The Power of SEO: Protect Your Bottom Line & Future Proof Your Brand

THE POWER OF SEO
Protect Your Bottom Line &
Future-Proof Your Brand

www.CatalystDigital.com
This presentation originally aired as a
webinar. Recording is available here:
https://bit.ly/3g0NYSE

TODAY’S PRESENTER
Organic Search | Paid Search | Paid Social
Programmatic | Retail Media
Tim Eschenauer
Head of SEO, US
GroupM

Websites still face challenges related to SEO.
Brands are wasting paid search spend.
Google still produces poor results for users.
THE SEARCH
PARADOX

THE LAST 5 MONTHS HAVE PRESENTED (AT LEAST) FOUR
SCENARIOS FOR BRANDS
1 2 3 4
RAMP UP
Essential Items
(CPG)
FOCUS
HEAVY PAID/ORGANIC
INTEGRATION
BUILD
New Ways of Working
(Spirits)
FOCUS
NEW ECOMMERCE
CAPABILITIES
SUSTAIN
Adapted Ways of Working
(Retail)
FOCUS
ENHANCED MESSAGING
AROUND WAYS TO
STAY ENGAGED WITH
CUSTOMERS
PAUSE
Paid Campaign Changes
(Travel/Hospitality)
FOCUS
PAUSE MEDIA OR
SCALE BACK
CAMPAIGNS

MARKETING TEAMS STARTED TO ASK SERIOUS QUESTIONS TO
RIDE THE STORM OF UNCERTAINTY
“WHAT should we do with our website?”
“HOW can we drive growth if we scale back on media?”
“HOW can we be more efficient with our media spend?”
“HOW can we remain engaged with our consumers?”
“WHAT can we do to be ready once things turn around?”

AS A RESULT,
THERE IS A
RENEWED
ENERGY TO GET
OWNED ASSETS
IN ORDER.

SEARCH IS EVERYWHERE
5.6 BILLION+
searches every day
~91%
of searches performed
on Google
~15%
of queries are new
every day (Google)
~50%
of users click on the
organic result
Sources: Google, Search Engine Land, Various Industry Studies

THE IMPORTANCE OF
ORGANIC SEARCH
Always On
Always Evolving
Always Getting More Complex

Search Quality
Tests
17,523
Live Traffic
Experiments
3,620
Launches
10
Search Results
Pages Live At
All Times
62,937
Side-By-Side
Experiments
GOOGLE in 2019
383,605

INFORM
INFLUENCE
DISRUPT
Search results:
BRANDS MUST ALWAYS CONSIDER HOW THEY APPEAR IN SEARCH

SEARCH RESULTS PRESENT SO MANY OPTIONS THAT INFLUENCE
USER BEHAVIOR

THE LAST FEW MONTHS HAVE PRESENTED US WITH
“NEWISH" CONVERSATIONS
We need to be smarter with our
paid search spend.
We need to ensure our brand is
positioned well especially if/when
media is off.
We need to think about the future,
even though we can’t really
predict tomorrow.
“Agreed – stop paying premiums
in Google.”
“Agreed – we need to be present
the moment our consumers are
looking for us.”
“Agreed – let’s secure our
foundation to set us up for
long-term growth.”

MY QUESTION: WHAT HAVE WE BEEN WAITING FOR?
1. Understanding of our target audience’s needs,
wants and questions
2. Content that fulfills intent, interest and curiosity
3. Technology that is accessible and provides an
optimal user experience
4. Maximum brand presence for and beyond the
brand.com
5. Analytics that accurately track user behavior in
order to optimize and grow
The SEO Proposition
Solve the needs of people
in order to drive incremental
growth for your brand

How can brands use SEO to
prepare in a perfect world?
How can brands use SEO to be ready
for an unpredictable tomorrow?

HOW CAN BRANDS USE SEO TO BE READY FOR AN
UNPREDICTABLE TOMORROW
Change mindset
Rethink ways of working
Target incremental growth
Own your brand
Future-proof for an unpredictable future

REDEFINING SEO BEYOND JUST ORGANIC SEARCH
Traditional SEO:
Execute on a strategy to
ensure our website satisfies
user intent and has sound
technical foundations, to
drive growth and maximize a
brand’s organic presence.

