Sector report Issue 8

Transcription

Sector report
December 2010
A 360˚ analysis of the most important search terms, trends and benchmarking
data in the hotel sector. This report provides an exclusive snapshot of the
online search and social media market for your sector right now. From the
size of your potential audience to the top performing companies, it’s all here.
Product focus: generic, domestic, short haul and long haul keywords.
Issue 8
Hotels
The most visible websites and
advertisers in Google search
Hotels sector report, Issue 8, December 2010
Conten ts
2
Introduction
3
Total audience size
4
Keyword breakdown
5
Natural search: which websites were most visible in December?
7
Natural search: generic hotel keywords
8
Natural search: domestic hotel keywords
9
Natural search: short haul hotel keywords
10
Natural search: long haul hotel keywords
11
Paid search: which advertisers were most visible in December?
13
Paid search: ad copy analysis
14
Paid search: generic hotel keywords
15
Paid search: domestic hotel keywords
16
Paid search: short haul hotel keywords
17
Paid search: long haul hotel keywords
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 book a hotel they go to a search engine.
More often than not they go to Google, the search engine used for 90% of all UK
searches. So, when people search on Google, what did they type and who were they
most likely to see in their searches and hence book with or through?
This report answers those questions by profiling search behaviour in the hotels
sector. It analyses which hotel chains and aggregators were the most visible in both
natural and paid search results (and thus have the greatest share of consideration)
when UK-based searchers used Google in December to look for and book hotels
around the world. The report also assesses which brands interacted well on social
media networks.
This sector report is based on search volume data for December 2010.
How the report was created
We have used industry data to classify 356 of the most popular global destinations that people booked hotels
in, profiling which search terms they used to find hotels to each location and how popular each search term was.
We also took a set of generic keywords, which are not destination-specific but are also used when searching
for hotels. This gives an indication of the size of audience that used Google to research, find and book hotels
in December.
For natural search, we 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 having that keyword-specific visibility.
For paid search, we monitored the advertisers appearing in the sponsored links for the top 120 of the 1,300
terms analysed. Data was retrieved from Google regularly on a daily basis during December 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 were
created for the hotels sector.
For social media, we assessed the top 15 brands in natural and paid search, based on the number of followers
and the level of interaction on their official Facebook and Twitter accounts.
On the following pages you will find market view data for the hotels industry as a whole, as well as by segment:
generic, domestic, short haul and long haul keywords.
Total audience size (1.4 million searches — December 2010)
Approximately how many searches were performed in December 2010 using
hotel-related terms, including both generic and destination-based keywords?
July
In December, there were more than
1.4 million searches performed
We have considered every search term and aggregated the number of times
each one was used in October, November and December to give an indication
of the number of searches.
for hotels, which was a notable
increase in volume (by 27%)
compared to November, when
1.1 million searches were performed.
Domestic hotel keywords were
Total number of hotel-related searches
the most popular, accounting for
2,000,000
October
1,500,000
November
December
1,000,000
over a third (37%) of the total
search volume. This indicates that
many consumers looked online to
book accommodation in the UK
for the festive season.
500,000
In a report by IMRG/Capgemini,
in January 2011, the travel sector
0
showed a 31% rise in sales,
500,,000
500
000
compared with the amount spent
in January 2010. Significantly,
the average basket value of trips
10,000,000
Number of searches by type (December 2010)
1500000
booked was £886, the highest
15,000,000
2000000
sector index in December 2008.
recorded since the launch of its
Short haul destinations
238,976 | 16%
Source: IMRG/Capgemini,
2500000
20,000,000
18/02/2011
Domestic destinations
550,664 | 37%
Long haul destinations
259,295 | 18%
Generic keywords
419,853 | 29%
3
www.greenlightsearch.com
|
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
Share:
The most visible websites and advertisers in Google search
Keyword breakdown
Which were the most popular hotel-related search terms?
The term ‘hotels’ was searched
We analysed 1,300 keywords for this exercise, which cumulatively totalled
1.4 million searches in December 2010. Here we look at which individual terms
were most searched for and search volumes by geographic area.
110,000 times in December,
accounting for 7% of the total
search volume.
Consistent with our previous
Keyword breakdown (December 2010)
report, London was the most
Hotels
110,000 | 7%
searched for location, with the
Hotels in London
60,500 | 4%
terms ‘hotels in London’, ‘London
London hotels
60,500 | 4%
Cheap hotels
60,500 | 4%
Cheap hotels in London
40,500 | 3%
Bed and breakfast
33,100 | 2%
Hotel
33,100 | 2%
Edinburgh hotels
27,100 | 2%
Hotels in York
27,100 | 2%
Motel
27,100 | 2%
Other keywords
989,288 | 67%
hotels’ and ‘cheap hotels in
London’ cumulatively accounting
for 11% of all searches.
As a result, UK & Ireland-related
keywords were the most popular,
totalling over 550,000 searches
in December, which was 52% of
all destination-based queries.
Number of searches by geographic location (December 2010)
600,000
500,000
400,000
UK & Ireland | 550,664 | 52%
300,000
200,000
100,000
Europe | 238,976 | 23%
North America | 122,626 | 12%
Far East and Australasia | 51,715 | 5%
Middle East and South Asia | 42,978 | 4%
Caribbean and South America | 24,235 | 2%
0
Africa | 17,741 | 2%
100,
10
0 00
000
0
200,000
Share:
Get in touch to discuss your site’s specific performance.
4
Hotels sectorSearch
report, Issue 8, December 2010
Natural
Which sites were most visible in December?
Given that UK web users conducted 1.4 million searches for hotel-related terms
in December 2010, which brands were best positioned on page one of Google
natural search and therefore most likely to gain the searcher’s 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 for those terms on page one of Google. These websites have been
scored in the league table below, which represents visibility to a total of
1.4 million searches in December.
LateRooms was the most visible
website in natural search,
achieving 61% share of voice,
which was a 14% increase since
September. Although it ranked
at position one for 88 terms, it
previously featured at the same
position for 98 keywords analysed.
