Fashion May 2010

Sector report
May 2010
A 360˚ analysis of the most important search terms, trends and
benchmarking data for fashion retailers. This report provides an exclusive
snapshot of the search market for your sector right now. From the size of
your potential audience to the top performing companies, it’s all here.
Product focus: menswear and womenswear.
Issue 6
Fashion
The most visible websites and
advertisers in Google search
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Co ntents
2
Introduction
3
Total audience size
4
Keyword breakdown
5
Natural search: which websites were most visible in May?
7
Natural search: generic fashion terms
8
Natural search: generic product terms
9
Natural search: womenswear
10 Natural search: menswear
11
Paid search: which advertisers were most visible in May?
13
Paid search: ad copy analysis
14 Paid search: generic fashion terms
15 Paid search: generic product terms
16 Paid search: womenswear
17 Paid search: menswear
18 Paid search bidding strategies
20 Integrated search: which websites/advertisers performed well?
22
Social media: which brands interacted well?
23
Improving your website’s position and audience
26 About Greenlight
Introduction
Research shows that when people look to buy clothing items online they go to a
search engine and more often than not they go to Google, the search engine used
for 90% of all UK searches. So when people searched on Google in May what did
they type — and who were they most likely to see in their searches, and hence buy
clothing through or from?
This report answers those questions by profiling search behaviour in the fashion
retail sector. We have assessed which brands, retailers and review sites were the
most visible in both natural and paid search results (and hence had the greatest
share of consideration) when UK-based searchers went to Google in May to look
for and buy clothing.
This sector report is based on search volumes for May 2010.
How the report was created
We have used industry data to classify 1,100 of the most popular search terms that consumers use to find
clothing and totalled the number of times each one was used. This gives an indication of the size of audience
and a profile of how Google users went about their searches for clothing products in May.
For natural search we then analysed the natural search rankings on Google to see which websites and
brands were positioned on page one for each term. That way, we were able to build up an aggregate view of the
most commonly appearing and prominent websites, as well as the respective size of the audience they were
reaching as a result of their having that keyword-specific visibility.
For paid search we monitored the advertisers appearing in the sponsored links for the top 120 of the 1,100
terms analysed. Data was retrieved from Google regularly on a daily basis during May to ensure a fair assessment
of the paid search space, and to take into account the ad rotation system employed by Google.
This data was then collated, and league tables of the most visible websites in both natural and paid search
created for the fashion retail sector.
On the following pages you will find market view data for the fashion industry as a whole, as well as by segment:
generic fashion terms, generic product terms, women’s clothing and men’s clothing.
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Total audience size (9.7 million searches — May 2010)
Approximately how many searches were performed in May using
fashion-related terms?
There were 9.7 million searches
performed in May 2010 for
We have considered every search term and aggregated the number of times
each one was used in March, April and May to give an indication of the number
of searches.
fashion-related keywords. This
is the highest search volume of
2010 so far, although much of the
rise was due to our introduction
Total number of fashion-related searches
of additional keywords, such as
‘Maxi dress’, to keep in line with
10,000,000
March
8,000,000
April
6,000,000
May
emerging fashion trends.
A recent IMRG report has stated
that total sales online for clothing
and footwear increased by 32% in
4,000,000
May, compared to last year.
2,000,000
Source: IMRG/Capgemini
0
(June 2010)
2 00
2,
000,
0 00
000
0
In a survey conducted in 2009
1000000
by Deloitte, 41% of all clothing
1500000
products bought in the UK
were purchased online, and this
2000000
Number of searches by type (May 2010)
percentage is set to increase
2500000
in 2010.
Pure Generics
183,615 | 2%
Source: Deloitte, ‘The Retail
Menswear
1,179,432 | 12%
Review 2009’
Womenswear continued to
dominate online fashion searches,
Product Generics
1,869,020 | 19%
accounting for 67% of searches.
Womenswear
6,506,548 | 67%
This is an increase of 16% since our
previous report in February, which
again could be accounted for by
the recent addition of keywords.
3
www.greenlightsearch.com
|
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The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
Keyword breakdown
Which were the most queried terms across all fashion search terms?
The term ‘Dresses’ accounted
We initially analysed 1,100 keywords for this exercise, which cumulatively
delivered 9.7 million searches in May 2010. Here we look at which individual
terms were most searched for and the trends the top terms displayed over
the past 12 months.
for 3.4 million searches in May
2010, which was 34% of all
fashion-related searches and,
due to seasonality, this was a rise
of 1.1 million searches since our
previous report.
Keyword breakdown (May 2010)
Dress-related terms were the top
Other keywords
2,905,615 | 30%
four most searched for terms,
Dresses
3,350,000 | 34%
including two new additions to
our keyword list; ‘Maxi dress’ and
‘Maxi dresses’.
Leggings
135,000 | 1%
Women's dresses
135,000 | 1%
Suits
135,000 | 1%
O ver the past 12 months, search
volume for the term ‘Dresses’
Jackets
165,000 | 2%
Casual shirts
165,000 | 2%
Mens jeans
201,000 | 2%
Knitwear
Trousers
246,000 | 3% 301,000 | 3%
Maxi dress
1,000,000 | 10%
Maxi dresses
550,000 | 6%
Dress
450,000 | 5%
was at its highest in April and
May. In addition, searches for the
term ‘Maxi dress’ have increased
considerably month-on-month
since December 2009.
Search trends for the most searched for terms over the previous 12 months
3,500,000
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
Dresses
1,500,000
Maxi dress
Maxi dresses
1,000,000
Dress
500,000
Trousers
Knitwear
0
Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Apr-10 May-10
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
4
Fashion sector
report, Issue 6, May 2010
Natural
Search
Which sites were most visible in May?
Given that UK web users conducted 9.7 million searches for fashion products
in May 2010, which brands were best positioned on page one of Google natural
search, and therefore most likely to gain the searchers’ consideration?
We have determined the best positioned, and hence most visible websites
in this sector based on the volumes for each keyword, and their respective
ranking on page one of Google. These websites have been scored in the
league table below, which represents visibility to a total of 9.7 million
searches in May.
Debenhams was the most visible
website in May, achieving 52%
visibility. This was attained
through ranking at position one
for only 23 keywords; however,
it ranked high on Google for
many other big terms, such as
featuring at position two for the
keyword ‘Dresses’.
The top 60 most visible fashion websites in natural search
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
debenhams.com
5,034,219
4,704,396
52%
2
asos.com
4,034,397
5,704,218
41%
3
missselfridge.com
3,927,212
5,811,403
40%
4
dorothyperkins.com
3,648,357
6,090,258
37%
5
lipsy.co.uk
3,522,891
6,215,724
36%
28% visibility almost solely due to
6
republic.co.uk
3,484,142
6,254,473
36%
the fact that it ranked at position
7
goddiva.co.uk
3,451,117
6,287,498
35%
one for the term ‘Dresses’ in
8
houseoffraser.co.uk
3,064,039
6,674,576
31%
February, yet dropped to position
9
newlook.com
3,007,784
6,730,831
31%
12 for this keyword in May.
