Designing Websites for Visibility, Rob Garner at the Association of National Advertisers conference,...

Designing for Visibility ANA Digital Marketing and Social Media Day

January 27, 2010

Hope RossAccount Director

iCrossing

Rob GarnerStrategy Director

iCrossing

COPYRIGHT ICROSSING / PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 2

Overview

• About Combined Insurance and iCrossing• General best practices for search informed web design• Project outline• Process• Research approach• Creative results• Performance results


About Combined Insurance

• Founded in 1922, Combined Insurance is a leading provider of supplemental accident, health and life insurance products

• Company background– Services customers in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific– Sales force and corporate staff in excess of 10K worldwide– In 2008, sold by AON and became a member of the ACE Group of

Companies

• Mission– Is to provide personal service and exceptional products tailored to help

protect the needs of individuals and families– This mission is the basis of Combined Insurance’s brand promise “Let’s

Make this Easy”


About iCrossing

• iCrossing is a global digital marketing agency that combines talent and technology to help world-class brands find and connect with their customers

• Company background– Founded in 1998– 550 employees – 12 offices in the U.S. and Europe– Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona

• Digital marketing services include; paid search, search engine optimization, Web development, social media, mobile, display, research and analytics


MediaResearch &Analytics

WebsiteDevelopment

SearchOptimization

Social MediaMobile

Marketing

• Paid search media

• Display and rich media advertising

• Online to offline integration

• Global campaign integration

• Market research

• Campaign analytics

• Integrated dashboard reporting

• Linguistic Profiling

• Experiential Mapping

• Site development strategy

• User experience development

• Creative and technical design and development

• Natural search optimization

• RSS Feeds

• Content syndication

• Social media audit

• Reputation management

• Word-of-mouth campaigns

• Mobile strategy development

• Mobile site development and optimization

• Mobile media campaigns

Technology

• Merchantize™ Paid Media

• Interest2Action™Search Analytics

• Network Sense™ Reputation Monitoring

• Network Sense™ Social Media

• Sharp View™ Marketing Dashboard

Agency services


with clients including…


Top 25 Interactive

Top Digital AgencyTop Search Agency

Fastest Growing Companies

Top 25 InteractiveNumber One Search Agency

Search Agency of the Year

Awards and Accolades

CONSIDERATIONS FOR SEO

IN A SITE REDESIGN

designing for visibility


Internal SEO considerations that a site owner controls

• Article Syndication

• Body Content

• Canonicalization Issues

• Cloaking

• Digital Assets

• Directory Presence

• Document Accessibility

• Duplicate Content

• Frames

• Hidden Text

• Internal Linking Optimization

• Javascript & Flash Navigation

• Meta Descriptions

• Meta Keywords

• Micro Sites and Sub-Domains

• Obtaining Links from Relevant Sites

• On-page Javascript and CSS

• Optimizing Images

• Page Titles

• Redirecting

• Requiring User Actions

• Robots.txt Files

• Secure Servers

• Server Location

• Sites Built in Flash

• Splash Pages

• URL Structure

• Using Ajax


Start with these considerations…

• Budget and scope for search• Start with search at the onset of all design and dev

discussions• Include search as both a business and technical

requirement• Build a business case if necessary – there is always

a risk of losing dollars from natural search equity in every redesign

• Don't remove content that supports coveted rankings without assessing risks first


Focus on strong benchmark analysis, followed by post-launch reporting

• The following data points can be used as benchmark metrics:– Ranking visibility

– Traffic volume from search

– Volume of various defined actions

– Revenue generated from natural search

Before launch After launch


Ensure that Flash is both crawlable and indexable

Factor:

Valuable website content is implemented using Flash technology

Implications:

Search engine spiders cannot read content or follow links implemented in Flash

Best Practices/Action Required:•Implement a static HTML, low-bandwidth version of the website that mirrors the content within your Flash files•Implement user-agent detection to deliver the HTML site to spiders and the Flash version to human visitors

Alternative Practices:

Break up the Flash movies into smaller components and lay the SWF files into optimized, linked HTML pages with unique URL’s


Ensure that Ajax is both crawlable and indexable

Factor:AJAX, or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a web development technique used to load content from a server without changing pages. AJAX relies heavily on JavaScript to display and swap content.

