No doubt about it, Search Engine Marketing is a great tool. And the great thing about its CPC model is marketers only pay for qualified leads. It’s no wonder the growth and outlook for search is so rosy. It’s important to remember though, whilst search is a brilliant lead generator, it’s only the start of things. Think of it as the girl agreeing to the first date. What happens ‘next’ may determine whether she agrees to ‘coffee back at your place’ or completely writes you off as a dud. Too many marketers spend big on the chase, but not enough on the main event. And the main event, when it comes to search, is where you take ‘the date’ after they click. We’ve all experienced it. We click on the search ad, so full of promise, only to be taken to the home page of a big website, left to haplessly navigate and fend for ourselves. After a few clicks we’re disappointed and no closer to finding what was promised. In the real world when the date screams ‘Stop! Where are you taking me!’, it’s a fair bet another date is unlikely.
The answer of course is to plan search more holistically; plan it thinking specifically about where the clicks will lead to. Ask yourself, is there a high correlation between what is written in my search ads and where we land people? And remember a well developed strategy may mean we have multiple landing pages. What this means too, is that it’s critical that the people planning your search are collaborating closely and seamlessly with the people responsible for building your digital assets. If they’re not, then its costing you lost opportunities. On the other hand if you get it right, you’ll be one step closer to the start of many long and wonderful relationships.