10
very.co.uk
2,423,232
7,315,383
25%
11
wikipedia.org
1,762,338
7,976,277
18%
Interestingly, MaxiDress.org
12
bhs.co.uk
1,755,681
7,982,934
18%
featured at position 20 in our
13
peacocks.co.uk
1,718,431
8,020,184
18%
league table through ranking
14
shopstyle.co.uk
1,671,319
8,067,296
17%
on Google for just one keyword
15
marksandspencer.com
1,609,849
8,128,766
17%
16
topman.com
1,554,326
8,184,289
16%
17
burton.co.uk
1,413,975
8,324,640
15%
18
stylecompare.co.uk
1,183,082
8,555,533
12%
19
topshop.com
1,159,349
8,579,266
12%
20
maxidress.org.uk
1,000,000
8,738,615
10%
21
maxi-dresses.co.uk
785,000
8,953,615
8%
22
ivillage.co.uk
676,620
9,061,995
7%
23
next.co.uk
664,126
9,074,489
7%
24
amazon.co.uk
608,381
9,130,234
6%
25
boohoo.com
424,265
9,314,350
4%
5
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By comparison, ASOS ranked at
position one for 125 terms, having
featured at the same position for
105 terms in February. However,
since our previous report it lost
analysed, which was the term
‘Maxi dress’ at position one.
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
The top 60 most visible fashion websites in natural search (contd.)
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
26
johnlewis.com
367,049
9,371,566
4%
saw natural search visibility
27
woolovers.com
361,916
9,376,699
4%
increase by 13% and 14%
28
karenmillen.com
348,130
9,390,485
4%
respectively since February, and
29
ebay.co.uk
338,860
9,399,755
3%
both moved up in our league
30
tmlewin.co.uk
337,982
9,400,633
3%
table rankings.
31
ctshirts.co.uk
332,921
9,405,694
3%
32
marieclaire.co.uk
321,288
9,417,327
3%
Achieving 18% share
33
suitsmen.co.uk
319,644
9,418,970
3%
of voice, Peacocks ranked at
34
videojug.com
319,326
9,419,289
3%
position 13, having featured
35
moss.co.uk
303,446
9,435,169
3%
outside of the top 60 websites in
36
nextag.co.uk
285,079
9,453,536
3%
37
telegraph.co.uk
275,823
9,462,792
3%
38
stardoll.com
225,000
9,513,615
2%
39
suitsyou.co.uk
221,654
9,516,961
2%
40
guardian.co.uk
211,481
9,527,134
2%
41
womensdresses.org.uk
203,990
9,534,625
2%
42
blueinc.co.uk
198,237
9,540,378
2%
43
uniqlo.co.uk
197,466
9,541,149
2%
44
soulrevolver.com
195,170
9,543,445
2%
45
superdry.com
193,276
9,545,339
2%
46
savilerowco.com
181,740
9,556,875
2%
47
asuitthatfits.com
174,477
9,564,138
2%
48
mensclothingroom.com
170,608
9,568,008
2%
49
empora.com
166,841
9,571,774
2%
Just one website dropped out
50
net-a-porter.com
164,676
9,573,939
2%
of the top 10 since February:
51
eshopone.com
157,157
9,581,458
2%
Topman, and it is probable that
52
mossbros.co.uk
156,181
9,582,434
2%
this is due to the increase in
53
oasis-stores.com
154,933
9,583,682
2%
womenswear searches.
54
trouserslondon.co.uk
150,500
9,588,115
2%
55
josephturner.co.uk
136,600
9,602,015
1%
56
schultzjeans.com
135,080
9,603,535
1%
57
girlmeetsdress.com
135,036
9,603,579
1%
58
janenorman.co.uk
125,709
9,612,906
1%
59
prospects.ac.uk
123,910
9,614,705
1%
60
mainlinemenswear.co.uk
123,506
9,615,109
1%
MissSelfridge and DorothyPerkins
our February report.
By contrast, HouseofFraser lost
30% visibility and it dropped
from second position to eighth.
Although it ranked at position
one for 47 keywords (35 in our
previous report), it featured at
position 10 for the term ‘Dresses’
in May, having ranked at position
five in February.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
6
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Natural search: generic fashion terms
Searches for generic fashion terms, which were not brand-related, accounted
for more than 183,000 searches in May 2010. How did those searches
break down?
Totalling 27,100 searches
each, ‘Ladies clothes’ and
‘Mens fashion’ were the most
Ladies clothes
27,100 | 15%
Other keywords
35,215 | 19%
searched for terms in May, which
cumulatively accounted for 30%
of all generic fashion searches.
Womenswear
6,600 | 4%
Mens fashion
27,100 | 15%
Mens designer clothing
6,600 | 4%
ASOS achieved a dominant
62% share of voice through
consistently ranking on page
Celebrity fashion
6,600 | 4%
one of Google for the high
volume driving terms, such as
Online fashion
9,900 | 5%
Ladies fashion
22,200 | 12%
Womens fashion
12,100 | 7%
featuring at position two for the
keywords ‘Ladies clothes’ and
Designer clothing
12,100 | 7%
Menswear
18,100 | 10%
‘Mens fashion’.
By comparison, Next did not rank
Which websites were most visible for generic fashion terms?
at position one for any of the
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
asos.com
113,317
70,298
62%
reason it was outcompeted by a
2
next.co.uk
44,588
139,027
24%
considerable margin by ASOS.
3
topman.com
44,389
139,226
24%
However, since February its
4
lipsy.co.uk
44,088
139,527
24%
5
oasis-stores.com
43,440
140,175
24%
6
fiftyplus.co.uk
41,660
141,955
23%
7
mainlinemenswear.co.uk
40,090
143,525
22%
8
femaleshopper.co.uk
39,816
143,799
22%
9
peacocks.co.uk
34,527
149,088
19%
10
burton.co.uk
33,589
150,026
18%
by 10% since February, which
11
simplybe.co.uk
27,850
155,765
15%
saw it move from position 14 to
12
oli.co.uk
26,979
156,636
15%
position five. Conversely, Topshop
13
fashionbeans.com
25,738
157,877
14%
lost 12% visibility and it dropped
14
guardian.co.uk
25,062
158,553
14%
from position four to position 17
15
dorothyperkins.com
24,753
158,862
13%
16
houseoffraser.co.uk
23,825
159,790
13%
17
topshop.com
23,396
160,219
13%
18
freemans.com
22,321
161,294
12%
19
newlook.com
21,585
162,030
12%
20
prettygreen.com
20,699
162,916
11%
7
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keywords analysed, which is the
visibility increased by 4% and it
ascended from eighth position to
second in our league table.
Oasis increased its share of voice
in our league table.
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
Natural search: generic product terms
Searches for generic product terms, which were not brand-related, accounted
for more than 1.8 million searches in May 2010. How did those searches
break down?
The term ‘Trousers’ was searched
for 301,000 times in May, which
accounted for 16% of all generic
Trousers
301,000 | 16%
product-related searches.