The top 60 most visible hotel websites in natural search
Expedia, by comparison, ranked
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
laterooms.com
900,878
564,305
61%
2
expedia.co.uk
610,619
854,564
42%
3
lastminute.com
527,244
937,939
36%
4
tripadvisor.co.uk
468,320
996,863
32%
5
cheaperthanhotels.co.uk
301,758
1,163,425
21%
6
travelsupermarket.com
300,925
1,164,258
21%
7
premierinn.com
271,540
1,193,643
19%
Of the top 10 websites, just one
8
superbreak.com
196,986
1,268,197
13%
was a new entrant, SuperBreak,
9
tripadvisor.com
185,793
1,279,390
13%
which ranked in eighth position as
10
cheaphotels.co.uk
183,767
1,281,416
13%
its visibility increased by 2%.
11
hilton.co.uk
152,556
1,312,627
10%
12
booking.com
151,894
1,313,289
10%
13
hotelclub.com
146,323
1,318,860
10%
14
easytobook.com
135,546
1,329,637
9%
15
hotels.com
121,447
1,343,736
8%
16
hotels-london.co.uk
114,877
1,350,306
8%
17
londonnights.com
106,575
1,358,608
7%
18
direct-hotels.co.uk
94,696
1,370,487
6%
19
travelodge.co.uk
83,616
1,381,566
6%
20
directrooms.com
80,261
1,384,922
5%
21
wikipedia.org
75,582
1,389,601
5%
22
londontown.com
74,710
1,390,473
5%
23
cheapaccommodation.com
67,493
1,397,690
5%
24
britanniahotels.com
57,985
1,407,198
4%
25
hotels4u.com
56,583
1,408,600
4%
5
|
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
at position one for 39 terms and it
ranked at position 17 for the most
searched for keyword: ‘hotels’.
However, its visibility increased
by 6% and it moved up from third
place to second.
Share:
The top 60 most visible hotel websites in natural search (contd.)
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
26
europe-cities.com
50,362
1,414,821
3%
was PremierInn, ranking in
27
jurysinns.com
49,369
1,415,814
3%
seventh place in our league table.
28
thebalmoralhotel.com
47,140
1,418,043
3%
It achieved 19% share of voice
29
cheaphotelbookings.com
46,394
1,418,789
3%
(an increase of 7%) through
30
bedandbreakfasts.co.uk
44,871
1,420,312
3%
ranking at position three and
31
londonhotels.com
44,795
1,420,388
3%
seven for the terms ‘hotel’ and
32
visityork.org
44,756
1,420,427
3%
‘hotels’ respectively.
33
hoteldirect.co.uk
44,336
1,420,847
3%
34
apexhotels.co.uk
43,663
1,421,520
3%
LastMinute saw its share of voice
35
hotel53.com
42,333
1,422,850
3%
increase by 7%, thus it moved up
36
ibishotel.com
41,765
1,423,418
3%
37
asiarooms.com
40,039
1,425,144
3%
38
hoteltravel.com
39,709
1,425,474
3%
39
starwoodhotels.com
37,129
1,428,054
3%
40
bluerainbowapartments.com
36,730
1,428,453
3%
41
hotels.nl
35,257
1,429,926
2%
42
qhotels.co.uk
34,294
1,430,889
2%
43
radissonblu.co.uk
32,809
1,432,374
2%
44
discountcityhotels.net
31,349
1,433,834
2%
45
marriott.co.uk
30,941
1,434,242
2%
46
hotels-paris.fr
30,770
1,434,413
2%
47
moneysavingexpert.com
30,265
1,434,918
2%
48
visitus.co.uk
29,790
1,435,393
2%
49
bedandbreakfastnationwide.com
29,790
1,435,393
2%
50
principal-hayley.com
28,924
1,436,259
2%
51
mrandmrssmith.com
28,807
1,436,376
2%
52
umihotelbrighton.co.uk
28,399
1,436,784
2%
53
travelstay.com
27,983
1,437,200
2%
54
radissonedwardian.com
27,978
1,437,205
2%
55
simonseeks.com
27,767
1,437,416
2%
56
bedandbreakfastsguide.com
27,762
1,437,421
2%
57
york-united-kingdom.co.uk
27,300
1,437,883
2%
58
motelrocks.com
27,100
1,438,083
2%
59
stayinedinburgh.net
26,911
1,438,272
2%
60
bedandbreakfasts-uk.co.uk
26,495
1,438,688
2%
Share:
The best performing hotel chain
from fourth position to third.
TripAdvisor (.co.uk) ranked at
position one for more terms than
any other website (131); however,
it featured at the same position
for considerably more keywords
in September (193). Overall, it
lost 8% share of voice and it fell
from second place to fourth in our
league table.
6
Natural search: generic hotel keywords
Searches for generic hotel keywords only (which are not location-specific)
accounted for more than 419,000 searches in December 2010. How did
those searches break down?
The keywords ‘hotels’ and ‘cheap
hotels’ cumulatively accounted
for 40% of all generic searches
for hotels in December. Websites
Other keywords
105,253 | 25%
Hotels
110,000 | 26%
which achieved visibility for those
terms secured much of the overall
share of voice.
LateRooms featured at the top
Luxury hotels
8,100 | 2%
B&b
8,100 | 2%
of our league table, achieving
Hotel deals
9,900 | 2%
63% visibility through ranking
Cheap hotels
60,500 | 14%
Boutique hotels
9,900 | 2%
Last minute hotels
14,800 | 4%
at position one for 24 of the
keywords analysed, including the
Motel
27,100 | 6%
Hotel
33,100 | 8%
term ‘hotel’; however, it dropped
Bed and breakfast
33,100 | 8%
to position two for ‘hotels’.
Although LastMinute ranked at
Which websites were most visible for generic hotel keywords?
position one for just two keywords
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
laterooms.com
265,418
154,435
63%
three for the term ‘cheap hotels’
2
lastminute.com
204,008
215,845
49%
and position four for ‘hotels’;
3
168,093
251,760
40%
therefore, it featured in second
4
premierinn.com
123,359
296,494
29%
5
expedia.co.uk
114,806
305,047
27%
6
hotels.com
114,352
305,501
27%
7
booking.com
112,736
307,117
27%
8
hilton.co.uk
82,776
337,076
20%
9
cheaphotels.co.uk
74,982
344,871
18%
10
travelodge.co.uk
74,494
345,359
18%
11
wikipedia.org
72,312
347,541
17%
12
superbreak.com
65,424
354,429
16%
By contrast, SuperBreak lost 5%
13
cheapaccommodation.com
62,022
357,831
15%
visibility since September, thus
14
hotels4u.com
56,089
363,764
13%
falling from seventh place to
15
tripadvisor.co.uk
47,519
372,334
11%
position to 12.