Implications:Search engine spiders generally cannot read AJAX content. Implementation could block content visibility to spiders.

Best practice/Action required:Use AJAX selectively, primarily for supplemental content associated with low search volumes.

Alternative Practices:Create a static, spider friendly version of your site that includes content from within your JavaScript.


Use site language that is consistent with the user's perception of your product or service

Industry Language

Oral care

Oral health

Locate dental professional

Good oral hygiene

Oral hygiene

Good Oral hygiene

Whitening

Battery-powered toothbrush

Kid’s toothbrush

Professional whitening system

148

5,232

10

190

5,155

190

5,075

145

592

670

17,407

Search Volume per

month

Consumer Language

Dental care

Dental health

Find a dentist

Dental hygiene

Dental hygiene

Personal hygiene

Tooth whitening

Electric toothbrush

Child toothbrush

Tooth whitening system

188,818

74,588

29,525

24,558

24,558

17,670

146,212

16,522

835

6,205

529,491


Avoid the creation of URL canonicalization issues

Factor:

Canonicalization is the process of picking the best URL when there are several choices, usually referring to the homepage of a website.

Implications:

Search Engines may not pick the client-preferred URL, rather the one they determine to be most relevant.

Best practice/Action required:

There are a few ways to ensure that the proper URL is indexed:

Consistent linking:•When linking to www.domain.com on other pages within the site, always use this method•When requesting links from other sites, always point to www.domain.com if using this method from the example above

Use 301 Permanent redirects on the web server

Redirect the non-www homepage to the www version of the homepage

Use the canonicalization tag

Viewed as the same by most search engines:

• http://www.dfwsem.org• http://www.dfwsem.org/index.php• http://dfwsem.org• http://dfwsem.org/index.php


Set up a URL redirection plan

• In just about every redesign project, at least some content is removed, and URLs go away

• Redirection helps the engines and users to point them to the most similar page on your site

• Important to spend time mapping map out which URLs are going away, and where they should be pointed– Ex. site map, home page, custom 404 page, similar new

page of content

• Don't sit on the plan -- execute it on the day or evening that a site is pushed out of production


Creating experiences that meet the unique needs of each visitor

Dog Breed: (category total: 611,743 monthly searches)

Standard Schnauzer

‘dog grooming tip’

Type of Dog (70,197) “hunting dog” (15,892)

Cocker Spaniel Puppies

Puppy Breed(category total: 1.7 million monthly searches)

“Fancy Dog Bed” (5,088)

Travel Plans

Cheapest Tires

Mercedes Wheels

Kitten Descriptors (63,273) – these included cute, baby, kitten color

5Zigens

Size (61,044) – included small, large, miniature

Feeding baby Kittens

Wheels

Cat Breeds (307,140) Kitten Breeds (119,383)

Sweet rims

Cat Behavior (21,782)

Both Dog and Cats: both dog and cat owners searched for picturesand names frequently Pictures (955,145) vs. Photo (77,475)

Names (390,909)

tires Boxer Photos

“hunting dog”

Dog Health (143,703)

> Information “dog health problem/question”

> Grooming “dog grooming tip”

> Health/Solutions “dog health symptom”

Minivan tires

“Premium Dog Food” (22,358)

Cats (72,640) “older cat care”

Travel Expedition

Cat Breeds (307,140) “Persian cat”

Volkswagen Rims

Consider a relational approach to architecture, as opposed to "top-down"


Educate your organization about search

• Start by convincing your team of the value of SEO• Convince your Project Managers to budget time for

SEO education, and SEO related tasks• Create and distribute a PowerPoint deck or handout

with an overview of SEO for everyone on your team• Integrate SEO training into each phase of the

project, specific to that phase• Present a list of technical obstacles of your current

site, and how they could be remedied, to your team• Teach that SEO is an on-going process, not a finite

task


Determine which types of digital assets make sense, and create a place for them

• The days of ten blue links are gone• Universal search leverages various asset types

– This includes images, video, social status, news, etc

• Focus on the most appropriate asset types, depending upon your vertical

• Ensure that your new site design has a place to accommodate these asset types

• Optimize and distribute assets both internally (within your public facing site) and externally (locations outside your domain like social networks, feeds, etc)


Implement RSS feeds for various types of content distribution

Factor:RSS (which, in its latest format, stands for "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or special promotions. A great way to easily syndicate your content to website owners.