Consistent with our previous
Other keywords
632,520 | 34%
report, HouseofFraser was the
most visible website, attaining
Knitwear
246,000 13%
52% share of voice through
ranking high on page one of
Google for the high volume
Casual shirts
165,000 | 9%
Polo shirts
40,500 | 2%
driving terms, such as ‘Trousers’
Formal shirts
49,500 | 3%
Black jeans
60,500 | 3%
Hoodies
74,000 | 4%
at position three.
Suits
135,000 | 7%
Jackets
165,000 | 9%
ASOS achieved 45% share of
voice (an increase of 7% since
February) through ranking at
Which websites were most visible for generic product terms?
position one for eight keywords,
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
houseoffraser.co.uk
968,536
900,484
52%
2
asos.com
841,510
1,027,510
45%
Burton increased its share of voice
3
wikipedia.org
762,589
1,106,431
41%
by 23% since February, which
4
burton.co.uk
720,263
1,148,757
39%
saw it move from position 10 to
5
topman.com
714,093
1,154,927
38%
6
debenhams.com
596,416
1,272,604
32%
7
topshop.com
370,421
1,498,599
20%
8
woolovers.com
289,048
1,579,972
15%
9
dorothyperkins.com
271,869
1,597,151
15%
10
videojug.com
248,568
1,620,452
13%
11
marksandspencer.com
207,052
1,661,968
11%
12
moss.co.uk
197,360
1,671,660
11%
13
shopstyle.co.uk
176,022
1,692,998
9%
14
amazon.co.uk
160,597
1,708,423
9%
15
suitsyou.co.uk
159,838
1,709,182
9%
16
asuitthatfits.com
159,732
1,709,288
9%
17
mossbros.co.uk
153,900
1,715,120
8%
18
republic.co.uk
153,586
1,715,434
8%
19
trouserslondon.co.uk
150,500
1,718,520
8%
20
superdry.com
148,880
1,720,140
8%
including the term ‘Knitwear’.
position four in our league table.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
8
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Natural search: womenswear terms
Searches for womenswear terms accounted for more than 6.5 million
searches in May 2010. How did those searches break down?
The term ‘Dresses’ was searched
for 3.3 million times in May, which
Skirts for women
74,000 | 1%
accounted for 51% of all searches
Other keywords
612,048 | 9%
for womenswear.
Womens dresses
90,500 | 1%
White shirts for women
110,000 | 2%
Debenhams was the most visible
Leggings
135,000 | 2%
website, achieving 64% visibility
Women's dresses
135,000 | 2%
through ranking consistently high
Dress
450,000 | 7%
on Google for the high volume
Dresses
3,350,000 | 51%
driving terms, such as ‘Dresses’
and ‘Dress’ at position two.
Maxi dresses
550,000 | 8%
By comparison, MissSelfridge
achieved 60% share of voice
Maxi dress
1,000,000 | 15%
almost solely through ranking
at position one for the terms
‘Dresses’ and ‘Dress’. Since
Which websites were most visible for womenswear terms?
February, however, its share of
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
debenhams.com
4,164,424
2,342,124
64%
moved from seventh position to
2
missselfridge.com
3,922,512
2,584,036
60%
second in our league table.
3
lipsy.co.uk
3,478,803
3,027,745
53%
4
goddiva.co.uk
3,446,497
3,060,051
53%
5
dorothyperkins.com
3,351,735
3,154,813
52%
6
republic.co.uk
2,920,529
3,586,019
45%
7
newlook.com
2,887,734
3,618,814
44%
8
asos.com
2,432,833
4,073,715
37%
9
very.co.uk
2,413,849
4,092,699
37%
10
bhs.co.uk
1,720,364
4,786,184
26%
keywords in February. By contrast,
11
peacocks.co.uk
1,666,081
4,840,467
26%
ASOS and HouseofFraser both
12
houseoffraser.co.uk
1,597,992
4,908,556
25%
lost considerable visibility, which
13
shopstyle.co.uk
1,467,881
5,038,667
23%
saw the websites drop places in
14
marksandspencer.com
1,401,773
5,104,775
22%
our league table.
15
stylecompare.co.uk
1,172,854
5,333,694
18%
16
maxidress.org.uk
1,000,000
5,506,548
15%
17
wikipedia.org
951,217
5,555,331
15%
18
maxi-dresses.co.uk
785,000
5,721,548
12%
19
topshop.com
765,474
5,741,074
12%
20
ivillage.co.uk
675,000
5,831,548
10%
9
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voice increased by 11% and it
BHS and Peacocks achieved
26% visibility and ranked at
positions 10 and 11 respectively,
having ranked outside our top
20 websites for womenswear
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
Natural search: menswear terms
Searches for menswear terms accounted for more than 1.1 million searches in
May 2010. How did those searches break down?
The term ‘Mens jeans’ was
searched for 201,000 times in
May, which accounted for 17% of
Mens jeans
201,000 | 17%
all searches for menswear.
Topman achieved 67% visibility
Mens suits
74,000 | 6%
through ranking at position one
Other keywords
593,932 | 50%
for 39 keywords, including the
Mens shirts
60,500 | 5%
most searched for keyword:
‘Mens jeans’.
Men's shirts
60,500 | 5%
Mens jackets
40,500 | 3%
By comparison, Burtons ranked at
Mens leather jacket
33,100 | 3%
position one for 16 terms, which
Men's trousers
27,100 | 2%
Men's jeans
22,200 | 2%
Mens wedding suits
22,200 | 2%
Mens shirt
22,200 | 2%
saw it achieve lower visibility of
56%. However, since February, it
Mens polo shirts
22,200 | 2%
increased its share of voice by 8%
and replaced ASOS at position
Which websites were most visible for menswear terms?
two in our league table.
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
topman.com
795,843
383,589
67%
BlueInc’s visibility increased
2
burton.co.uk
660,123
519,309
56%
by 4% which saw it ascend into
3
asos.com
646,737
532,695
55%
the top 10 of our league table.
4
houseoffraser.co.uk
473,686
705,746
40%
Next lost 10% visibility and it
5
republic.co.uk
396,399
783,034
34%
6
debenhams.com
257,763
921,669
22%
7
suitsmen.co.uk
212,304
967,128
18%
8
blueinc.co.uk
196,101
983,331
17%
9
tmlewin.co.uk
159,820
1,019,612
14%
10
nextag.co.uk
153,850
1,025,582
13%
11
ctshirts.co.uk
144,298
1,035,134
12%
12
amazon.co.uk
134,833
1,044,599
11%
13
uniqlo.co.uk
131,778
1,047,654
11%
14
eshopone.com
126,349
1,053,083
11%
15
schultzjeans.com
126,161
1,053,271
11%
16
savilerowco.com
119,814
1,059,618
10%
17
johnlewis.com
115,903
1,063,529
10%
18
reemclothing.com
106,474
1,072,958
9%
19
moss.co.uk
106,072
1,073,360
9%
20
next.co.uk
98,273
1,081,159
8%
dropped from position seven to
position 20.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
10
FashionSearch
sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Paid
Which advertisers were most visible in May?