16
cheaphotelbookings.com
42,270
377,584
10%
17
bedandbreakfasts.co.uk
40,876
378,977
10%
18
moneysavingexpert.com
30,264
389,589
7%
19
bedandbreakfastnationwide.com
29,790
390,063
7%
20
visitus.co.uk
29,790
390,063
7%
7
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T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
in December, it ranked at position
place, achieving 49% visibility.
Hotels.com saw its share of voice
increase by 11% and it ascended
our league table from tenth
position to sixth.
Share:
Natural search: domestic hotel keywords
Searches for domestic hotels in the UK and Ireland accounted for more than
550,000 searches in December 2010. How did those searches break down?
The terms ‘hotels in London’ and
‘London hotels’ totalled 60,500
Hotels in London
60,500 | 11%
searches apiece in December and
cumulatively accounted for 22% of
all searches for domestic hotels.
London hotels
60,500 | 11%
Similar to our last report,
Other keywords
214,064 | 39%
LateRooms attained a dominant
Cheap hotels in London
40,500 | 7%
95% share of voice. It ranked at
position one for 58 keywords,
including the terms ‘hotels in
Edinburgh hotels
27,100 | 5%
London’ and ‘London hotels’.
Hotels in York
27,100 | 5%
York hotels
18,100 | 3%
Brighton hotels
22,200 | 4%
Hotels in Brighton
22,200 | 4%
Hotels in Manchester
18,100 | 3%
Cheap London hotels
18,100 | 3%
LastMinute achieved 50%
visibility through ranking at
Hotels in Edinburgh
22,200 | 4%
position one for seven keywords,
including the term ‘cheap hotels
Which websites were most visible for domestic hotel keywords?
in London’.
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
laterooms.com
522,745
27,919
95%
PremierInn’s visibility increased
2
lastminute.com
276,166
274,498
50%
by 5% and it moved up from
3
203,698
346,966
37%
seventh position to fifth in our
4
expedia.co.uk
197,949
352,715
36%
league table.
5
premierinn.com
148,177
402,487
27%
6
superbreak.com
131,200
419,464
24%
7
hotels-london.co.uk
111,563
439,101
20%
8
londonnights.com
106,387
444,277
19%
9
direct-hotels.co.uk
80,364
470,300
15%
10
tripadvisor.co.uk
74,868
475,796
14%
11
londontown.com
74,506
476,158
14%
12
hilton.co.uk
69,695
480,969
13%
13
58,762
491,902
11%
14
britanniahotels.com
56,828
493,836
10%
15
cheaphotels.co.uk
56,805
493,859
10%
16
thebalmoralhotel.com
46,478
504,186
8%
17
jurysinns.com
45,118
505,546
8%
18
londonhotels.com
44,785
505,879
8%
19
visityork.org
44,756
505,908
8%
20
apexhotels.co.uk
43,193
507,471
8%
Share:
Conversely, Direct-Hotels lost 8%
share of voice and therefore it fell
from fifth position to ninth.
8
Natural search: short haul hotel keywords
Searches for hotels in short haul locations (largely within Europe) accounted
for more than 238,000 searches in December 2010. How did those searches
break down?
The keywords ‘hotels in Paris’ and
‘Paris hotels’ were searched for
18,100 times in December, which
Hotels in Paris
18,100 | 8%
accounted for 16% of all short haul
hotel searches.
Paris hotels
18,100 | 8%
Amsterdam hotels
14,800 | 6%
Barcelona hotels
12,100 | 5%
Other keywords
126,676 | 53%
Hotels in Amsterdam
9,900 | 4%
Hotels in Barcelona
9,900 | 4%
Hotels in Rome
8,100 | 3%
Rome hotels
8,100 | 3%
Prague hotels
Venice hotels 6,600 | 3%
6,600 | 3%
TripAdvisor (.co.uk) was the
most visible website, achieving
73% visibility, which was a 9%
increase since September. It ranked
at position one for 30 keywords
analysed but it featured at position
five for the most searched for terms:
‘hotels in Paris’ and ‘Paris hotels’.
Although Expedia remained in
second place in our league table
Which websites were most visible for short haul hotel keywords?
its visibility increased by 19%. It
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
tripadvisor.co.uk
175,453
63,523
73%
keywords, including ‘hotels in Paris’
2
expedia.co.uk
165,156
73,820
69%
and ‘Paris hotels’.
3
laterooms.com
109,108
129,868
46%
4
97,987
140,989
41%
5
easytobook.com
90,468
148,508
38%
6
tripadvisor.com
82,847
156,129
35%
7
hotelclub.com
44,545
194,431
19%
8
europe-cities.com
44,450
194,526
19%
9
hotels.nl
35,257
203,719
15%
10
booking.com
33,280
205,696
14%
11
hotels-paris.fr
30,770
208,206
13%
12
hotelsbarcelona.org
26,021
212,955
11%
13
26,005
212,971
11%
14
lastminute.com
25,973
213,003
11%
15
amsterdam-hotels-guide.com
23,424
215,552
10%
16
holidaycityeurope.com
20,007
218,969
8%
17
barcelona-hotels-directory.com
19,832
219,144
8%
18
cheaphotels.co.uk
17,907
221,069
7%
19
parishotels.com
16,290
222,686
7%
20
directrooms.com
15,903
223,073
7%
9
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featured at position one for 13
LateRooms saw its visibility
increase by 10% and it moved up
from fourth place to third.
By comparison, Booking.com lost
5% visibility and it dropped from
ninth position to tenth.
Share:
Natural search: long haul hotel keywords
Searches for hotels in long haul locations accounted for more than 259,000
searches in December 2010. How did those searches break down?
The term ‘New York hotels’ was
searched for 18,100 times each,
New York hotels
18,100 | 7%
which accounted for 7% of all
Las Vegas hotels
14,800 | 6%
long haul-related queries.
