to get started is a YouTube Account.  The AdWords for Video platform is programed so that videos from any linked YouTube Account can be pulled directly into new ads in the account.

AdWords for Video regulations allow for four different ad formats:

  • In-Search – As a featured ad above the YouTube search results (similar to the ad locations for search network text ads).  This ad format was formerly known as “promoted videos” on YouTube.
  • In-Slate – As a an uninterrupted featured video that plays before targeted content
  • In-Display – As a suggestion to the right of a targeted YouTube on the video watch page
  • In-Stream – As a ‘skippable’ video that plays before targeted content

Upon learning about the new AdWords for Video platform, our team wondered how it differed from having traditional video ads on the display network.  In our experience, so far there are several key differences.  First, as described above, AdWords for Video allows for cost-per-view bidding.  Display network bidding only allows for CPC, CPM or conversion focused bidding.  Second, the display network allows for non-TrueView format videos to be incorporated into click-to-play or in-stream ads.  Display network video ads also currently allow for placements on YouTube, but Google has already hinted that these ad formats will be phased out to give way for AdWords for Video.  Third, the ability to target ads is different in AdWords for Video.  Instead of having Ad Groups, AdWords for Video organizes ads into “targeting groups” set at the campaign level.  Targeting groups allow for demographic, topic, interest, placement, remarketing, contextual keyword, and search keyword inclusions and exclusions.  Finally, in AdWords for Video, one video ad can be applied to multiple ad formats.  On the display network, each video has unique content and format.

So what type of benefits can AdWords for Video bring search marketers?  There are certainly long term benefits associated with the efficiencies AdWords for Video brings to video content management and optimization, but there is also a more immediate advantage.   Because AdWords for Video is so new, it is unsaturated.  The paid video advertising market is just beginning to develop, and consequently cost-per-view prices in many industries are still available for just a couple of cents.  Also, the cost-per-view bidding format, in of itself, precipitates a major advantage.  Since the advertiser is only charged when a viewer watches their entire video, there is the potential for a lot of “free branding.”  In other words, a partial video views may not be a bad thing.  In fact, if your ads are engineered well and you can get your message across in the first five to ten seconds of your video, you are likely to reach a significant amount of customers for free.

Synapse SEM Published In Search Marketing Standard Magazine

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Boston—May 29, 2012—Paul Benson and Mark Casali, co-founders of the online marketing firm Synapse SEM, LLC, have been published in the Search Marketing Standard Magazine this week.  Following an intensive research project with Babson College Professor Dessislava Pachamanova, Ph.D., Synapse SEM has developed a new suite of statistical applications and tools.  The corresponding article “The ‘Significance’ of Optimization,” co-authored with Dr. Pachamanova, explains how these tools can be introduced to help search marketers make better decisions and obtain deeper insights from the data they analyze every day.

“Despite more advanced functionality, paid search advertisers are still faced with the challenge of deciding when to act based on the data at hand.  With our tools, advertisers can more accurately determine when to pull non-performing keywords and campaigns offline, how long to run A/B tests, and when changes in key metrics exceed normal fluctuations.  I look forward to introducing these tools and the underlying methodologies in Search Marketing Standard this month,” says Mr. Benson.

Mark Casali commented, “I really believe that a statistics based approach to optimization can revolutionize the SEM industry.  These tools are very exciting for our firm and we are excited about the benefits they will bring to client performance.  In our eyes, this is really just the start of ‘automated’ optimization.”

About Synapse SEM
Synapse SEM is a full service online marketing firm that leverages robust data analysis and statistics to provide its clients with deeper insights and uncover otherwise overlooked opportunities.  With core competencies in paid search advertising, search engine optimization, social media marketing, mobile advertising and conversion optimization, the company develops, implements, and executes online marketing strategies focused on maximizing its clients’ ROI.  Leveraging proprietary data analysis techniques and experienced subject matter experts, the agency is committed to achieving unparalleled results and providing the highest quality of service to its clients.  For more information on Synapse SEM, LLC, call 860-880-0065 or visit www.synapsesem.com.

Implementing Segmented ROI Analysis

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By Mark Casali
To succeed in online marketing, an agency must be committed to adaptation, innovation, and, of course, optimization.  The industry seems to produce a never ending array of methods to improve and refine account performance, but as search marketers, our very own measure of success remains a stagnant and undeveloped concept.  Return on Investment, or “ROI,” is typically applied as a blanket-metric, and only assessed at the account level.  This evaluation of ROI is distorting goals and leaving perhaps the most obvious optimization opportunities unexposed. In an industry that survives on advancements, it is essential that we begin assessing value and success with more comprehensive and revealing measures.