We have conducted a detailed level of monitoring and analysis to determine
which advertisers appeared in the paid search space. An advertiser’s share of
voice is based on: how often they were present in Google, which ad position
they bid for, and the associated search volume for the keywords they bid on.
These advertisers have been scored in the league table below, which represents
visibility across the top 120 keywords in May 2010.
Very was the most visible
advertiser in May, achieving
53% visibility, which was a 14%
increase since our February
report. It attained this share
of voice through bidding on
The top 60 most visible fashion advertisers in paid search
63 keywords, at an average ad
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
position of seven.
1
very.co.uk
53%
By comparison, although
2
debenhams.com
45%
3
johnlewis.com
43%
4
littlewoods.com
42%
5
oli.co.uk
32%
6
marshallward.co.uk
30%
7
matalan.co.uk
20%
8
marksandspencer.com
19%
9
marisota.co.uk
19%
10
vam.ac.uk
15%
11
tkmaxx.com
15%
12
reiss.co.uk
14%
13
additionsdirect.co.uk
13%
Marisota lost 21% visibility and
14
houseoffraser.co.uk
13%
dropped to position nine in our
15
simplybe.co.uk
10%
league table, having been the
16
premierman.com
10%
most visible advertiser in our
17
greatglam.com
10%
previous report.
18
ebay.co.uk
10%
19
freemans.com
9%
Of the top 10 advertisers, eight
20
allsaints.com
8%
were multi-channel retailers, one
21
yogoego.com
8%
was purely an online retailer and
22
jacamo.co.uk
7%
23
newlook.com
7%
24
jdwilliams.co.uk
6%
25
boohoo.com
6%
26
williamsandbrown.co.uk
6%
27
republic.co.uk
5%
28
laredoute.co.uk
5%
11
www.greenlightsearch.com
|
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
Debenhams bid at a lower
average ad position of six, it
bid on fewer keywords (59)
and bid less often, which saw it
achieve 45% visibility. However,
since February its share of voice
increased by 38%, which saw it
move from position 27 to second
in our league table.
one was a museum: V&A, which
advertised its online collection of
1960’s fashion and textiles.
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
The top 60 most visible fashion advertisers in paid search(contd.)
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
29
net-a-porter.com
5%
30
brandalley.co.uk
5%
31
asos.com
4%
32
empirestores.co.uk
4%
33
boden.co.uk
4%
34
fossil.co.uk
4%
keywords, yet it appeared for
35
savilerowco.com
4%
more terms (64) in May.
36
burton.co.uk
3%
37
thatsmystyle.co.uk
3%
By contrast, SimplyBe and
38
highandmighty.co.uk
3%
Net-a-Porter both lost
39
eddiebauer.com
3%
considerable visibility (21% and
40
selfridges.com
3%
19% respectively) since our
41
toast.co.uk
3%
previous report, which saw the
42
drjays.com
3%
two advertisers drop outside the
43
lauraashley.com
3%
top 10 in our league table.
44
usc.co.uk
3%
45
brooktaverner.co.uk
3%
46
bonprixsecure.com
3%
47
fashionworld.co.uk
3%
48
dresses.secretsales.com
2%
49
woolovers.com
2%
50
like.co.uk
2%
51
landsend.co.uk
2%
52
yoursclothing.co.uk
2%
53
missrebel.co.uk
2%
54
anthropologie.eu
2%
55
hawesandcurtis.com
2%
56
bonaparte.co.uk
2%
57
extremepie.com
2%
58
ctshirts.co.uk
2%
59
dorothyperkins.com
2%
60
asuitthatfits.com
2%
JohnLewis increased its share
of voice by 32% since February,
which saw it ascend our league
table from position 13 to three.
This is perhaps due to the fact
that in February it bid on 32
Interestingly, of the top 10
advertisers in February, only five
remained in the top 10 in May
(Very, Littlewoods, Oli, Marisota
and V&A), indicating the fierce
competition between advertisers
in the paid search space.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
12
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Paid search: ad copy analysis
The table below shows which ad creatives featured most
frequently across the top 120 fashion keywords in the
Google paid search space during May 2010. Share of voice
is based on the number of times Google displayed the
ad creative, also taking into account ad position, search term
volume and Google’s ad rotation. In addition, we have analysed
how many unique creatives were present for each advertiser.
No. Domain
Ad creative
Unique
Share of
creatives voice
1
Gorgeous Dresses at Oli
Be the belle of the ball with our sassy, stylish
dresses at Oli.co.uk
www.Oli.co.uk/dresses
36
Stylish Dresses at Very™
The Best Labels, Great Prices & Next Day
Delivery Online at Very!
www.very.co.uk/dresses
147
Cocktail Dresses
Buy Cocktail Dresses Online Free Returns
With Marshall Ward.
www.marshallward.co.uk
19
2
3
oli.co.uk
very.co.uk
marshallward.co.uk
31%
Oli featured the most visible
individual ad creative, achieving
30%
31% share of voice. Although
the ad creative promoted
28%
dresses, it did not feature
any USPs such as delivery or
4
johnlewis.com
Dresses at John Lewis
New season collection online. Free Delivery on
orders over £30.
www.johnlewis.com/dresses
45
27%
customer care information.
5
matalan.co.uk
Matalan Ladieswear
Shop for great value dresses at the Matalan
Online Shop today.
www.matalan.co.uk
39
16%
Littlewoods and Very featured
Fashion
Delve deeper into 1960's fashion Explore the
V&A's Online Collection.
www.vam.ac.uk
4
6
vam.ac.uk
diverse ad campaigns, displaying
15%
170 and 147 unique ad creatives
respectively, whilst Reiss featured
7
reiss.co.uk
Reiss | Dresses
Shop the Latest Collection of Reiss Dresses
Online Now!
www.Reiss.co.uk/Dresses
3
14%
only three in May.
8
tkmaxx.com
TK Maxx™ Dresses
Find the perfect dress online at TK Maxx™. Big
labels, small prices!
TKMaxx.com/Dress
4
14%
Displaying the sixth most
Dresses
New & Exclusive Dresses now in at Debenhams.
Perfect for this Spring.
www.debenhams.com/Dresses
141
New Collection of Dresses
Over 900 New Looks for Women. New Dresses
Range Now at Littlewoods!
www.littlewoods.com/women
170
Cute Sexy Trendy Dresses
Sexy looks. Low cost. Why pay more? The
web's sexiest women's dresses
www.greatglam.com
11
Dresses
New & Exclusive Dresses now in at Debenhams.
Perfect for this Summer.
www.debenhams.com/Dresses
141
Dresses
Fashion that fits - Sizes 8 to 32. Next Day
Delivery & Free Returns
www.additionsdirect.co.uk
49
9
10
11
12
13
debenhams.com
littlewoods.com
greatglam.com
debenhams.com
additionsdirect.co.uk
visible ad creative, the V&A
13%
‘1960’s fashion’.