Dubai hotels
12,100 | 5%
TripAdvisor (.co.uk) featured
at the top of our league table,
Hotels in New York
12,100 | 5%
achieving 66% visibility through
Hotels in Dubai
6,600 | 3%
ranking at position one for 97
Hotels in Las Vegas
4,400 | 2%
keywords; however, of these
Cheap hotels in New York
4,400 | 2%
Singapore hotels
4,400 | 2%
terms, ‘hotels in Marrakech’ was
the most popular (totalling just
1,900 searches in December).
Other keywords
182,395 | 70%
Expedia saw its visibility increase
by 15% and hence it replaced
TripAdvisor (.com) in second
Which websites were most visible for long haul hotel keywords?
place. It featured at position one
No. Domain
Reached
volume
Missed
volume
Percentage
reached
1
tripadvisor.co.uk
170,480
88,815
66%
and ranked at position two for the
2
expedia.co.uk
132,708
126,587
51%
term ‘New York hotels’.
3
tripadvisor.com
100,847
158,448
39%
4
hotelclub.com
63,021
196,274
24%
5
directrooms.com
60,942
198,353
24%
6
48,066
211,229
19%
7
asiarooms.com
39,710
219,585
15%
8
cheaphotels.co.uk
34,073
225,222
13%
9
starwoodhotels.com
27,962
231,333
11%
10
hoteltravel.com
26,429
232,866
10%
11
easytobook.com
26,107
233,188
10%
12
bellagio.com
21,317
237,978
8%
13
atlantisthepalm.com
21,215
238,080
8%
14
lastminute.com
21,096
238,199
8%
15
dubaishortstay.com
20,468
238,827
8%
16
newyorknewyork.com
19,354
239,941
7%
17
hyatt.com
17,345
241,950
7%
18
mgmgrand.com
16,485
242,810
6%
19
agoda.com
16,237
243,058
6%
20
venetian.com
16,169
243,126
6%
Share:
for 24 of the keywords analysed
TravelSupermarket saw its
visibility increase by 6% and it
moved up from eighth position
to sixth.
10
Hotels sector
report, Issue 8, December 2010
Paid
Search
Which advertisers were most visible in December?
We have conducted a detailed level of monitoring and analysis to determine
which advertisers appeared most prominently 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 December 2010.
In the hotels sector, Booking.com
was the most visible advertiser,
achieving 86% share of voice
through bidding on 115 of the 120
keywords analysed, at an average
ad position of two.
The top 60 most visible hotel advertisers in paid search
LateRooms saw its visibility
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
1
booking.com
86%
2
laterooms.com
52%
3
expedia.co.uk
36%
4
holidayinn.com
23%
5
21%
6
ebookers.com
21%
7
hiexpress.com
19%
8
hotels.com
19%
9
hoteldirect.co.uk
18%
10
trivago.co.uk
15%
11
ibishotel.com
13%
Group. These advertisers were:
12
lastminute.com
13%
HolidayInn and HIExpress.
13
marriott.co.uk
10%
14
lowcostholidays.com
10%
15
travelrepublic.co.uk
9%
16
crowneplaza.com
9%
17
radissonblu.com
7%
18
radissonblu.co.uk
7%
19
starwoodhotels.com
7%
20
hotelopia.com
7%
21
novotel.com
6%
22
hilton.co.uk
6%
23
splendia.com
6%
24
getaroom.com
5%
25
activehotels.com
5%
26
theshaftesbury.co.uk
5%
27
direct-hotels.co.uk
5%
28
hotelconnect.co.uk
5%
decrease by 9% as it bid on
11
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T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
fewer terms in December (82),
compared to September (89).
However, it remained in second
place in our league table.
In December, there were two new
entrants to our top 10 advertisers,
both of which are part of
the InterContinental Hotels
Share:
The top 60 most visible hotel advertisers in paid search (contd.)
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
29
totalstay.co.uk
5%
30
venere.com
4%
31
parkgrandlondon.co.uk
4%
32
kayak.co.uk
4%
33
thistle.com
4%
34
intercontinental.com
4%
35
0800paris-hotels.com
3%
36
grandroyalelondon.co.uk
3%
37
accorhotels.com
3%
LastMinute saw an 11% decrease
38
easytobook.com
3%
in paid search visibility and it fell
39
hotelformule1.com
3%
from eighth position to position 12
40
travel.saga.co.uk
3%
in our league table.
41
jurysinns.com
3%
42
alpharooms.com
3%
It is interesting to note that
43
millenniumhotels.co.uk
3%
Marriott bid on far more keywords
44
priceline.co.uk
3%
(108) than LowCostHolidays (53),
45
etaphotel.com
2%
yet it appeared less often in the
46
nh-hotels.com
2%
47
hotel.shaftesburyhotels.com
2%
48
parkinn.co.uk
2%
49
fourseasons.com
2%
50
gekko.com
2%
51
bookit.com
2%
52
edinburghhotels.uk.com
2%
53
agoda.co.uk
2%
54
ramadajarvis.co.uk
2%
55
justnewyorkhotels.com
2%
56
hilton.com
2%
57
asiarooms.com
2%
58
hotelbookers.com
2%
59
cheaperroom.co.uk
2%
60
octopustravel.com
2%
Share:
HolidayInn increased its share of
voice by 20% since September
and it moved up from position 28
to fourth place. In September, it
bid on 60 keywords, at an average
ad position of seven, yet bid on 71
terms and at a higher average ad
position of five in December.
paid search space for the high
volume driving terms; therefore,
the two advertisers achieved 10%
share of voice.
12
Paid search: ad copy analysis
The table below shows which ad creatives featured most frequently
across the top 120 hotel-related keywords in the Google paid
search space during December 2010. Share of voice is based on the
number of times Google displayed the individual 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
Hotels: Booking.Com
Over 125,000 hotels worldwide.
Save up to 75% on your reservation!
www.booking.com/Hotels
239
1/2 Price London Hotels
Book your hotel in London online
Lowest price guaranteed!
www.booking.com/LondonHotels
239
ibis London Hotel fr £79
Enjoy cool hotel prices this winter with ibis.
Rooms from just £79!
www.ibishotel.com/London
65
Hotels
Over 110,000 Hotels Worldwide.