Implications:RSS feeds give full control to the publisher. The big benefit to RSS is that individuals opt-in to content of interest, totally controlling the flow of information that they receive. Not to mention it is a great way to share your information with other site owners for virtually nothing.

Best Practices/Action Required:Provide users with fresh relevant content specific to your industryIf you can break up frequently changing content into specific groups it may be more appealing for others to subscribeKeep the information short but descriptive, tempting users to visit your website for more informationMake sure to syndicate your feeds


Use search data and ask search questions when developing personas

COMBINED INSURANCE

+ ICROSSING



Combined’s Web Strategy

• Improve brand awareness – Leverage the internet as a vehicle that brings our brand and products to life for

new and existing consumers– Inform interested candidates about the company and encourage applicants

• Improve user experience (new and existing customers)– Design a wireframe with intuitive navigation– Develop content that is clear and easy to understand (no “insurance speak”)– Ensure visitors are one click away from anything

• Improve Natural Search Optimization (NSO)– Provide a means for consumers to find us via search engines– Improve our position over the competition

• Drive lead generation via a strong “call to action”– Increase web leads– Increase inbound calls– Optimize sites pages for improved PPC performance


Project goals

Primary goal• Drive more qualified leads

Secondary goal• Help existing customers find what they need

Success measures• Captured leads, qualified leads, converted leads


The project

Challenge: Provide a meaningful experience for users searching for supplemental insurance, and enabling ease-of-use for existing customers, while staying true to the attributes of the Combined Insurance brand.

Goal: Connect with prospective applicants to drive online leads, assisting current customers meet their needs, educating on the subject of supplemental insurance

Metrics: Increase in visitors, leads, follow-ups with existing customers (reduction in call center load)


The solution

Our approach: Combine in-depth market research with search analytics to drive the architecture, creative and search strategy for the new CombinedInsurance.com

iCrossing believes: If you truly understand what people are looking for and how they search for it, you can create online experiences that deliver on promises and engage the user at every step of the customer journey

RequirementsSite delivery,

Site Map,etc

Final Site

User &Stakeholder

Inputs

Prototype 4

User &Stakeholder

Inputs

Prototype 3

User &Stakeholder

Inputs

Prototype 2

StakeholderAnalysis

CustomerAnalysis

TechnologyAudit

ContentEvaluation

CompetitiveAnalysis

LinguisticAnalysis

User &Stakeholder

Inputs

Prototype 1

Discover Program Develop

Functional Requirements

Current Situation Report

User Personas

User Experience Strategy

Prioritization

Functional Recommendations

RequirementsSite delivery,

Site Map,etc

Final Site

User &Stakeholder

Inputs

Prototype 4

User &Stakeholder

Inputs

Prototype 3

User &Stakeholder

Inputs

Prototype 2

StakeholderAnalysis

CustomerAnalysis

TechnologyAudit

ContentEvaluation

CompetitiveAnalysis

LinguisticAnalysis

User &Stakeholder

Inputs

Prototype 1

Discover Program Develop

Functional Requirements

Current Situation Report

User Personas

User Experience Strategy

Prioritization

Functional Recommendations

THE PROCESS



Develop User Experience

Strategy Brief

Conduct keyword research

Conduct user

research

Interview 5 – 7 stakeholders including UK

representative

The process: envision

Gather existing & new research

data / define hosting needs

EnvisionGather business, brand, user insights, and search data

ElaborateCreate site framework, design and development, page build

ExecuteQA testing, deployment


The process: elaborate

Establish hosting

environment

Create copy deck

Develop visual design

Create site map and

wireframes

Develop creative concept




Baseline search metrics

Develop test

strategy


The process: execute




Ongoingmeasurement

and optimization

Deploy Interest2Action

Deploy newsite

Execute QA tests

THE RESEARCH PROCESS



Understanding the Combined Insurance audience

• Linguistic profiling: We provided Combined Insurance with an in-depth understanding of the vernacular used within their target categories by mining search data and applying proprietary algorithms to the data