9%
Of the top 15 ad creatives, 13
9%
8%
7%
specifically stated delivery or
returns policies to incentivise
BodyCon Dress
Register and receive 10% off UK's leading
branded clothes store
www.YogoEgo.com/Lipsy
9
7%
15
very.co.uk
Stylish Dresses at Very
Update Your Summer Wardrobe at Very Next
Day Delivery on All Items!
www.Very.co.uk/HolidayShop
147
6%
|
a generic ‘Fashion’ ad creative.
Interestingly, five ad creatives
yogoego.com
www.greenlightsearch.com
focused on ‘Dresses’, one focused
on ladieswear and the other was
14
13
promoted its online collection of
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
consumers to click.
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
Paid search: generic fashion terms
Monthly searches specifically for generic fashion terms, which were not
brand-related, accounted for more than 183,000 searches in May. Here we
assess which advertisers were most visible for those keywords.
Matalan was the most visible
advertiser for generic fashion
keywords in paid search, having
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
1
matalan.co.uk
46%
2
marisota.co.uk
36%
3
very.co.uk
32%
4
warehouse.co.uk
28%
5
littlewoods.com
24%
6
johnlewis.com
21%
7
newlook.com
21%
8
premierman.com
17%
9
republic.co.uk
16%
since February. Although it
10
celebrity.aol.co.uk
15%
appeared for the same number of
11
jacamo.co.uk
15%
keywords (12) in May, compared
12
houseoffraser.co.uk
14%
to February, its average ad
13
boohoo.com
13%
position dropped from five to six.
14
net-a-porter.com
13%
15
gq-magazine.co.uk
13%
16
yoursclothing.co.uk
13%
17
landsend.co.uk
12%
18
selfridges.com
11%
19
rochesterclothing.eu
10%
20
thecorner.com
9%
featured outside the top 20
league table in February. It
achieved 46% visibility through
bidding on 20 of the 30 keywords
analysed, at an average position
of five.
Marisota lost 4% share of voice
Very achieved 32% visibility and
ranked at third position, having
featured outside our league
table in February. By contrast,
USC did not feature in our top
20 advertisers in May, despite
featuring at position seven in
Which ad creatives were most visible for generic fashion terms?
No. Domain
Ad creative
Unique
Share of
creatives voice
1
Men's Online Fashion
The Latest Fashion Items for Men. High Fashion,
Affordable Prices.
NewLook.com/Men
14
Fashion - For Men
GQ's Ultimate Style Trends & Tips! At
GQ - Fashion Tips For Gentlemen.
www.gq-magazine.co.uk
4
Marisota Ladies Fashion
Clothes For Modern Women To Size 36
Great Fitting For Fuller Figures.
www.marisota.co.uk
18
2
3
newlook.com
gq-magazine.co.uk
marisota.co.uk
February, when it achieved 19%
share of voice.
15%
Achieving 15% visibility,
12%
NewLook featured the most
visible individual ad creative,
12%
which focused on ‘Men’s fashion’,
incorporating a slogan: ‘High
4
matalan.co.uk
Matalan Ladieswear
Great value fashion at Matalan, available to
buy online today
www.matalan.co.uk
25
10%
5
selfridges.com
Selfridges Online Store
Visit our new online store. Over 500 of the
top labels.
selfridges.com
11
10%
fashion, affordable prices’.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
14
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Paid search: generic product terms
Monthly searches specifically for generic fashion products, which were not
brand-related, accounted for more than 1.8 million searches in May. Here we
assess which advertisers were most visible for those keywords.
MarksandSpencer was the most
visible advertiser for generic
product keywords, achieving a
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
1
marksandspencer.com
73%
2
littlewoods.com
56%
3
johnlewis.com
30%
4
simplybe.co.uk
24%
5
marisota.co.uk
24%
6
jdwilliams.co.uk
22%
7
premierman.com
21%
8
williamsandbrown.co.uk
17%
9
ebay.co.uk
17%
by 17% it was replaced by
10
republic.co.uk
17%
MarksandSpencer at position one,
11
boden.co.uk
14%
as it bid on fewer keywords (22)
12
jacamo.co.uk
13%
and at a lower average ad position
13
lauraashley.com
13%
of six.
14
houseoffraser.co.uk
11%
15
bonprixsecure.com
11%
16
very.co.uk
11%
17
woolovers.com
10%
18
newlook.com
9%
19
brooktaverner.co.uk
9%
20
eddiebauer.com
9%
dominant 73% share of voice (an
increase of 41% since February).
This was attained through bidding
on 28 keywords analysed, at an
average ad position of three.
By comparison, although
Littlewoods’ visibility increased
SimplyBe saw its visibility
increase by 9% and it ascended
our league table from position
10 to position three. Conversely,
LandsEnd did not feature in
our top 20 advertisers in May,
having ranked at position five in
Which ad creatives were most visible for generic product terms?
No. Domain
Ad creative
Unique
Share of
creatives voice
1
Mens Trousers To 54"
Great Quality & Value Mens Trousers 4 Leg
Length Options, From Just £10
www.premierman.com/mens_trousers
23
Large Mens Trousers
Smart & Casual Mens Trousers For Any Occasion.
Big Sizes 32-54
www.WilliamsAndBrown.co.uk
20
Marks & Spencer Trousers
Use Style Selection Tool Online. Order Online,
Collect instore Free!
www.marksandspencer.com/trousers
87
2
3
premierman.com
williamsandbrown.co.uk
marksandspencer.com
Attaining 17% visibility,
16%
14%
which advertised ‘Mens Trousers’
and specified price, as well as
Trousers
Looking For Trousers? Then Look No Further!
Free Delivery.
www.littlewoods.com
58
13%
5
marisota.co.uk
Ladies Stylish Trousers
Petite & Tall Trousers Sizes 12-36 Get 10% Off
First Orders Today!
www.marisota.co.uk/ladies_trousers
20
13%
|
PremierMan displayed the most
visible individual ad creative,
littlewoods.com
www.greenlightsearch.com
share of voice.
17%
4
15
February, when it achieved 26%
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
waist sizes and length options.
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
Paid search: womenswear terms
Monthly searches specifically for womenswear accounted for more than
6.5 million searches in May. Here we assess which advertisers were most
visible for those keywords.
Very was the most visible
advertiser for womenswear,
attaining 76% visibility through
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
1
very.co.uk
76%
2
debenhams.com
62%
3
johnlewis.com
52%
4
oli.co.uk
49%
5
marshallward.co.uk
44%
6
littlewoods.com
39%
7
matalan.co.uk
27%
8
vam.ac.uk
23%
9
tkmaxx.com
23%
visibility for the high volume
10
reiss.co.uk
22%
driving terms, which is the reason
11
additionsdirect.co.uk
20%
it attained 62% visibility.
12
marisota.co.uk
19%
13
greatglam.com
15%
MarshallWard increased its share
14
freemans.com
13%
of voice by 29% and it moved
15
houseoffraser.co.uk
12%
from position 12 to position five.