No Change or Cancellation Fees!
www.expedia.co.uk/hotels
233
Hotels from £25
Save up to 75% off hotel prices
We'll find you the best prices
www.direct-hotels.co.uk
5
Hotels
Book the perfect cheap hotel now to get our best
price guarantee!
www.ebookers.com
151
Cheap London Hotels
On lastminute.com - Search 1000s of hotels &
book today for big savings
lastminute.com/London_hotels
94
Holiday Inn Express Hotel
Great hotel in London, UK.
Book at official site. Low rates guaranteed
www.hiexpress.com
73
Super Sale London Hotels
4 Star Accom, Free Broadband, Full Breakfast Inc,
Book Direct, No Fee
www.theshaftesbury.co.uk
4
4* Hotel at Oxford Street
Radisson Blu Portman at Oxford & Baker Street in
London West End
RadissonBlu.co.uk/London
17
ebookers.com - Hotels
Over 100000 Hotels.
Don't book until you've seen our prices!
www.ebookers.com
151
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
booking.com
booking.com
ibishotel.com
expedia.co.uk
direct-hotels.co.uk
ebookers.com
lastminute.com
hiexpress.com
radissonblu.co.uk
ebookers.com
10%
Achieving 10% and 8%
share of voice respectively,
8%
Booking.com displayed the
two most visible individual ad
6%
creatives; one was generic, which
promoted the number of hotels
5%
on its website worldwide, whilst
the other featured a ‘1/2 Price’
5%
discount on reservations for
London hotels.
4%
Booking.com and Expedia featured
4%
diverse ad campaigns, displaying
239 and 233 unique ad creatives
4%
apiece in December, whilst
TheShaftsbury featured just four.
4%
The majority of the top ad
3%
creatives stated a number
of savings-related unique
3%
selling points to incentivise the
consumer, including: ‘75% off’
12
hiexpress.com
www.hiexpress.com
73
3%
and ‘Deposits from £5’.
13
Travelsupermarket Hotels
Book 4 star hotels from £40/night
We search 1,000s hotels for you!
www.travelsupermarket.com/4star
179
3%
Interestingly, TheShaftsbury
750 Hotels in Paris
Book a hotel in Paris online.
www.booking.com/Paris-Hotels
239
Cheap Hotels From £7
Cheap Hotels, Deposits From £5, It's Simple.
Book Online Now!
lowcostholidays.com/Cheap-Hotels
106
14
15
booking.com
lowcostholidays.com
13
|
advertised key selling points
3%
of the hotel, such as ‘Free
Broadband, Full Breakfast Inc,
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
3%
Book Direct, No Fee’.
Share:
Paid search: generic hotel keywords
Searches for generic hotel keywords only (which are not destination-specific)
accounted for more than 419,000 searches in December 2010. Here we assess
which advertisers were most visible for those keywords.
Booking.com retained top position
in our league table; however, its
share of voice decreased 16% as,
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
1
booking.com
73%
2
laterooms.com
62%
3
53%
4
hotels.com
43%
5
expedia.co.uk
36%
6
ebookers.com
34%
7
lowcostholidays.com
20%
8
trivago.co.uk
20%
9
direct-hotels.co.uk
17%
often than Booking.com, which
10
kayak.co.uk
14%
accounts for its 62% visibility.
11
marriott.co.uk
13%
12
hotelformule1.com
10%
LowCostHolidays attained 20%
13
10%
share of voice and it ranked in
14
getaroom.com
10%
seventh position, having not
15
9%
featured in our top 20 advertisers
16
lastminute.com
8%
17
radissonblu.co.uk
7%
18
cheaperroom.co.uk
6%
19
crowneplaza.com
6%
20
etaphotel.com
6%
although its average ad position
remained at four, it appeared for
27 keywords, compared to 29 in
our previous report.
LateRooms bid on fewer keywords
(22), at a lower average ad
position of four and it bid less
in September.
Conversely, Expedia lost 31%
visibility, which saw it drop from
third position to fifth.
Which ad creatives were most visible for generic hotel keywords?
Achieving 34% share of voice,
No. Domain
Ad creative
Unique
Share of
creatives voice
1
Hotels: Booking.Com
Over 125.000 hotels worldwide.
www.booking.com/Hotels
56
Hotels
Over 110,000 Hotels Worldwide.
No Change or Cancellation Fees!
www.expedia.co.uk/hotels
40
Hotels from £25
Save up to 75% off hotel prices
We'll find you the best prices
www.direct-hotels.co.uk
16
2
3
booking.com
expedia.co.uk
direct-hotels.co.uk
34%
most visible ad creative, which
promoted its online discount and
17%
the number of hotels available
worldwide to highlight the variety
17%
of choice on offer to consumers
utilising generic keywords when
4
ebookers.com
Hotels
Book the perfect cheap hotel now to get our best
price guarantee!
www.ebookers.com
24
13%
5
ebookers.com
ebookers.com - Hotels
Over 100000 Hotels.
Don't book until you've seen our prices!
www.ebookers.com
24
11%
Share:
Booking.com displayed the
searching for hotels.
14
Paid search: domestic hotel keywords
Searches for domestic hotels within the UK and Ireland accounted for more than
550,000 searches in December 2010. Here we assess which advertisers were
most visible for those keywords.
Booking.com attained a dominant
97% visibility for domestic hotel
keywords through bidding on 29
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
1
booking.com
97%
2
laterooms.com
58%
3
hiexpress.com
47%
4
hoteldirect.co.uk
37%
5
ibishotel.com
34%
6
holidayinn.com
33%
7
lastminute.com
19%
8
trivago.co.uk
18%
9
novotel.com
17%
league table, though its share voice
10
hotelopia.com
16%
decreased by 12% since September.
11
radissonblu.co.uk
15%
12
marriott.co.uk
13%
HIExpress and HolidayInn both
13
totalstay.co.uk
13%
saw visibility increase markedly
14
13%
since our last report; therefore,
15
hilton.co.uk
13%
both advertisers ascended into
16
activehotels.com
12%
17
expedia.co.uk
12%
18
thistle.com
11%
19
parkgrandlondon.co.uk
11%
20
hotelconnect.co.uk
9%
of the keywords analysed, at an
average ad position of one.
