Jan 5, 2011 at 11:17am ET by Kelly Gillease
Every day in every way, you can become a better search engine marketer. Here are some resolutions to start 2011 off right!
There are still many search marketers out there who are running the same desktop search campaigns in mobile. Remember when you did that for content targeting five years ago and how well that turned out? Now is the time to make healthier search engine marketing choices. Run separate campaigns for desktop search and for mobile.
Mobile search and desktop search campaigns don’t have the same conversion rate, so you will definitely want to have different bidding strategies. Also, the mobile context differs from desktop, you might want to have an ad that provides an address, phone number, or directs visitors to a more optimized web experience, or promotes a mobile app. Running separate, optimized mobile campaigns is more efficient on all these fronts.
I see lots of dumb money in the mobile search space right now, many marketers are clearly running the same campaigns in mobile as desktop, and I am sure their ROI will increasingly hurt from it as mobile search share skyrockets in 2011.
There are a lot of great search engine marketing features and tools out there I still don’t see all that many in-house search engine marketers using. Resolve in 2011 to test something new! Google’s retargeting, Twitter ads, or site or product extensions would each be an interesting test for an e-commerce site. For a local brick and mortar shop, try testing location or phone extensions.
Already feel like you’re a whiz with those? Maybe it is time to try Facebook ads or AdCenter mobile ads. Or if you have some extra budget, is Google TV worth a look? How about promoting videos on YouTube, or a takeover campaign there for a big launch? After Google, YouTube is the second largest search engine, so advertising there or working on a video strategy is definitely worth a look in 2011.
The point is to pick something a little out of your comfort zone. In-house search engine marketers, particularly after a couple of years, can really get into a rut. A safe rut, but a rut nonetheless, and like all bad habits, worth working on breaking.
Jump into something new, maybe a challenge where it is not as straightforward to measure success. You might not immediately get the best ROI or do a perfect job managing it on day one, but you will learn something, improve with practice and enhance your skill set.
If you regularly read my columns, you’ll know I am a big advocate of volunteering with your favorite non-profit organizations to help them out with implementing and spending every penny of their Google Grants. I won’t belabor that point more (just do it!). But another great way to give back is to mentor a newbie to search engine marketing.
Maybe there’s a junior member of your organization eager to learn, a friend who needs help with their local business, or just someone you chat with at a search conference. Search engine marketers never seem to have enough time, but make time to mentor. I am sure you’ll find it rewarding in and of itself, and without sounding to new age-y karmic about it, these things always seem to come back to you many fold.
And, of course, have a Happy Searchtastic New Year!
Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.
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