16
yogoego.com
12%
17
boohoo.com
8%
18
ebay.co.uk
7%
19
simplybe.co.uk
7%
20
allsaints.com
7%
bidding on 18 of the 30 keywords
analysed, at an average ad
position of six.
Although Debenhams bid on
more keywords (23), more
often and at a higher average ad
position of five, it achieved lower
By contrast, Marisota lost 32%
visibility, which saw it drop from
position two to 12 in our league
table. SimplyBe lost the greatest
share of voice (40%) and it fell to
position 19, having ranked in third
Which ad creatives were most visible for womenswear terms?
No. Domain
Ad creative
Unique
Share of
creatives voice
1
Gorgeous Dresses at Oli
Be the belle of the ball with our sassy, stylish
dresses at Oli.co.uk
www.Oli.co.uk/dresses
24
Stylish Dresses at Very™
The Best Labels, Great Prices & Next Day
Delivery Online at Very!
www.very.co.uk/dresses
54
Cocktail Dresses
Buy Cocktail Dresses Online Free Returns
With Marshall Ward.
www.marshallward.co.uk
8
2
3
oli.co.uk
very.co.uk
marshallward.co.uk
48%
position in February.
Oli displayed the most visible
individual ad creative, which
47%
attained 48% visibility.
Interestingly, of the top five ad
43%
creatives, three stated delivery
policies but none featured prices
4
johnlewis.com
Dresses at John Lewis
New season collection online. Free Delivery
on orders over £30.
www.johnlewis.com/dresses
14
42%
5
matalan.co.uk
Matalan Ladieswear
Shop for great value dresses at the Matalan
Online Shop today
www.matalan.co.uk
12
25%
for specific items.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
16
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Paid search: menswear terms
Monthly searches specifically for menswear accounted for more than
1.1 million searches in May. Here we assess which advertisers were most
visible for those keywords.
PremierMan achieved 43%
visibility for menswear in the paid
search space through bidding on
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
1
premierman.com
43%
2
jacamo.co.uk
37%
3
littlewoods.com
34%
4
debenhams.com
26%
5
allsaints.com
25%
6
highandmighty.co.uk
21%
7
houseoffraser.co.uk
20%
8
drjays.com
20%
9
marksandspencer.com
19%
10
savilerowco.com
18%
AllSaints increased its share
11
burton.co.uk
17%
of voice by 9% and it moved from
12
williamsandbrown.co.uk
16%
position 11 to fifth in our league
13
johnlewis.com
16%
table. By contrast, Diesel did not
14
newlook.com
15%
feature in our top 20 advertisers,
15
usc.co.uk
13%
having ranked at position three
16
suitsyou.co.uk
12%
17
hawesandcurtis.com
12%
18
matalan.co.uk
11%
19
ebay.co.uk
10%
20
ctshirts.co.uk
8%
22 of the 30 keywords analysed,
at an average ad position of six.
By contrast, Jacamo bid on
fewer keywords (20) and it bid
at a lower average ad position
of seven, which accounts for its
lower visibility of 37%.
in February, when it attained
34% visibility.
Jacamo displayed the most visible
individual ad creative, which
attained 22% visibility. Its ad copy
Which ad creatives were most visible for menswear terms?
focused on ‘Mens Jeans’ and it
No. Domain
Ad creative
Unique
Share of
creatives voice
1
jacamo.co.uk
Mens Jeans To 54"
Big Mens Jeans From £10. Choice Of Leg Lengths.
Great Value & Choice
www.jacamo.co.uk/mensjeans
29
22%
2
highandmighty.co.uk
Tall & Big Mens Jeans
Quality Designer Mens Jeans Top Brand Names
In Big & Tall Sizes
www.HighandMighty.co.uk
17
15%
3
drjays.com
Urban Jeans
Get Hip Hop Jeans For Cheap. Pick From All The
Hottest Brands!
DrJays.com/UK
5
13%
4
savilerowco.com
Luxury Shirts 75% Off
75% Off Fantastic Quality Shirts At Savile Row.
Buy From Just £17.50.
www.SavileRowCo.com
14
12%
5
houseoffraser.co.uk
Men's Clothing
100s of designer suits at House of Fraser. Buy
now, free returns.
HouseofFraser.co.uk
43
10%
17
www.greenlightsearch.com
|
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
specified a price, as well as waist
sizes and length options.
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
Paid search bidding strategies
We have monitored Google closely to identify who was advertising in the
paid search space, and when they chose to advertise. The data has then
been broken down further to reveal advertising behaviour by individual days
of the week and times of the day.
Day parting strategy
Our research, through working with various retail clients, has found that most
fashion-related search queries are performed over the weekend, particularly
Sunday, with fewer searches on weekdays. But, did advertisers reflect this
day parting in their bidding strategies?
Ad count by day, over a 1-week period (chosen at random; week commencing 24th May)
Consumer search behaviour
20%
Jacamo
Matalan
Percentage of visibility
PremierMan
15%
Debenhams
Very
HouseofFraser
10%
Marisota
JohnLewis
MarksandSpencer
5%
Mon 24th
Tue 25th
Wed 26th
Thu 27th
Fri 28th
Sat 29th
Sun 30th
Littlewoods
The majority of fashion advertisers
In addition, many advertisers
Although HouseofFraser increased
appeared to overestimate
seemed to underestimate the
bidding at the weekend in line
consumer search behaviour during
importance of bidding on Saturday
with search behaviour, it bid most
the week, particularly on Tuesday
and Sunday, when consumer search
on Tuesday which opposed the
and Wednesday.
activity is at its height.
consumer trend.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
18
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Hourly parting strategy
Our research has found that there is a considerable peak in consumer
search behaviour in the evening between 8pm and midnight. Search
behaviour remains relatively low throughout the day, but starts to rise
slightly from 12pm onwards. Did advertisers consider these trends in their
bidding strategies?
Ad count by hour, over a 1-day period (day chosen at random; Thursday 27th May)
Consumer search behaviour
AllSaints
35%
Jacamo
30%
Percentage of visibility
Matalan
25%
PremierMan
Debenhams
20%
Very
15%
Marisota
MarksandSpencer
10%
JohnLewis
5%
Midnight - 4am
4am - 8am
8am - 12pm
12pm - 4pm
8pm - Midnight
Littlewoods
Many advertisers, such as
However, the majority of
Interestingly, AllSaints appeared
PremierMan and Matalan,
advertisers underestimated the
to bid most between 4am and 8am
appeared to recognise the
consumer search activity between
and bid least during the evening,
increased consumer search activity
8pm and midnight, and therefore
which directly opposed the
by increasing bidding during the
missed out on vital search traffic.
consumer search trend.
key evening period.
19
4pm - 8pm
www.greenlightsearch.com
|
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
Integrated Search
Which websites/advertisers performed well?
voice overall? Here we have taken the top websites/advertisers
across both mediums to give an indication of their integrated
search performance.