The easiest method of improving the ROI measurement is to move away from an account level assessment.  Regardless of how the marketer ultimately defines ROI, each product/service category should be tracked with an individual return on investment goal.  Consider a sporting goods store that has a mature paid search marketing account to promote baseball, football, and soccer ball sales.  The store incurs $1,000 of engine spend on each of the three product categories.  Revenue earned by the paid search account is $2,500, $2,000, and $800, for baseball, football, and soccer balls, respectively.  The store has identified an ROI goal of 1.5 as their break-even threshold; this goal includes variables such as product cost, growth strategies, and lifetime value.  Account level ROI is calculated as $5,300 of total revenue divided by a total $3,000 of engine spend, for a return of 1.8.

Most agencies will look at this data and determine that the account is healthy with an ROI well over their goal of 1.5.  Additional optimization techniques could be performed within the account to improve click through rates, strengthen conversion rates, and refine cost per click bids.  These strategies may well benefit account performance, however, there is a more immediate problem that will be exposed by refining our ROI calculation.  If category level ROI metrics are analyzed, the marketer will determine that returns equal 2.5, 2.0, and 0.8 for baseballs, footballs, and soccer balls, respectively.  With an ROI less than 1.5, the client is earning additional incremental revenue in the soccer balls channel, but they are detracting from their overall profitability.  In fact, the soccer balls product channel would have to nearly double revenue to reach the desired ROI goal.  It is unlikely that traditional optimization techniques bridge this gap, especially in a mature campaign.  In reality, traditional optimization in this account is insignificant.  Segmented ROI analysis has revealed a far more pressing performance issue, and until the soccer ball campaign is suspended, the account, from a profitability standpoint, will significantly underachieve.

This example is admittedly basic, but the underlying principle of identifying and striving towards multiple ROI goals is a powerful optimization technique.  The sporting goods store has a simple product offering of three different types of equipment, but actual companies market countless amounts of products and services.  Logically, the marketing campaigns promoting these products and services will achieve various levels of success, and some will even fail.  So, with such drastic levels of performance across an account, it seems counterintuitive to optimize around a one-size-fits-all ROI goal.  A better approach is to calculate separate ROI objectives for each product/service category.  This strategy is very much in line with the way search marketers update bids based on keyword performance.  The marketer would never bid on a keyword with a negative contribution margin; why then would they apply budget to an entire product category that loses money?  This granular approach of assessing ROI on a category/product level is applicable to companies ranging from full scale e-retailers with numerous product lines to institutions of higher education with multiple programs of study.

Once marketers move towards a more segmented ROI analysis, they should also reconsider how they set performance goals.  When establishing an ROI goal, the agency or client should develop customized objectives for each product/service category based on a variety of variables including historical performance, the product costs and gross margins of the related products/services, growth strategies, and the assessed lifetime value of a customer associated with a product/service.  For example, a marketer may determine that a particular campaign drives so many recurring purchases that a return on investment goal under 1.0 could, in fact, be appropriate and representative of long-term profitability.  When establishing ROI goals, the marketer or client should also acknowledge the motives of the campaign.  If the ROI goal is set too high, the profitability of the account will be strong, but the volume and reach of the campaign will be restricted.  Conversely, if the ROI goal is too low, the campaign will see stronger volume but lower margins.

Overall, the limitations of an account level return on investment assessment are becoming more and more problematic for marketers.  Optimization opportunities are lost, and agencies are left striving towards goals that may or may not be advantageous to the client.  To correct this problem, companies should track performance for each product/service category and even identify separate financial goals for each of these categories.  If this level of granularity is already available, the data should be shared with the company’s search agency so the paid search campaigns can be managed more accurately.  The resulting account will offer a deeper level of visibility into performance and help online marketers quickly and easily improve profitability.  This is one of the last pieces of low hanging fruit available to paid search advertisers; don’t let it go to waste.