• Competitive search landscape: We defined competitive set and identified opportunities to capture market share in the search landscape

• Interviews: Extensive interviews were conducted with audience targets on how they chose insurance products, their impressions of the Combined Insurance brand, and how they behaved in an online environment

• Experiential mapping: Using our primary research methodology, we defined current research and decision-making processes, identifying barriers and trigger moments; we also mapped keyword landscapes to the process to ensure laser-like campaign targeting

• Personas: Customer interviews and search-informed experience mapping were synthesized in a collection of personas expressing needs, frustrations, values and behavioral tendencies to inform development of the online experience.


Methodology - how we approached the challenge

5. Keywords are classified/structured into relevant

categories based upon criteria

E X T E N D

Seed

Concepts

Generate

Keywords

C A T E G O R I Z E

Calculate

Volumes

R E S E A R C H

Analyze Findings

A N A L Y Z E

S T R U C T U R E

Classify Keywords

1. Seed concepts are established upon business needs and requirements

2. Keyword lists are generated through various extensions of

seed concepts

3. Keywords are analyzed and annual search volumes are

calculated

4. Search universe is analyzed. Criteria is established to define

nomenclature patterns

Identify Patterns

6. Dissect the keywords and findings to determine any unique/emerging patterns

I D E N T I F Y

FindSolutions

7. Formulate recommendations based upon findings mapped to

business needs

R E C O M M E N D


Type767 Searches

Detail2,003 Searches

Geography841Searches

General1,009 Searches


All Categories 24,512 Estimated Searches

Supplemental Insurance7,369 Estimated Searches

Government2,249 Searches

Brand536 Searches

Type2,354 Searches

Disability Insurance11,998 Estimated Searches

Product keywords were used to generate a list of 349 search terms related to Combined Insurance’s business

*Note- The total of the classification search volumes is higher than total category search volume due to the overlap of terms between classifications.

**Sub-categories shown have estimated search volumes > 100

Information730 Searches

Gap Insurance4,038 Estimated Searches

Disability Income846 Estimated Searches

Type722 Searches

Type217 Searches


Who?818 Searches

Loss of Income148 Estimated Searches


General191 Searches

Who?369 Searches

Brand313 Searches


Organization191 Searches

Who?170 Searches

Action121 Searches

Government213 Searches

Why?152 Searches

Geography113 Searches

Detail122 Searches

Who?104 Searches

Low Income113 Estimated Searches

Category Breakdown


• The topics of Disability Insurance and Supplemental Insurance were the main drivers in this analysis

– Searches with keywords pertaining to General Descriptions and Types of insurance were present in a majority of the searches

– Combined Insurance can capture the consumer searching for insurance by employing SEO strategies for the general terms and optimizing their website for various types of insurance search terminology

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000 11,998

7,369

4,038

846148 113

Example: Classification


• Consumers searched for specific types of insurance when looking into the “supplemental insurance” category

– 18% of the searches contained the keyword “health”

– “dental” was only applied in 5% of the searches

– Combined can improve their visibility by applying NSO optimization to develop content around the general term health when referring to supplemental insurance

Example: Classification > Supplemental Insurance > Type

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

Health Dental Medical Tricare Prescription

1,349

341

204129

60


What did we do?

We interviewed 12 Combined internal

Stakeholders, performed a competitive

review of 5 different sites, and leveraged

dozens of research and data sources.


