So you've decided to move forward with running a search engine marketing campaign - now what? Which search engines should your advertisements appear on? There are hundreds of search engines that exist to help navigate the wealth of information that is available online. So before you run a campaign, it is imperative that you take a step back and review all your options - something that Shaker can happily help you with. In part two of this series on search engine marketing (SEM), I will examine some of the players in this high-stakes venue by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of top search engines, as well as upcoming employment search engines. I will also outline some of the key questions to consider before choosing a search engine with which to advertise.

"Google, and Yahoo!, and MSN oh my..."
At the heart of all search engines is the goal of providing results that match the user's intentions. But which search engine is right for you to advertise on? Should you use a meta-search engine or a regional search engine? Do you capitalize on a people-based search engine or an answer-based search engine? Would an employment search engine or blog search engine work for you? Or are you best off going with the broad-based search engines that everyone is familiar with, such as Google, Yahoo!, and MSN?

The majority of search engines offer some form of pay per click (PPC) advertising platform. Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are currently battling for the top spot in search engine marketing. Google currently claimed over 50% of search volume for the month of June (see table below), Yahoo! came in second with 20%, and MSN followed with 13%. Search engines are waging these battles in part by increasing their content networks which helps increase their search traffic, strengthening their technology and platforms for advertisers, and looking to the future beyond text ads - all in the hopes of providing superior products for advertisers. Let's look at some of the differences between the Big 3 and how Shaker uses these systems.

Top 10 US Search Providers for June 2007 Ranked by Searches (U.S.)

Google
Google makes up the largest portion of searches in the United States, meaning there are more users utilizing the search engine and the potential for more people to view your messaging as an advertiser. Google also has a very user-intuitive interface that Shaker uses to manage clients' SEM campaigns. In addition, Google offers Google Analytics, which allows Shaker to collect data on SEM campaigns, examining how clicks converted to applicants.

Though Google provides the highest search traffic of any search engine, with this high volume of search activity comes more advertiser competition and potentially higher CPCs (cost per click). Depending upon advertiser competition for certain keywords and geo-targeting, CPCs can vary greatly. Recruitment SEM campaigns are also seeing an increase in CPCs. Currently, pharmaceutical, sales, IT, and healthcare are the fastest growing industries using SEM for recruitment advertising; therefore, bid management on search terms must be managed with cost-efficiency as a priority in order to generate the appropriate visibility while maintaining budget integrity.

Most recently, Google modified their AdWords rank formula (the formula used to determine which advertisers will be in first position, second, third, and so forth). Google will continue to use the Quality Score as the greatest determining factor in ad rank, but now will begin setting minimum prices for top ad positions. What this means to advertisers is that bids for top placement must now meet a minimum value along with a high-quality score in order to be in first position. This, of course, has the potential to lead to even higher CPCs.

Yahoo!
Yahoo! has been the most ardent competitor of Google, possibly stemming from Google's refusal to be bought out by Yahoo! in its early days. Yet, Yahoo! is very different from Google in its search interface. While Google is kept clean of any content, Yahoo!'s search field is designed as part of its content, which consists of news, video, weather, email, HotJobs, etc. This type of interface has the potential to aid in search traffic based upon content which the user is engaged with. For instance, a featured article on interviewing tips might fuel additional searches in the employment sector.

However, Yahoo! is beginning to catch up by adding some of the technology options that Shaker is currently integrating into our clients' campaigns. In February, Yahoo! launched their new search system, "Panama." This platform allows Shaker to geo-target SEM campaigns and has more detailed reporting and bid management tools available. Yahoo! also changed from long descriptions to short descriptions (similar to Google's character limitations) in May, which aids in maintaining a clean search interface and keeping search traffic moving.

Although Panama is helping advertisers gain increased targeting options, the new interface is still more difficult to navigate. Granted, while the Panama platform allows for geo-targeting ads, the targeting is not as finite and precise at this time as Google's. Yahoo! is able to target at the DMA level, but Google allows for zip code and hand-drawn radius options.

MSN
MSN is unique in that it offers even greater targeting abilities for SEM campaigns. Not only can ads be targeted by keyword and geography, campaigns also can be targeted by gender and age group. Another advantage is that MSN has less advertiser competition at this point, so CPCs may be lower than on Google and Yahoo!

However, MSN is new to offering their own PPC platform so their bid management system doesn't allow a lot of flexibility. Also, MSN at this time doesn't have the high search traffic numbers behind it.

Beyond the "Big 3"
Even though Google and Yahoo! appear to be the "Big Kahunas" in search, the marketplace is not completely monopolized. This leaves room for advertisers to take advantage of smaller search engines offering paid placement. Employment search engines, such as Indeed and SimplyHired, are great examples. Although not quite a household name, both are gaining ground as they partner with different content networks helping them increase their visibility to job seekers, especially on the social networking scene by sponsoring employment listings on MySpace and LinkedIn.

Employment search engines function the same as other general search engines, meaning they crawl and index material that is online. The difference, though, is in the type of information. Employment search engines provide results in the form of job listings that have been scraped from major job boards, niche sites, association sites, and company sites that have opted into the search engine. Choosing to run an SEM campaign on an employment search engine allows companies to target the active job seeker when they are searching for specific employment opportunities. Another advantage is that the CPCs here are much lower than what advertisers would find on the major search engines, but there is a minimum spending level for these campaigns. Shaker is carefully watching them, as they quickly partner with additional sites and increase their presence to job seekers, as an additional means to increase visibility to job seekers.

Getting Started
As more advertisers become involved with search engine marketing and the marketplace increasingly becomes competitive, choosing the right search engine will become a vital decision for all companies. But what does that mean for our clients when Shaker is analyzing how to choose a search engine? It means that more strategy and data analysis will become part of the decision process. Here are a few questions we consider when choosing a search engine:

1. What is the budget for the campaign? If you have a large budget, you can advertise on multiple search engines to strengthen your overall visibility. If there is a smaller budget at play, then keywords, geo-targeting, and overall search traffic might be some factors to examine.
2. Where is my audience? Know your applicants. Know where they go, what they look for, and what would interest them. If you already know the answer to this question, great. If not, Shaker can work with you to find out. Once we've learned where your audience is, we can determine what type of search engine will help you get the best results, as well as which keywords to bid on. Should it be a general search engine for passive/active job seekers, an employment search engine for active job seekers, a product site such as Amazon.com (another site that offers SEM listings), or a combination to maximize visibility to potential candidates?
3. What works? The answer to this comes from data collected in previous campaigns. Search engine marketing is constantly evolving as technology becomes enhanced and as user behavior changes. So tracking the results of past campaigns to help with future decisions is a must. This information will help determine what search engine provided the most impressions, clicks, and ultimately conversions.

Shaker's specialized search engine marketing experience allows us to effectively manage your campaign for the highest ROI. It's not a simple process and typically requires refinements along the way, but that is the benefit of SEM. We can make adjustments to the campaign on the fly, such as adding and removing keywords or even shifting dollars to the search engines that are performing better - something that was never before possible with other media. It is science mixed with art as campaigns are tested, evaluated, optimized, and tested again.

Your Shaker Account Executive and the Shaker IMS team are ready to help you initiate your SEM programs, make adjustments and find success. Feel free to reach out to us at seminfo@shaker.com and we can get you started!

View part 1 from previous newsletter