By comparison, LateRooms bid
on fewer terms (27), at a lower
average ad position of four and it
appeared less often. In addition,
it remained in second place in our
the top 10 in our league table.
By contrast, HotelDirect lost 23%
visibility and was thus replaced by
HIExpress in third position.
Which ad creatives were most visible for domestic hotel keywords?
Attaining 23% visibility,
No. Domain
Ad creative
Unique
Share of
creatives voice
1
1/2 Price London Hotels
Book your hotel in London online Lowest price
guaranteed!www.booking.com/LondonHotels
www.booking.com/LondonHotels
54
booking.com
23%
ibishotel.com
ibis London Hotel fr £79
Enjoy cool hotel prices this winter with ibis.
Rooms from just £79!
www.ibishotel.com/London
47
17%
3
lastminute.com
Cheap London Hotels
On lastminute.com - Search 1000s of hotels &
book today for big savings
lastminute.com/London_hotels
20
11%
4
hiexpress.com
www.hiexpress.com
29
11%
5
hiexpress.com
Stay at Holiday Inn Express for business or
pleasure. Book now!
www.hiexpress.com
29
9%
|
visible individual ad creative,
which focused on ‘1/2 Price
2
15
Booking.com displayed the most
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
London Hotels’.
Share:
Paid search: short haul hotel keywords
Searches for hotels in short haul locations (largely within Europe) accounted
for more than 238,000 searches in December 2010. Here we assess which
advertisers were most visible for those keywords.
Booking.com achieved a notable
share of voice (97%) through
bidding on all 30 of the keywords
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
1
booking.com
97%
2
laterooms.com
58%
3
expedia.co.uk
57%
4
holidayinn.com
30%
5
radissonblu.com
28%
6
hoteldirect.co.uk
25%
7
splendia.com
24%
8
crowneplaza.com
19%
9
venere.com
19%
10
ebookers.com
19%
of voice and it ranked in fourth
11
starwoodhotels.com
17%
position, having not featured in our
12
16%
top 20 advertisers in September.
13
accorhotels.com
15%
14
hotels.com
14%
By contrast, Splendia lost 14%
15
lowcostholidays.com
12%
visibility, which saw it fall from
16
lastminute.com
12%
fourth place to seventh.
17
easytobook.com
11%
18
nh-hotels.com
11%
19
hotelconnect.co.uk
9%
20
8%
analysed, at an average ad
position of one.
LateRooms bid on fewer keywords
(28) and at a lower average ad
position of four; hence, it achieved
58% visibility.
HolidayInn attained 30% share
Achieving 16% visibility,
Booking.com displayed the most
visible individual ad creative,
which advertised hotels in
Which ad creatives were most visible for short haul hotel keywords?
Paris. Similar to its other ad
No. Domain
Ad creative
Unique
Share of
creatives voice
1
750 Hotels in Paris
Book a hotel in Paris online. S
ave up to 75% on your reservation!
www.booking.com/Paris-Hotels
77
booking.com
16%
Booking.com stated the number
of hotels on offer to the consumer
2
laterooms.com
3* Paris Hotels from £44
544 great Hotels in Paris.
3* from only £44 per night.
LateRooms.com/Paris-Hotels
104
13%
3
Discount Hotels in Paris
Save up to 70%, Free Night Deals Extra 5% OFF
with discount code CHP
www.0800paris-hotels.com
4
10%
4
booking.com
500 Hotels in Amsterdam
Save up to 75% on your booking.
Great rates. No reservation costs!
www.booking.com/Amsterdam
77
10%
5
radissonblu.com
Hotels in Paris, Save 25%
Book 28 days in advance & Save 25%
Radisson Blu (SAS) Hotels in Paris
www.radissonblu.com/Paris
30
8%
Share:
creatives found in this report,
and its ‘75%’ reservation discount.
16
Paid search: long haul hotel keywords
Searches for hotels in long haul locations accounted for more than 259,000
searches in December 2010. Here we assess which advertisers were most
visible for those keywords.
Booking.com attained 68%
visibility (an increase of 5%)
through bidding on 29 of the 30
No.
Advertiser
Share of voice
1
booking.com
68%
2
expedia.co.uk
65%
3
holidayinn.com
32%
4
ebookers.com
31%
5
getaroom.com
17%
6
16%
7
hotels.com
14%
8
bookit.com
13%
9
starwoodhotels.com
13%
September, its share of voice
10
alpharooms.com
13%
increased by 17% and thus it
11
agoda.co.uk
13%
made gains on Booking.com.
12
13%
13
hotelbookers.com
13%
Similar to other segments in
14
newyorkcityluxuryhotels.com
11%
paid search, HolidayInn, which
15
laterooms.com
11%
attained 31% visibility, ranked
16
crowneplaza.com
11%
17
virginholidays.co.uk
10%
18
10%
19
asiarooms.com
10%
20
tripres.com
9%
keywords analysed, at an average
ad position of three.
By comparison, Expedia bid on
fewer keywords (24) and it bid
at a lower average ad position
of four, which saw it achieve
65% visibility. However, since
near the top of our league table,
having not featured in our top 20
advertisers in September.
BookIt saw a 9% drop in visibility
and therefore it fell from fourth
Which ad creatives were most visible for long haul hotel keywords?
position to eighth. In addition,
No. Domain
Ad creative
Unique
Share of
creatives voice
1
500 Hotels in New York
Good availability and great rates. Save up to 75%
on your reservation!www.booking.com/New-York
www.booking.com/New-York
57
booking.com
14%
Just New York City Hotels
5 great advantages to book with us.
Low price is just one of them.
www.JustNewYorkHotels.com
3
11%
3
expedia.co.uk
565 Hotels in New York
Book your Hotels in New York on Expedia® - The
#1 Site in Travel.www.Expedia.co.uk/NewYork
www.Expedia.co.uk/NewYork
76
8%
New York Luxury Hotels
Wholesale Rates at all of the Top Luxury Hotels
in New York City.
www.NewYorkCityLuxuryHotels.com
4
565 New York City Hotels
Good availability and great rates. Save up to 50%
on your reservation!www.Expedia.co.uk/NewYork
www.Expedia.co.uk/NewYork
76
5
newyorkcityluxuryhotels.com
expedia.co.uk
17
|
league table, having ranked in
eighth place in September, when
2
4
Marriott did not feature in our
it achieved 15% share of voice.