•McKinsey Brand Idea Deck

•Buffalo Learning Summary

•Developed personas

•Stakeholder interviews

– Chief Marketing Officer– Vice-President, Marketing– Assistant VP, Database

Marketing– Systems Developer, IT– Assistant VP, Marketing– Financing Services (Lead

Processing)– Director, Insurance Services

(Claims)– Graphic and Marketing

Assistant– Vice President, Customer

Service– Vice President, Application

Services, IT– Senior Vice President

•Forrester

•Hitwise

•eMarketer

Combined Inputs iCrossing Inputs 3rd Party Inputs

Staffers

•Linguistic analysis and experience mapping(in progress)

•Obstacle analysis report (in progress)

•Competitive position analysis report

•Content evaluation

•Competitive analysis

Input sources


Personas & journeys

Identified Primary and Secondary Personas: collaborative exercises produced four primary personas

Developed Journeys for Each: online and off-line interaction points, primarily preceding enrollment

Prioritized Content and Features: established a hierarchy of requirements based on customer value, business value and development complexity/cost


Commonalities that show what users want

Behavioral modes• Browser

• Hunter

• Communicator

• Tracker

• Investigator

• Skeptic

• Decider

• Problem-solver

What they want• Assistance

• Advice

• Education

• Protection

• A personalized experience

• A 2-way dialogue

• Value

User types

•Insurance believer

•Reluctant researcher

•Enthusiastic learner

•Directed shopper

•Insurance manager

•Online streamliner


In a user’s words—based on the six primary things the site can enable

guideme

teachme

protect me

connect me

assistme

engageme

Defining an action architecture for Combined.com

• Assist me – “I’m short on time. I’m hunting for...hurry and help me…”

• Guide me/advise me – “I need help finding the right solution.”

• Protect me – “Show me that you can protect me and my family.”

• Teach me – “Prove to me why I should trust you, your expertise, and your products.”

• Engage me – “Give me reasons to use the site beyond research and purchase.”

• Connect me – “Let me interact with you in the way that I choose at any moment.”


Creating a relational architecture to satisfy specific users’ search queries

“Let’s Make It Easy”

The overall tone of the new website was to be “Let’s Make It Easy”, focusing on the needs of help users who need supplemental insurance, as well as serving existing customers who need help

“Findability” is a usability issue

Whether it was a new user coming from a search engine, or an existing user seeking information on their own policy, relevant information had to be equally represented on the site and equally “findable” through the search engines

Delivering on the search “promise”

The traditional idea of creating one primary homepage had to be modified to accommodate multiple points of entry that resulted from searches on a variety of insurance options and needs

THE CREATIVE RESULTS



Old Global Wireframe


New Global Wireframe


Where search intention is met with relevant answers: High ranking pages get straight to the heart of what searchers are seeking

Findability is a usability issue: Both new visitors and existing customers can find what they are looking for, faster

Delivering on the search “promise”: Multiple points of entry create a relevant and engaging experience

A creative solution: one brand supporting many user intentions, including search engine traffic


Search drives the experience

Interest: Supplemental Insurance Interest: Supplemental Health Insurance

Specific branding and content

Multiple points of entry reflect the expressed intent of a users’ search


Action-based vernacular reflects user goals

Find > Browse > Learn > Connect

THE PERFORMANCE RESULTS



YOY Interactive Results – 2008 to 2009

• Unique visitors = up 34%• Search Visits = 35% of all traffic (NSO represented 20%)• Natural Search Optimization efforts increased keyword

visibility YOY by 46%– Breakout by type

Branded keywords up 47% Non-branded keywords up 84%

– Top non-brand keywords – supplemental insurance, disability insurance and accident insurance

• 25K+ on-line applications captured in the new Applicant Tracking System (June 8 through December 31, 2009)


Paid Search

Increased keyword click-through rate by (CTR) by 45% YOY while reducing cost per acquisition (CPA) by 40%


Search - “supplemental insurance”


Ranking visibility – before and after

Ranking visibility for sample terms, old site

Ranking visibility for sample terms, new site


Takeaways and discussion points

• “Top down” vs. relational approach• Market research• Findability as a usability issue• Search analytics• Personas and journeys• Challenges of search informed design• Business cases for search in design

THANK YOU ANA Digital Marketing and Social Media Day

January 27, 2010

Hope RossAccount Director

[email protected]

Rob GarnerStrategy Director

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Appendix – Specific Deliverables


Initial Keyword Research

Before any work begins, research should be done to determine the “core” keywords that are relevant to the site.