REDEFINING SEO BEYOND JUST ORGANIC SEARCH
Embedded SEO:
Execute on a strategy to
ensure our website satisfies
user intent and has sound
technical foundations, to
drive growth and maximize a
brand’s organic presence.
Focus on post-click metrics from all
channels as the new measure of success
Leverage technology to optimize websites
and campaigns at scale
Utilize search data to inform, validate and
discover new opportunities

SEARCH
VOLUME
SEARCH
TRENDS
SITE-SIDE
ANALYTICS
SEARCH DATA
An unbiased
view into how
users think

SEARCH INSIGHTS TO DRIVE CROSS-CHANNEL INTEGRATION
AND OPTIMIZATION
Refine Your Target
Keyword, demographic and interest
level data – based on site engagement
and actions, if available.
Audience Discovery & Validation
Audience insights for content development,
campaign optimizations, new targeting
opportunities and persona development.
Media’s Influence Over Search
Search lift and insights based on TV
advertising or other branding initiatives,
in near real-time.

WE MUST THINK ABOUT SEO BEYOND A BLUE LINK IN GOOGLE
Why would we pay to send
users somewhere that
hasn’t been optimally
created for them?
OPTIMAL
POST-CLICK
EXPERIENCE

SUCCESSFUL SEO SHOULD BENEFIT ALL CHANNELS
1 2 3 4
CONVERSION
Improved landing page
experiences should lead to
higher engagement and
conversion rates
EFFICIENCY
Optimized content
experiences leading to
higher quality scores in
paid search
RETENTION
More personalized
experiences leading to
greater trust between
brands and consumers
GROWTH
Always-on strategies
leading to incremental
gains across all channels
supporting digital

GET OUT OF YOUR SILO: THE PRINCIPLES OF SEO HAS
TOUCHPOINTS THROUGHOUT DIGITAL
ANALYTICS
Site-Side Analytics
to Measure
Performance &
Identify Growth
Opportunities
DATA
Largest, Unbiased
Panel of User
Needs/Desires
MEDIA
Landing Page &
Consumer
Experience
Optimization
CONTENT
Search Data to
Inform Content &
Creative
Development
Opportunities
Maximize Brand
Presence in Search
Results Pages
PAID SEARCH
How Sites are Built
Directly Impacts
SEO Performance
PLATFORM
Full Funnel Management
of Intent Across the
Search Ecosystem
E-COMMERCE

INTEGRATED ORGANIC & PAID SEARCH SHOULD BE THE STANDARD
Of marketers say they are not applying
SEO best practices to Product Detail
Pages (Kantar/Catalyst Study)63%
Estimate of how relevant your ads, keywords,
and landing page content are to a search user
KEYWORD QUALITY SITE QUALITY
Keyword CTR
Ad Text Relevance
Historical Performance
Relevance
Transparency
Load Time and Navigability
Paid Search Organic Search
TAKE ACTION:
Analyze landing page performance in site-
side analytics from paid search & compare
to overall performance
• Conversion Rates
• Engagement Metrics
• Audience Level Metrics
Review keyword performance for wasted
spend (at scale)
• Are you bidding on irrelevant keywords?
• Quality Score Metrics
• Content or Technical Gaps

THERE IS A LOT YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT YOUR BRAND IN
SEARCH RESULTS
TAKE ACTION:
• Search for your brand
• Search for your brand & your priority
business categories
• Analyze the delivery of results
• What are the gaps?
• Look at both mobile & desktop
• Look beyond Google
• Repeat this exercise for your
competitors and develop a SWOT
Pro-tip: You could essentially design a
strategic framework in under an hour by
analyzing a SERP, before looking at data
or your website crawls.

THERE IS A LOT YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT YOUR BRAND IN
SEARCH RESULTS
ADS
810
Different search
features in Google,
according to a
MarTech study
VIDEO IMAGES PDP INFO
LOCAL
LISTINGS
TWO TRUTHS: Google’s UI is optimized to maximize revenue and
to provide your audience with the type of content they think they want.

