John S. Wolfe

Author Bill Hunt, right, talks with Roger Willis of SEO.com after the Feb. 24 SEMPO AZ talk.

Ever use Google?

Ever end or change your search after scanning the first page of results?

Thought so.

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) is into that stuff, and the Arizona chapter recently hosted a man they introduced as “the father of search,” Bill Hunt.

Mr. Hunt, who lives in Connecticut, spoke at the SEMPO Arizona’s Feb. 24 event at SkySong in Scottsdale. The “semi-retired” 46-year-old author of “Search Engine Marketing, Inc.” offered an easy-to-understand how-to on the intricacies of search marketing. (See more at www.whunt.com)

The appeal of search marketing is simple: It can connect you to “intent-driven” prospects. Prospects are telling you what they want, he said.

So how do you get your name or service from page 134 (or page 5,378) from that Google search to the front page?

The trick involves the keywords you use and the links you have.

Popularity

Mr. Hunt offered this analogy:

Remember when you were a freshman in high school? You didn’t know many people, and most of the school didn’t know you.

You might have played soccer, and been pretty good. But no one knew it. There was another kid who was a little bit better, who seemed to have a few more friends, and who might have even gotten the attention of some upperclassmen.

You decide to seek some attention, and bring a bunch of pizzas to the lunchroom one day. Everyone comes to your table, even the upperclassmen, and you look popular.

But the next door you don’t bring pizza, and no one stops by your table. You’re back to being a lowly freshman.

That’s today’s marketing. Here today, gone tomorrow.

In a Google world, your company’s reputation is the midpoint between what your brand says and what the world thinks of you.

What the world says is best represented in its links to you – your Google profile, your industry, the friends of your friends. Connections to the right people in the marketplace in the context of search create “linkages.” Multiple linkages represent popularity – just like high school.

Professionals in brand management need to work extra hard to make sure – on a technical level – that the service or product is on the search radar screen. An analogy is having an amazing interior to your store, with great products, but no sign out front to get customers in the store.

It’s not just maintaining a website. It’s not just sending out press releases. It’s not using Twitter. It’s not just picking out keywords to use in a paid-search campaign.

It’s actively engaging other people, who will become the “links” that boost your popularity. If your website is vibrant and fresh, it moves ahead. If the company engages bloggers or news sites in that industry, it moves ahead. If it has a presence in social media – among “fans” or “followers” at Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube – it moves ahead. If the company actively manages keywords it wants to “own” – like generic product segments, specific product names or locations – it moves ahead.

All of these aspects create “popularity.” Guess what happens to the brand in the search world?

“You want to ‘own’ the playing field,” Mr. Hunt told the audience of about 100. “Have a plan to ‘own’ the shelf.”

Create a central theme

To be effective, the marketing team needs to include the product-development group and any new “social media” division, he added. Google algorithms will gather around keywords. If the product messaging side isn’t working with the content distribution side, too many descriptors may be diluting a central theme.

But if the team identifies what keywords will be most effective in influence search engines – and everyone is focused on relentlessly repeating those words across all media – the brand rises to the top.

Mr. Hunt shared an example. Geico’s search-engine analysts realized that customers used the word “quote” in their searches, like using “auto insurance quote.” Among insurance companies, guess which company was the only one to include the word “quote” at its website?

Some companies promote their food products as “infant nutrition.” But they fail to understand that customers search for “baby food.”

Tide believed its detergents could be found by people searching “stain removal.” But with a little more scrutiny, its marketers realized that it should be linked to searches for “carpet stain removal,” “lipstick stain removal” and even “blood stain removal.”

DuPont saw an opportunity to market its products through customer searches that began “how to … .” It decided to produce a series of videos to help customers, like “how to care for stone countertops.” With DuPont products, of course.

But this also shows that companies need to be more vigilant in protecting their brands. If some customers start linking the company with the word “sucks,” the marketing team needs to take action. Mr. Hunt said that his testing showed it takes 87 clicks on a link to move it up the Google search.

Understand the customer journey. Know their buying habits. Take advantage of periods of increased relevance, created by seasons, storms, personalities, big events or crises. Each new product you offer knocks a competitor’s product off the shelf.

Next up: Geographical targeting

Mr. Hunt noted that search is evolving, and it could have an impact on companies’ marketing campaigns. For instance, more search will involve “geographical targeting” which could give local entities an advantage.

He said some companies that have Spanish-speaking customers are exploring setting up micro-sites in specific countries of Latin America and Europe to serve 27 different dialects and provide local relevance.

Another trend will be more “activity-based” search by people using cell phones in stores or at restaurants.

Finally, Mr. Hunt urges companies to use trial-and-error to hone their strategy. They can reverse-engineer the websites of competitors above them to analyze what’s working for them, create new websites with new keywords or contexts, or change designs like header words.

Jeff Pruitt of Acendant, who is a member of the national SEMPO board, talks with Dylan Downhill of Elixir after the presentation.