These should be the terms that will give the client the greatest return on implementation; either based on traffic or previous conversion data.

Research should come from a mixture of Paid data (if available), conversion data, and search volume.


Linguistic Profiling

Ideally, full linguistic profiling will be done on the site to determine how searchers are searching for the products/services offered by the client.

One useful takeaway of this is the nomenclature map, which helps to break out common things people are searching for when looking for your client’s products/services.

This document along with the Linguistic Profile findings should be utilized when creating the Site Roadmap.


Roadmap Review (pre-client)

When the Roadmap is close to finalized, but has not been reviewed by the client yet, the SEO strategist should review the Roadmap to ensure a number of things:

1.Categories exist for key term types identified in Linguistic Profiling

2.Categories and Sub-Categories are named in the way that users are searching for these


Wireframe Review

During this time, the IA’s should be developing site wireframes. These are a visual representation of where things will be laid out on the different templates of the site.

NSO should review these and perform Template Optimization recommendations on the wireframes.

(This process can possibly be avoided if you have worked with the tech team to understand the core page elements that are important to search. However, it seems best to just do the template analysis to ensure that the information is not forgotten)


Recommendation: Wrap page header in Heading Tags. If Page Header is text, wrap this Header in <H2> tag. Otherwise, place in <H1>. Will perform keyword research for Heading Text.

Recommendation: Wrap page header in Heading Tags. If Page Header is text, wrap this Header in <H2> tag. Otherwise, place in <H1>. Will perform keyword research for Heading Text.

Heading

Alt Text

Recommendation: Add Alt Text to images, utilizing keywords where possible.

Recommendation: Add Alt Text to images, utilizing keywords where possible.

Alt Text

Alt Text

Alt Text

Heading

Will this be Text or Image? If Text Header, place in <H1> Tags.

Recommendation: Ensure that custom Meta Data (Description and Keywords) can be entered for the Events page.Custom Meta Data will be researched for the Events page.

Recommendation: Ensure that custom Meta Data (Description and Keywords) can be entered for the Events page.Custom Meta Data will be researched for the Events page.

Meta Data

Wireframe Review: Example


Roadmap Review (post-client)

Once the client has approved the Site Roadmap, the SEO strategist should then review the Roadmap and assign keywords based on the page “theme”.

It may not be possible to assign keywords to all pages, but there will be many pages where the most relevant keyword will be fairly apparent based on the theme of the page.

This information will then be passed to whatever group will be creating the copy deck for the client to ensure that these words are featured heavily within the copy and headings.


Copy Deck

After the Copy Deck is created, incorporating your identified keywords (hopefully), the NSO will review this to determine if any further modifications need to be made to ensure copy is optimized.

This is also a good time to re-evaluate pages that keywords were not found for during the Roadmap review. Now that these pages have copy available, there may be more opportunities for optimization available.

Depending on what was scoped, this would also be the time to create Meta Descriptions. This may have already been done by the client or the web dev copywriters, though.


Concepts / Comps

Concepts are a visual representation of how the site map look. These are images, not HTML.

The review of these can be tricky. Since there is no code, it is not possible to determine what will be proper HTML and what will be Flash, Images, etc.

I’d recommend reviewing and asking questions, however the people creating these may not have any idea how this will be coded.


URL Structure

iCrossing will consult with the client to determine the ideal URL structure for the site.

NSO will need to work closely with the tech team to determine if there are any constraints from the CMS system.


Redirects

Once all pages of the site have been identified, redirects will need to be established. This may be done by iCrossing or the client.

Redirects should be setup on a 1-to-1 basis.

EVERY page on the client’s website should be redirected to a corresponding page. If no page corresponds, it is recommended that these be redirected to the homepage.

This process can be handled by iCrossing or the client.

Designing Websites for Visibility, Rob Garner at the Association of National Advertisers conference,...

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