More Ways to Battle [Not Set] in Search Engine Marketing

We’ve talked about how Google’s ever-increasing [not set] parameters affect search engine marketing – but how can you tailor your sales process to better discover how users find you? Most SEOs and other digital marketers are viewing [not set] as a dead end – but if you can communicate about search queries with clients directly, you can get some valuable search data.

The “How Did You Find Us?”

If you’ve ever filled out a business comment card, you’ve probably told a company how you found out about their products or services. Online, this question tends to be a little antiquated these days, as a quick look at Google Analytics or the Lead Liaison Dashboard show us where to pull user search queries.

Now that technology is changing on us, there’s no reason we can’t bring back those helpful comment cards in a more digital-friendly format. It’s completely acceptable to ask clients straight away how they found you, including what they typed into Google to get to your website.

Search Engine Marketing and Engagement

Some folks just aren’t going to tell you – whether they’re uncomfortable doing so or just don’t feel like it – and that’s okay. But some are, and this could result in a data goldmine for you that your competitors aren’t even going to consider.

You can include a “How did you find us” dropdown on your email newsletter signup, with an extra blank that asks your client to specify a keyword they typed in to get to your website. You could also send out an incentive-based reader poll with “how did you find us?” questions making up the bulk of the survey. You’d be surprised at what even long-time clients are able to remember about getting to your website.

Try coaching your sales team to ask this question regularly by including it as part of a responsive call script or intake form. If you make the question part of your sales and marketing process, it will be natural for members of your team to start asking. Most importantly, don’t forget to ask what clients typed in to find you. If you throw around words like “keyword”, “key term” or “search query” clients may have no idea what you’re talking about.  The terminology is important!

When you have this data, start compiling it to account for some appearances of [not set]. You’re not fighting against the system here – you’re engaging with clients and doing your own homework to support your analytics data.

For more search engine marketing ideas that will help you understand your business stats, talk to a member of the Lead Liaison team today!