Synapse SEM Launches New Content Writing Services

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Boston—May 14, 2012— Synapse SEM is pleased to announce that it will be offering content writing services to existing and prospective Synapse clients starting June 1st.  Synapse SEM, known for its comprehensive SEO audits and consulting services, identified a growing need for writing services among existing and prospective clients.  As co-founder Paul Benson stated, “When we first engage with a new client, one of the first steps is conducting a thorough SEO audit to identify gaps between existing content and required content based on the targeted keyword set.  The issue is that once we identify multiple pages that need to be created, there typically isn’t a dedicated client resource who can act on our recommendations.  Our goal is to remove the content writing burden from our clients’ shoulders, and create compelling, market-appropriate content focused on increasing conversions and improving ROI.”

In addition to writing high quality content for new products and services, Synapse SEM will also be generating content for blog posts, white papers, case studies, email marketing campaigns, press releases, and other materials as needed.  “Our goal is to meet the evolving needs of our clients and provide them with as much value as possible” said company co-founder Mark Casali.  “Compelling content can be a powerful tool to increase online performance, and we want to make sure our clients are leveraging this opportunity to its fullest potential.”

About Synapse SEM
Synapse SEM is a full service online marketing firm that leverages robust data analysis and statistics to provide its clients with deeper insights and uncover otherwise overlooked opportunities.  With core competencies in paid search advertising, search engine optimization, social media marketing, mobile advertising and conversion optimization, the company develops, implements, and executes online marketing strategies focused on maximizing its clients’ ROI.  Leveraging proprietary data analysis techniques and experienced subject matter experts, the agency is committed to achieving unparalleled results and providing the highest quality of service to its clients.  For more information on Synapse SEM, LLC, call 781-591-0752 or visit www.synapsesem.com.

Synapse SEM Speaks at SES

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Boston—January 9, 2012—Paul Benson, Co-founder of online marketing firm Synapse SEM, LLC, has been selected as a featured speaker at the upcoming SES Conference in San Diego.  Mr. Benson will be introducing Synapse SEM’s new suite of statistical applications during the Advanced Paid Search Tactics session, which will be held on Thursday, February 9th at 2:30pm PST.

The tools to be introduced help search marketers make better decisions and obtain deeper insights from the data they analyze every day.  “Despite more advanced functionality, paid search advertisers are still faced with the challenge of deciding when to act based on the data at hand.  With our tools, advertisers can more accurately determine when to pull non-performing keywords and campaigns offline, how long to run A/B tests, and when changes in key metrics exceed normal fluctuations.  I look forward to introducing these tools and the underlying methodologies at SES this month,” says Mr. Benson.

About Synapse SEM
Synapse SEM is a full service online marketing firm that leverages robust data analysis and statistics to provide its clients with deeper insights and uncover otherwise overlooked opportunities.  With core competencies in paid search advertising, search engine optimization, social media marketing, mobile advertising and conversion optimization, the company develops, implements, and executes online marketing strategies focused on maximizing its clients’ ROI.  Leveraging proprietary data analysis techniques and experienced subject matter experts, the agency is committed to achieving unparalleled results and providing the highest quality of service to its clients.

For more information on Synapse SEM, LLC, call 781-591-0752 or visit www.synapsesem.com.

Synapse SEM, LLC Joins Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

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Boston– Dec. 22, 2011– Synapse SEM, a full service online marketing firm, today announced its membership in the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.  The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce will help Synapse SEM reach its target industries while solidifying their brand in the Boston business community.
“The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce will offer Synapse SEM superb value through numerous networking events and partnership opportunities” says Paul Benson, company co-founder. “We look forward to engaging with fellow Boston Chamber of Commerce members soon, and we are excited about the marketing potential this organization brings to our company.”

About Synapse SEM, LLC
Synapse SEM is a full service online marketing firm that leverages robust data analysis and statistics to provide its clients with deeper insights and uncover otherwise overlooked opportunities.  With core competencies in paid search advertising, search engine optimization, social media marketing, mobile advertising and conversion optimization, the company develops, implements, and executes online marketing strategies focused on maximizing its clients’ ROI.  Leveraging proprietary data analysis techniques and experienced subject matter experts, the agency is committed to achieving unparalleled results and providing the highest quality of service to its clients.

For more information on Synapse SEM, LLC, call 781-591-0752 or visit www.synapsesem.com.

Synapse SEM On-Boards Pharmatron, Inc.

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Boston—November 21, 2011– Synapse SEM, a full service online marketing firm, today announced Pharmatron, Inc. as their newest client.  Pharmatron, Inc. manufactures manual, semi-automatic, and automatic solid dosage form testing equipment for the pharmaceutical industry.  Their testing equipment is used to determine the weight, thickness, width, diameter, and hardness (break force) of tablets.