If we look at the visibility achieved by websites in natural search
and the impression share gained by those websites as advertisers
in the paid search space, who obtained the most share of
80%
70%
Natural search visibility
60%
Strong integrated
search visibility
Strong natural
search visibility
debenhams.com
50%
asos.com
40%
missselfridge.com
dorothyperkins.com
lipsy.co.uk
republic.co.uk
goddiva.co.uk
30%
newlook.com
houseoffraser.co.uk
Poor integrated
search visibility
20%
very.co.uk
Strong paid
search visibility
wikipedia.org
bhs.co.uk
marksandspencer.com
burton.co.uk
10%
johnlewis.com
marshallward.co.uk
marisota.co.uk
0%
0%
10%
oli.co.uk
matalan.co.uk
20%
30%
littlewoods.com
40%
50%
60%
Paid search visibility
Debenhams was the only brand to
ASOS and MissSelfridge achieved
Very, JohnLewis, Littlewoods,
achieve strong integrated visibility
strong visibility in natural search;
Oli and MarshallWard achieved
across both mediums, through
however, both lacked visibility in
strong visibility in the paid search
attaining 52% share of voice in
the paid search space.
space, but at the expense of
natural search and 45% share of
natural search.
voice in paid search.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
20
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
The most visible fashion websites in both natural and paid search
No.
Website / advertiser
Natural search
Paid search
Debenhams ranked in first
1
debenhams.com
52%
45%
position in our integrated search
2
very.co.uk
25%
53%
league table due to its relatively
3
johnlewis.com
4%
43%
equal exposure across both
4
asos.com
41%
4%
5
houseoffraser.co.uk
31%
13%
6
littlewoods.com
0%
42%
7
republic.co.uk
36%
5%
8
missselfridge.com
40%
0%
of voice in paid search increased
by 38%.
9
dorothyperkins.com
37%
2%
10
newlook.com
31%
7%
mediums. Although the website’s
natural search visibility decreased
by 1% since February, its share
11
lipsy.co.uk
36%
0%
Very achieved 25% share of voice
12
marksandspencer.com
17%
19%
in natural search, having attained
13
goddiva.co.uk
35%
0%
14
oli.co.uk
0%
32%
15
marshallward.co.uk
0%
30%
16
matalan.co.uk
0%
20%
17
marisota.co.uk
0%
19%
18
wikipedia.org
18%
0%
19
bhs.co.uk
18%
0%
no visibility in February. In
addition, its share of voice in paid
search increased by 14% which
saw it ascend from sixth position
to second.
20
burton.co.uk
15%
3%
Due to a considerable decrease
21
peacocks.co.uk
18%
0%
in natural search visibility, ASOS
22
shopstyle.co.uk
17%
0%
dropped to position four in our
23
topman.com
16%
0%
24
vam.ac.uk
0%
15%
25
tkmaxx.com
0%
15%
league table, having been the
most visible website in February.
26
reiss.co.uk
0%
14%
27
ebay.co.uk
3%
10%
28
additionsdirect.co.uk
0%
13%
up the rankings in our league
By comparison, JohnLewis moved
29
stylecompare.co.uk
12%
0%
table from position 21 to position
30
topshop.com
12%
0%
three in May, as its paid search
31
simplybe.co.uk
0%
10%
visibility increased by 32%.
32
maxidress.org.uk
10%
0%
33
boohoo.com
4%
6%
34
premierman.com
0%
10%
35
greatglam.com
0%
10%
36
freemans.com
0%
9%
37
allsaints.com
0%
8%
38
maxi-dresses.co.uk
8%
0%
39
yogoego.com
0%
8%
40
jacamo.co.uk
0%
7%
21
www.greenlightsearch.com
|
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
The most Media
visible websites
and advertisers in Google search
Social
Marketing
Which brands interacted well?
People constantly engage in conversation about brands and products,
whether it is at home, at work or socializing with friends. The internet has
changed the role, pace and place of conversations and Facebook and Twitter
have become two of the most powerful outlets. These sites have become the
perfect medium for consumers and commentators to elevate discussions,
amplify views and give brands both positive and negative visibility.
ASOS was the most followed
To gauge social media interaction with brands, we have monitored the
Facebook and Twitter accounts of the top 15 brands in our integrated league
table (see page 21) in order to assess how many ‘fans’ and ‘followers’ each
has. The table below ranks brands based on the cumulative value of their
‘fans’ and ‘followers’, a score which we have termed Social Media Popularity
Index (SMPI). It further analyses the proactivity of brands by considering the
number of ‘posts’ and ‘tweets’ brands produced for consumers to interact
with in May.
had an additional 2,506 followers
fashion brand in social media, with
a combined following of nearly
300,000 on Facebook and Twitter.
Interestingly, on Twitter it also
on its ASOS_Dashboard account
(which displays live updates on
postal orders) and a further 3,132
following its customer service
account: ASOS_HeretoHelp.
MarksandSpencer was the
most interactive brand, as it
No.
Brand
SMPI
Posts
per month
Tweets
per month
cumulatively produced 774 ‘posts’
1
asos.com
298,328
258,248 +
40,080
50
177
and ‘tweets’ in April.
2
newlook.com
168,873
160,550 +
8,323
133
222
3
marksandspencer.com
132,815
123,194 +
9,621
449
325
4
dorothyperkins.com
39,334
35,651 +
3,683
53
107
5
lipsy.co.uk
34,474
32,030 +
2,444
494
16
MissSelfridge which produced a
6
missselfridge.com
18,461
15,953 +
2,508
17
24
total of just 41 ‘posts’ and ‘tweets’
7
very.co.uk
16,394
14,090 +
2,304
341
122
in May, and MarshallWard, which
8
republic.co.uk
15,506
13,000 +
2,506
38
32
currently does not have official
9
debenhams.com
15,344
11,641 +
3,703
69
195
10
houseoffraser.co.uk
3,546
2,691 +
855
40
64
11
littlewoods.com
2,430
1,397 +
1,033
149
152
12
oli.co.uk
2,382
1,346 +
1,036
24
57
for example, MarksandSpencer,
13
johnlewis.com
1,103
1,103 +
0
0
0
Very and Littlewoods not only
14
goddiva.co.uk
818
732 +
86
28
33
generated press releases but
15
marshallward.co.uk
0
0+
N/A
N/A
also acted as a customer service
0
By comparison, some fashion
brands utilised social networking
relatively little, such as
Facebook or Twitter accounts.
Brands utilised social media
pages for multiple purposes;
contact by directly answering
consumer queries and complaints
on their official Facebook pages.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
22
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Natural search: improve your website's position
Certain factors can affect your position in natural search results. The fashion
sector is notoriously competitive with competition up, down and across the
supply chain, which is partly aided by the ease with which data and systems
can be scraped, integrated, white-labelled and syndicated. This has resulted
in a market where brands are competing with their direct competitors and
agents, as well as having all their affiliates in tow. Consequently, rankings are
difficult to achieve.
Comprehensive ranking is based
on search engines being able to
access relevant content across
your website.
Links play a significant role in
Characteristics of the leading sites
helping sites break through the
The leading sites excel in two key areas: content and link equity. That is, they
contain a depth and breadth of content and they build good, ethical links.
clutter and ascend rankings.