Attaining 14% visibility,
Booking.com’s ad creative stated
7%
the number of New York hotels
available to the consumer and its
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
6%
‘75%’ reservation discount.
Share:
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. Our analysis tracks
visibility of advertisers in terms of bidding frequency, average ad position
and keywords bid on, rather than assessing other performance indicators,
such as sales and cost per acquisition. 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
Research into search trends by Google established that most travel-related
queries are performed on Tuesdays, with slightly fewer on other weekdays.
The fewest travel-related searches are made over the weekend, with
Saturday seeing the least number of queries (Source: Google Insights). Did
advertisers reflect this day parting in their bidding strategies?
Ad count by day, over a 1-week period (chosen at random; week commencing 6th December)
Consumer search behaviour
20%
HotelDirect
Trivago
HIExpress
15%
HolidayInn
TravelSupermarket
eBookers
10%
Hotels.com
Expedia
LateRooms
5%
Mon 6th
Share:
Tue 7th
Wed 8th
Thu 9th
Fri 10th
Sat 11th
Sun 12th
Booking.com
Many advertisers appeared to
Hotels.com emulated the consumer
eBookers attained low visibility
achieve relatively constant visibility
search trend as it achieved a high
at the beginning of the week,
in paid search throughout the week,
share of voice at the beginning of
particularly Monday, yet achieved a
thus not recognising the increase
the week and attained low paid
high share of voice at the weekend,
in search activity on Monday
search visibility during the weekend,
which conflicted with the consumer
and Tuesday.
when search volume decreased.
search trend.
18
Hourly parting strategy
Our own research found that there are two peaks in the day when travel
consumers search most. The first is a ‘lunchtime slot’ from approximately
12 midday to 2pm, the second is the ‘after work slot’, from 6pm to 8pm. But
did advertisers consider these trends in their bidding strategies?
Ad count by hour, over a 1-day period (day chosen at random; Thursday 7th December)
Consumer search behaviour
30%
HotelDirect
LastMinute
25%
HIExpress
20%
HolidayInn
TravelSupermarket
15%
Marriott
10%
LateRooms
5%
Expedia
Hotels.com
0%
Midnight - 4am
4am - 8am
8am - 12pm
12pm - 4pm
4pm - 8pm
8pm - Midnight
Booking.com
The majority of advertisers, including
LastMinute best reflected search
Marriott appeared to achieve high
Booking.com and Expedia, appeared
activity as it achieved low visibility
visibility overnight and in the morning
to achieve a constant level of visibility
overnight, which consequently
yet its share of voice decreased
throughout the day, hence not
increased throughout the day,
throughout the day, which contrasted
reflecting the consumer search trend.
especially during the crucial
consumer search behaviour.
evening period.
19
|
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
Share:
Integrated Search
Which websites/advertisers performed well?
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 greatest share of
voice overall? Here we have taken the top websites/advertisers
across both mediums to give an indication of their integrated
search performance.
80%
70%
laterooms.com
Natural search visibility
60%
Strong natural
search visibility
50%
Strong integrated
search visibility
expedia.co.uk
40%
lastminute.com
tripadvisor.co.uk
30%
20%
Strong paid
search visibility
Poor integrated
search visibility
premierinn.com
tripadvisor.com
cheaphotels.co.uk
superbreak.com
10%
hilton.co.uk
easytobook.com
ibishotel.com
trivago.co.uk
0%
0%
10%
booking.com
hotels.com
hoteldirect.co.uk
hiexpress.com
ebookers.com
holidayinn.com
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Paid search visibility
LateRooms achieved strong
Expedia achieved strong visibility in
Booking.com achieved strong
integrated search visibility
natural search; however, it lacked
visibility in the paid search space,
in December as it attained a
visibility in the paid search space.
but at the expense of natural search.
significant share of voice across
both natural and paid search.
Share:
20
The most visible hotel websites in both natural and paid search
No.
Website / advertiser
Natural search
Paid search
LateRooms ranked at the top
1
laterooms.com
61%
52%
of our integrated search league
2
booking.com
10%
86%
table due to its relatively equal
3
expedia.co.uk
42%
36%
exposure in natural and paid
4
lastminute.com
36%
13%
5
21%
21%
6
tripadvisor.co.uk
32%
0%
7
hotels.com
8%
19%
8
holidayinn.com
0%
23%
9
hoteldirect.co.uk
3%
18%
10
ebookers.com
0%
21%
Despite losing 3% share
11
21%
0%
of voice in paid search,
12
hiexpress.com
0%
19%
Booking.com retained second
13
premierinn.com
19%
0%
14
ibishotel.com
3%
13%
15
hilton.co.uk
10%
6%
16
superbreak.com
13%
1%
17
trivago.co.uk
0%
15%
18
tripadvisor.com
13%
0%
advertiser ascended to eighth
19
cheaphotels.co.uk
13%
0%
position, having not featured in
20
easytobook.com
9%
3%
our league table in September.
21
marriott.co.uk
2%
10%
22
direct-hotels.co.uk
6%
5%
23
lowcostholidays.com
0%
10%
24
hotelclub.com
10%
0%
25
radissonblu.co.uk
2%
7%
26
0%
9%
27
crowneplaza.com
0%
9%
28
starwoodhotels.com
3%
7%
29
hotels-london.co.uk
8%
0%
30
travelodge.co.uk
6%
2%
31
radissonblu.com
0%
7%
32
londonnights.com
7%
0%
33
hotelopia.com
0%
7%
34
jurysinns.com
3%
3%
35
novotel.com
0%
6%
36
splendia.com
0%
6%
37
directrooms.com
5%
0%
38
getaroom.com
0%
5%
39
activehotels.com
0%
5%
40
0%
5%
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search. Since September, its
natural search visibility increased
by 14% but its share of voice in
paid search decreased by 9%.
place in our rankings.
HolidayInn’s paid search visibility
increased by 14% and hence the
Conversely, eBookers saw its
share of voice in paid search
decrease by 21%, compared to
our last report; therefore, it fell
from seventh position to tenth.
Share:
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.
LastMinute was the most
followed brand, as it is a
multi‑channel retailer, with a
combined following of over
90,000 on Facebook and Twitter.
