This is a critical area in leveraging a website to close business, and Andrew Palmer is a master online marketer. His sweet spot is right at the juncture between content and search engine marketing. The two overlap with each other and with search engine optimization (which is tomorrow’s topic at the conference). I really enjoyed Andrew’s presentation. He’s a no BS guy with a sense of humor, and he really knows his stuff.

I’m just going to scratch the surface with my report here. As with the other presentations, I’ll be putting this information into practice, and I’ll blog about it when I do.

Here’s a synopsis of Andrew’s stuff:

• Google is all about relevancy (as in relevant content)
• landing pages, when written correctly, should get a 15% conversion rate (for a free offer, asking only for an email address)
• do both SEM and SEO, Google Ad Words and Ad Sense
• the third position in Google ranking is better than the first, because you’ll get as many click thrus for less money
• landing pages must match what’s in Google teaser ads
• always tweak the Display URL in a Google teaser to add it to your sales pitch (doesn’t have to match the actual URL)
• lots of tips re keyword/keyphrase selection
• run the Google Placement Performance report which shows the list of sites your Google Ad Sense ads appear on - you’ll probably want to exclude some sites
• TEST - spend some money to run different versions of all the pieces to see what works best, it can make a huge difference
• a website is just one part of a web strategy - blog, enewsletter, podcasts, SEM and SEO should all work together (synergy)
• create value or die (another reference to content - relevant and useful content!)
• #1 online goal - that your business exists; and it doesn’t exist if it isn’t on the first page of Google results
• #2 online goal - you need to be a resource (expert, trusted advisor); and the way to accomplish that is with relevant and useful content
• the most important factor is (guess what?) CONTENT!
• Google’s success is driven by providing a RELEVANT answer to every search question (aka CONTENT)
• start with the end goal in mind and work backwards thru the various pieces (landing page, teaser ad, keyphrase, query) to ensure they’re all congruent.

That’s only the first two sections of an eight section presentation, but it outlines the structure of the content. As my Brit friend Jane would say, “Bloody brilliant!”

Stay tuned for tips from one of the planet’s top SEO writers tomorrow.

Tags: content, keyphrases, keywords, SEM, SEO