Content
The best-performing sites have
Many of the leading sites contain rich content on all the topics that surround
the popular keywords and have made this content accessible to search
engine spiders — enabling them to index and include it in their searchable
systems. But while good fashion-related content is a foundation to build on,
it can only be part of the equation since it is readily available and therefore
used by a large number of sites. As such, the search engines need a further
differentiator to help them sort through the sheer volume of fashion sites
available. That differentiator is link equity.
all invested heavily in their
Link equity
Search engines use links as the primary way to determine the credibility
of websites because links from third-party websites are considered
similar to votes. And in the eyes of search engines these links encode a
considerable amount of latent and unbiased human judgement about the
quality of the linked-to website. This popularity-based indicator is exactly
what search engines need in order to cut through the noise of brand websites’
self-optimised content, and ascertain the true worth of a site. The top ranking
sites pursue these kinds of strategies aggressively and comprehensively at a
keyword level, hence their considerable success.
Your site
In order for your site to perform better, considerable investment should
be made into improving the quality, depth and breadth of content around
the keyword topics appraised here. You should ensure your site is accessible
to search engines. In addition, you should focus on developing linking
strategies around each product to rapidly and dramatically improve the
quantity and quality of links from third-party websites, and point to the
relevant pages within your own website.
23
www.greenlightsearch.com
|
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
linking efforts.
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
Paid search: improve your visibility and efficiency
Certain factors can affect your position in paid search. Attaining a low
cost-per-click and an affordable cost-per-sale has become a key challenge in
today’s marketplace.
Consider seasonal trends and
mini campaigns, along with your
everyday keywords. Short spurts of
Characteristics of the leading advertisers
From the data recorded, leading advertisers excel in two key areas: breadth
and depth of keywords and unique ad copy. Although we cannot draw exact
conclusions on bidding strategy, it is possible that these leading advertisers
are also using a bid management tool of some type to assist in the budget and
ROI management of their campaign activity.
activity can help to drive up
your ROI.
Ad copy should be treated as
a sales opportunity — take
Keyword landscape
advantage by incorporating and
Your keyword landscape should mirror the products and services provided,
but also consider the customer search funnel (generic, branded and long
tail keywords), thus allowing you to be visible at all stages of the cycle.
Consumers are changing their search habits, with more utilising the long tail
and searching via product-specific terms.
testing as many ad copy versions
Before jumping straight into a paid search campaign, our advice is to plan
out your keyword strategy. Consider it almost as a mind map of a customer’s
search journey, allowing you to consider every keyword permutation available
to you as a brand.
as possible.
Google’s quality score is now
illustrated in the AdWords system,
allowing you to see exactly what
score you have.
Ad copy
Ad copy is seen as the ‘shop window’ opportunity in paid search and therefore
aligning the message with the keyword and differentiating yourself from your
competitors is imperative. As well as being seen as a sales opportunity, ad
copy is also a branding opportunity and therefore projecting an accurate and
positive message about your brand and products is essential.
Relevancy and quality/index score
Behind every score ‘relevancy’ is the key driver — your keywords, campaigns,
ad groups, ad copy and landing pages must all reflect your products and
services. When building a search strategy, ensure you create a campaign that
focuses on relevancy throughout; this will lead to a high score, thus assisting
in lowering your overall and individual cost-per-click.
Bid and campaign management
PPC needs to be managed effectively and to an optimal level. As campaigns
become larger and more complex they become difficult to manage. Bid and
campaign management technologies have become the only option in the face
of an increasingly competitive marketplace. Exploiting the long tail without
sacrificing quality for quantity is also a challenge, especially when managing
copy with pricing and specific products.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
24
Fashion sector report, Issue 6, May 2010
Social media: keep tabs on your fans, friends and followers
In a world where the community holds the power, how do you as a brand
owner take part in a way that is beneficial to your brand awareness,
customer loyalty, reputation and general brand wellbeing? Greenlight’s
objective-orientated approach to Social Media Optimisation (SMO) does
just that, providing a flexible framework to deliver social media success
regardless of the brand or its aspirations — everything from understanding
consumer sentiment, to driving brand awareness, brand loyalty and
even acquisitions.
Specific targeting is extremely
important in the success and
cost effectiveness of your social
media campaign.
The best performing social
media campaigns utilise a variety
Research your audience
Not all social networking sites are the same — if you are trying to get into
conversations about your bridal shower gift site, then a site where the
dominant stories are about technology and gadgets is not for you. It is rare to
find a social media site specifying its main demographic, so this can be more
difficult than it looks.
of formats and platforms and
their content is available to
share, to engage and interest
their audience.
URLs and bookmarking
Engagement is key to building
Simple, user-friendly URLs are not only more memorable, but they are
more likely to be used in status updates and conversations. Make it easy
to ‘save’ your pages — use links, icons with call to action terms i.e. ‘follow us
on Twitter’.
social media optimisation, so
Content mobility
Ensure that your content is available in multiple formats. As well as PDFs,
videos and audio clips, remember to create something in PowerPoint, so that
your content can reach a destination such as SlideShare (which is also used
within LinkedIn).
Speak when you are spoken to
Participate in the conversations which affect you and your brand. If you are
seen to be engaging with your community, you are likely to build credibility
and have more people ‘listening’ to what you have to say. Your involvement
also means you will be better placed to know who your brand guardians and
assassins are and react accordingly.
Provide related information
If you have the scope for creating content, then do so. Some content is more
likely to become viral and spread through social networking sites than others,
but almost every industry has information that will be passed on.
Remember that SEO and SMO are related but not the same
Natural search and social media sit within their own channels, and whilst
there is indeed a relationship between them, each has to justify its existence
in its own right. That said; integrating natural search and Social Media
Optimisation within the same agency does offer many tangible benefits.
25
www.greenlightsearch.com
|
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
make sure that you connect and
build a relationship with those
speaking to you.
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
Request a bespoke report
If you would like to know exactly what share of search traffic your company
is currently attracting, why not get in touch? We can show you the exact
size of your market based on the keywords that matter to you most and we
can measure how well you are capturing this market through your current
search activity.
Our sector reports are a great way to benchmark your company’s search
performance. They provide a solid foundation on which to plan future search
activity and help realign your search strategy.
Contact
Natalie Gyte | Research Manager
+44 (0)20 3326 6238 | E: [email protected]
Disclaimer:
The information provided in this report is for information only and should
not be relied upon to enter into any business transaction or to make any
commercial decision. Whilst Greenlight has made every effort to ensure
the accuracy of this report, Greenlight cannot accept any liability for any
error or inaccuracy found within this document and no warranty is provided
regarding its completeness or its suitability for any purpose. The content of
the report is the copyright of Greenlight Marketing Limited. The reader may
use and circulate the report within its own business organisation. However,
it is not permitted to exploit, distribute, sell or otherwise make use of the
report for commercial gain. It is permitted to reproduce extracts of the
report for public interest, provided that the publisher credits Greenlight as
the source of the work.
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
26
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