INCREMENTAL GAINS IN SEARCH ARE USUALLY THE RESULT OF
CATEGORICAL NON-BRANDED GROWTH
TAKE ACTION:
• Use data to help prioritize
investments in content creation
and/or website enhancements
• Categorical analysis of
landing pages
• Identify gaps between traffic
metrics and lower funnel KPIs
• Overlay landing page metrics
with search data to identify
growth opportunities
Low organic
traffic, but
high return

FOCUS ON CREATING CONTENT FOR USERS
IF WE’RE CREATING CONTENT FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF SEO,
THEN WE’RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.
ACCESSIBILITY CONTENT DELIVERY
You can have the best
content in the world, but if
Google can’t access it,
it may not matter
Content must satisfy user intent,
and not be created with
strings of keywords
Search engines continue to
evolve how they process content
and how it’s presented to users

INCREMENTAL GROWTH BEGINS WITH IMPROVEMENTS AND
OPTIMIZATIONS OF KEY LANDING PAGES
TAKE ACTION:
• Site-side analytics = source of truth
• Analyze high traffic driving landing
pages from organic search
• Filter by lowest converting pages
• Find out why the page isn’t
delivering on the promise from
search (query to content delivered)
• Are there outside factors in play,
such as seasonality or consumer
reviews, that we can’t control?
• How can we improve?
Don’t leave money on the table.
QUESTION: Why is a specific
page generating thousands of
visits from organic search, but
users aren’t taking any action?

THE SEO STRATEGY NEEDS TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN
ACQUISITION + CONVERSION
34
OPTIMIZE SITE PERFORMANCE
Prioritize improving brand site
foundations that enhance the
overall user experience
SATISFIES INTENT + ROCK-SOLID FOUNDATION + INSPIRES ACTION
Never static. Always evolving with business, market and user behavioral changes
CONSUMER FIRST APPROACH
Develop initiatives that focus on
people over search engines to
drive acquisition
IMPROVE CONVERSION
Identify any issues or gaps within
site analytics that are impacting
overall conversion rate
SATISFY CONSUMER INTENT
Ensure we’re filling the gap in user
needs, with content that promotes
engagement and inspires actionHOW SEO
CAN DRIVE
ACQUISITION,
CONVERSION &
RETENTION

FUTURE-PROOF
FOR AN UNPREDICTABLE FUTURE

YOUR SPECIFIC VERTICAL SHOULD DEFINE YOUR OVERALL
SEO STRATEGY
TAKE ACTION:
• You must apply best SEO practices
at vertical level
• An audit of your website isn’t
complete without baselining it
against your competitors
• How should we prioritize change?
• Is it an opportunity for a competitive
advantage or is it irrelevant?
AUTO
RETAIL
CPG
BROCHURE SITES
Large images, video content, detailed
specs and brand differentiation
PRODUCT DETAIL PAGES
Facets, dynamic filtering, images, product
data, seamless purchase experience
DO I EVEN NEED A WEBSITE?
Information brand/product content, product details,
seamless experience to commerce sites

CHANGING USER BEHAVIORS ARE LEADING TO DIFFERENT
TYPES OF QUERIES AND EXPERIENCES
VOICE SEARCH
Conversation search behavior is on the
rise, leading to more question-based
queries and a longer long-tail.
VISUAL SEARCH
Your mobile phone camera is becoming
the new search box, making image
optimization no longer optional.
Voice & visual
search are
rooted in
foundational
SEO

ALWAYS CHANGING SEARCH EXPERIENCES ARE LEADING EVEN
MORE PIVOTS IN STRATEGY
PERSONALIZATION
Increased personalization in search
through artificial intelligence and
virtual assistants.
COMMERCIALIZATION
Increased advertising of commercial
search results, with paid encroaching
on organic more than ever.
Know exactly
what people want
and give them an
optimal user
experience

THE BENEFITS OF ADDING SEO TO YOUR STRATEGIC MIX
Understand
Consumer
Needs + Intent
Always-On
Acquisition
Source
Maximize
Brand
Presence
Stop Paying
Premiums in
Paid Search
Improved
Landing
Experiences
Supporting
All Channels
Close The
Loop For
Demand
Created
By Media

ARE YOU READY FOR WHAT’S NEXT?
IMPLICATIONS:
If our brand isn’t filling the
gap in a person’s needs,
then they will be sent
somewhere that will.
Change Mindset
Rethink Ways of Working
Own Your Brand
Target Incremental Growth
Future-proof

MORE SEO RESOURCES
NEW ORIGINAL RESEARCH
www.StateOfEcomm.com
Download Catalyst's latest ecommerce research for new insights
into how consumers are using search and other performance
channels in their online shopping journey.
TECHSEO BOOST
Access on-demand technical SEO content from Catalyst’s SEO
conference, TechSEO Boost.
www.TechSEOBoost.com
QUESTIONS?
Drop us a line: Info@CatalystDigital.com

Q&A
info@catalystdigital.com

The Power of SEO: Protect Your Bottom Line & Future Proof Your Brand

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