By Al Sefati

Founder & CEO of Clarity Digital

al@ClarityDigital.agency

Integrated Search Marketing Strategies�Organic + Paid = $uccess

About Al Sefati

• Employment: Founder & President of Clarity Digital
• Degree : BS in Computer Science & Minor in MIS
• Experience: Been around since early Dot Com days; Initially as developer, then switched to SEO & SEM. In my first few jobs, I was a Search Marketing Manager.
• Expertise: SEO & SEM are core expertise, been able to use them as an integral part of a successful digital campaign.
• Industries: eCommerce, Multi-location, B2B & SaaS, all.
• Personal: Married, have a daughter & a step-daughter, in process of adopting a dog (or a cat).

​

What is Integrated Search Marketing?

T��

�Integrated Search Marketing

​

Integrated Search Marketing is exactly what it sounds like.

​

It is the integration of organic and paid search efforts to establish a cohesive search presence for your business.

​

​

�Integrated Search Marketing

​

Here's what it typically entails:

​

​

Organic

• Technical SEO
• On-Page SEO
• Content Marketing & Optimization
• Off-Page SEO
• Google Business Profile (maps)

​

​

Paid

• Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
• Local Service Ads
• GMB Ads
• Search-Based Retargeting

​

Why Integrated Search?

​

1. SERPs�
2. User Behaviors�
3. Google Updates

�SERPs

​

The SERPs are as unpredictable as ever. Also, it is very difficult for users to distinguish between paid and organic results–or most users don’t seem to care to know the difference anyway.

�SERPs

​

Here’s another example for eCommerce:

User Behaviors

​

When searching Google, users–especially transactional users–tend to…�

1. Want quick answers
2. Spend most time above the fold
3. Scroll down only if they can’t find what they want
4. Be more attracted to listings that stand out with:
1. Pictures
2. Better messaging (i.e., attractive ad copy, title tags, meta desc.)
5. Respond better to brands they trust�

​

Bottom Line: Google wants to help them find what they are looking for conveniently and easily. The majority of people don’t know or care about SEO or SEM!

​

​

​

Google Updates

Google is owned by Alphabet, and they are a publicly-traded company; therefore, Google will continue to: �

• Prioritize users and their needs �
• Seek to boost profits �
• Improve their technology using AI or machine learning to enhance their products, which will keep SEOs and marketers guessing

​

Strategies for SEO and SEM Integration

​

• Understand the customer journey. Use the right channel for that journey. �
• Establish realistic goals & KPIs.�
• Realize your team’s expertise. �
• Keep communication open.�
• Have integrated\unified reporting (single dashboard).

​

​

Understand Your Customer’s Journey

​

Understand all stages of the customer’s journey and which channel fits those stages best. ��Below is our general formula (this can vary by client). However, understand it is not a one-size-fits-all approach, it can differ by client and industry.

​

​

​

​

​

Establish Goals & KPIs

SEO and SEM teams should be aligned on business goals. Those goals should be smart and achievable. For example:

​

• The SEO team should look beyond rankings and organic traffic.�
• The SEM team should think beyond cost-per-clicks, impressions, or even ad conversion (look at conversion as a bigger picture). �
• Report on both last touch and multi-touch attribution.

SEO vs. SEM capabilities & limitations

Understand the capabilities and limitations of each channel. ��SEM:

​

• Works better and faster for lower funnel keywords, as SEO can get very slow and competitive.
• Has more control over messaging (ads and LP).
• Has more data on keyword conversion, whereas SEO conversion rates at the keyword level are a bit more challenging.

SEO:�

• Can be cheaper in the long run.
• Does not stop if you have a reduction in ad budget or turn the ads off.
• Can fit the entire customer journey (it can get quite expensive for SEM to do the same).

Communication

Ongoing communication between SEO and SEM is essential and helps to:�

• Avoid redundancy
• Improve efficiency
• Save on costs
• Eliminate silos
• Enhance the bottom line �

​

​

Communication

​

Some instances of communication include:

​

• A discussion on whether to bid or not to bid on branded keywords.
• SEM team can inform SEO about what keywords convert best so SEO focuses on ranking those, too.
• SEM team can also advise SEO about expensive low ROI, yet important, keywords so SEO can continue optimizing (and SEM can pause).
• SEO team improves website speed/core web vitals, which helps SEM.
• SEO team can create more content that assists in conversion for SEM.
• SEM and SEO collaborate on online reputation management.
• SEM team can advise SEO team on what ad copy/LPs convert better so SEO team can optimize meta tags and website pages accordingly.

​

​

​

Integrated Reporting

A successful integrative SEO and SEM is possible when:

​

• SEO and SEM teams combine their reports.
• SEO and SEM teams present the report to stakeholders at the same time (do not operate in silos).
• SEO and SEM team tell a story that is aligned with business objectives. For example, in a given period of time, the team can explain:
• How much traffic search brought
• How many leads and transactions
• How it compares to previous periods
• What was the ROI
• What’s the plan forward
• A sample report in data studio

​