Synapse SEM will provide search engine marketing services to the manufacturer starting before year end.  “We feel strongly about search engine marketing’s ability to succeed in the manufacturing industry,” commented Synapse SEM Co-Founder Paul Benson.  “We foresee paid search, specifically, becoming a critical channel to Pharmatron’s overall marketing strategy.  There is a real opportunity to reach customers actively seeking Pharmatron’s products.”
 
About Synapse SEM, LLC
Synapse SEM is a full service online marketing firm that leverages robust data analysis and statistics to provide its clients with deeper insights and uncover otherwise overlooked opportunities.  With core competencies in paid search advertising, search engine optimization, social media marketing, mobile advertising and conversion optimization, the company develops, implements, and executes online marketing strategies focused on maximizing its clients’ ROI.  Leveraging proprietary data analysis techniques and experienced subject matter experts, the agency is committed to achieving unparalleled results and providing the highest quality of service to its clients.

For more information on Synapse SEM, LLC, call 860-880-0065 or visit www.synapsesem.com.

Synapse SEM On-Boards leading Career College in Connecticut

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Glastonbury—September 1, 2011– Synapse SEM, a full service online marketing firm, today announced Stone Academy, a leading career college in the Connecticut market, as their newest client.  Stone Academy specializes in offering accelerated LPN, Medical Assisting, Medical Office Administration, and Certified Nursing Assistant degree and certification programs.

Synapse SEM Co-Founder, Mark Casali, CPA, commented that “Stone Academy is an important client for us as it establishes a first step into targeting the higher education industry.  We are confident that paid search can drive new qualified leads and reach previously untapped demographics for Stone Academy.”
Stone Academy has campuses in East Hartford, CT, West Haven, CT, and Waterbury, CT.  For more information, please visit www.stone.edu.

About Synapse SEM, LLC
Synapse SEM is a full service online marketing firm that leverages robust data analysis and statistics to provide its clients with deeper insights and uncover otherwise overlooked opportunities.  With core competencies in paid search advertising, search engine optimization, social media marketing, mobile advertising and conversion optimization, the company develops, implements, and executes online marketing strategies focused on maximizing its clients’ ROI.  Leveraging proprietary data analysis techniques and experienced subject matter experts, the agency is committed to achieving unparalleled results and providing the highest quality of service to its clients.

For more information on Synapse SEM, LLC, call 860-880-0065 or visit www.synapsesem.com.

Synapse SEM Officially Launches

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Synapse SEM to Provide Comprehensive Online Marketing Services

Boston, MA and Glastonbury, CT—May 06, 2011—Paul Benson and Mark Casali announced today the launch of Synapse SEM, LLC, a full-service online marketing firm focusing on the software, education, and professional services industries.

“Synapse SEM will be a data driven firm.  We provide our customers actionable insights into their online marketing efforts,” says Paul Benson, company co-founder. Synapse SEM also considers often undervalued industry metrics.  “We strive to take our clients to a new level of account performance by utilizing advanced strategies which include leveraging robust data analysis, assessing statistical significance to allow for empowered decision making, developing and achieving segmented ROI goals, and utilizing attribution analysis” commented Mark Casali, company co-founder.

Synapse SEM client, VisualIQ, affirmed that “With exceptional data analysis skills, coupled with a strong foundation in statistics and extraordinary knowledge of the SEM industry, Synapse SEM has proven to be the right partner for our company.  Their insights, attention to detail and rapid response times have made them a pleasure to work with.  I highly recommend Synapse SEM to any company interested in taking their online marketing efforts to the next level.”
Synapse SEM will provide best-in-class paid search advertising (PPC), search engine optimization, mobile advertising, social media, and general business consulting services.

About Synapse SEM
Synapse SEM is a full service online marketing firm that leverages robust data analysis and statistics to provide its clients with deeper insights and uncover otherwise overlooked opportunities.  With core competencies in paid search advertising, search engine optimization, social media marketing, mobile advertising and conversion optimization, the company develops, implements, and executes online marketing strategies focused on maximizing its clients’ ROI.  Leveraging proprietary data analysis techniques and experienced subject matter experts, the agency is committed to achieving unparalleled results and providing the highest quality of service to its clients.

For more information on Synapse SEM, LLC, call 781-591-0752 or visit www.synapsesem.com.