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 December.
LateRooms was the most
interactive brand as it cumulatively
produced 335 ‘posts’ and ‘tweets’ in
December. Content included latest
travel news, special offers and
direct messaging customer queries.
Many brands, particularly
No.
Brand
SMPI
1
lastminute.com
90,113
78,965
+
11,148
26
16
2
hilton.co.uk
83,850
83,850
+
0
44
N/A
3
booking.com
76,113
76,113
+
0
17
N/A
4
laterooms.com
21,731
16,692
+
5,039
31
314
5
premierinn.com
13,689
10,159
+
3,530
17
49
official social media campaigns, it
6
expedia.co.uk
7,443
0
+
7,443
N/A
0
had designated Twitter accounts
7
ebookers.com
5,388
4,756
+
632
18
19
for specific hotels around the world.
8
hotels.com
3,097
1,948
+
1,149
22
125
9
hoteldirect.co.uk
1,288
1,194
+
94
0
2
10
1,072
0
+
1,072
N/A
4
11
54
0
+
54
N/A
23
=12
tripadvisor.co.uk
0
0
+
0
N/A
N/A
=12
holidayinn.com
0
0
+
0
N/A
N/A
=12
hiexpress.com
0
0
+
0
N/A
N/A
=12
ibishotel.com
0
0
+
0
N/A
N/A
Share:
Posts
Tweets
per month per month
PremierInn, promoted
special Christmas-orientated
competitions to drive interaction
on their social media accounts.
Although HolidayInn did not have
Since our previous report,
HotelDirect initiated its official
Facebook page, accumulating over
1,000 followers since January.
22
Natural search: improve your website's position
Certain factors can affect your position in natural search results. The travel
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 chains 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 travel-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 travel-related
sites available. That differentiator is link equity.
all invested heavily in their
linking efforts.
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’ selfoptimised 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
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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
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.
of 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.
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24
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
make sure that you connect and
build a relationship with those
speaking to you.
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
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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
Simon Hollingsworth | Research Executive
+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.
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26
adapt™
Our research shows that 80% of online marketers have limited knowledge of
how price competitive they really are. Despite knowing they could be losers in
a price war, they still aggressively push products through paid search.
Why?
No access to real-time data on how much competitors charge for the
same product.
Real-time price comparison bidding
for paid search
adapt™ compares your costs against competitors on like for like products. Within
seconds you have intelligence on your most price competitive brands, enabling
you to optimise your PPC campaign. Our proprietary technology remains the
only automated inventory management and price comparison platform.
SearchSentry™
Monitor who’s bidding on your brand name, when and where
SearchSentry, the world’s first real-time brand monitoring platform,
provides the ultimate in brand defence by working out how and when
your brand is being compromised within the paid search channels of major
search engines.
Paid search brand defence without
compromise
SearchSentry alerts you each time your brand is targeted by a competitor. It
informs you who is bidding against your brand name, when, how frequently
and what they are saying in their ads — enabling you to measure your brand
control and take action.
Quant™
Achieve maximum ROI from your paid search budget
Quant is our intelligent automation platform for managing paid search.
Developed by our in-house PhDs and search specialists, Quant works out
how to increase ROI without increasing budget, and models and predicts how
changes in ad spend will impact on overall profits.
The intelligent automation platform
for paid search
Quant does this by analysing historical performance data, to understand
the relationships between keyword bid prices, visibility, audience capture and
conversion and revenue. Even the most accomplished PPC marketer couldn’t
possibly undertake analysis of the scale and depth Quant achieves on a
daily basis.
To find out more about Greenlight technologies contact Ian Hucklesby | Business Development Manager
T: +44 (0)20 3326 6237 | E: [email protected] | W: greenlightsearch.com/technology
27
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Learn more about our research
Download free reports
Our research division produces market sector reports on an ongoing basis,
covering a broad range of industries including: banking, brown & white goods,
car hire, flights, fashion retail, gaming, holidays, hotels, insurance and many
more. To download our FREE reports go to:
www.greenlightsearch.com/sectorreports
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28
SEO, PPC & SOCIAL MEdIA
training
The Greenlight Academy delivers innovative, timely and
relevant courses, empowering online professionals to exploit
all the advantages that search and social media marketing can
offer a business.
• Wide selection of courses for online and marketing
professionals
• Expert speakers – courses delivered by certified digital
specialists
• A range of levels available from beginner to advanced
t: 020 7253 7000
e: [email protected]
www.greenlightsearch.com/SEMtraining
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Course dates
Wednesday 18th May 2011
Introduction to SEO & PPC (Manchester) – half day seminar (13:45 – 18:00)
Wednesday 15th June 2011
Search Marketing Analytics – half day seminar (9.15 – 13:00)
Link Building Masterclass – half day seminar (13.45 – 17:30)
Wednesday 13th July 2011
Social Media 101 – half day seminar (9.15 – 13:00)
Writing for the Web – half day seminar (13.45 – 17:30)
Wednesday 21st September 2011
Introduction to SEO – half day seminar (9:15 – 13:00)
Introduction to PPC – half day seminar (13:45 – 17:30)
Book now at
www.greenlightsearch.com/SEMtraining
We’re proud to have trained a range of professionals from...
Santander, Harrods, Bauer Media, Thomas Cook, Yorkshire Building Society,
Sky, Visit Britain, Ticketmaster, RBS, AA, Net-a-porter, Waitrose,
Direct.gov.uk, Chartis Insurance, Laterooms.com, Swatch Group,
Zurich Financial Services
...and many more leading businesses.
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London
New York
Level 14
11 Penn Plaza
The Broadgate Tower
New York
Primrose St, London
NY 10001
EC2A 2EW
T: +44 (0)20 7253 7000
T: (1) 212-946-4959
E: [email protected]
E: [email protected]
Greenlight is an award-winning full service search marketing agency that is focused
on delivering tailored and results-based programmes of organic SEO and paid search
optimisation. Our paid search programmes have helped clients achieve as much as
200% more return from their existing paid search spend, and our SEO campaigns
have created brand new revenue streams worth millions of pounds.
If you think your search engine marketing efforts could use some improvement or you
have any questions on this report, why not get in touch?

Sector report Issue 8

Transcription

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