Why copywriting “systems” fall short of excellence.

 

This is another huge guide from MarketingSherpa. It is over 250 pages in length and covers every aspect of search marketing.

 

You’ll get everything here from stats on the growth of SEO as an industry, right down to the detail of people’s behavior as they search, including eyetracking heatmaps.

 

(One section I found very interesting looks at the differences is search behavior – depending on whether people are shopping, or just searching for information out of personal interest.)

 

Here’s an overview of what it includes...

 

MarketingSherpa gathered data from variety of sources. Most interesting, to me, is the costs and results data they collected and compiled from 3,944 marketers, agencies, and affiliates.

 

The fact that this data comes from marketers, and not just research companies, is reassuring. At least you know that the figures reflect what marketers are actually doing, rather than what people think they are doing.

 

Although it really doesn’t give a true sense of the depth of information in this guide, here is a lineup of the various chapters and their headings.

Chapter 1: The Business of Search – Budgeting, Issues & Outsourcing Search

 

Chapter 2: Search Marketing – Special Reports

 

Chapter 3: Top Search Properties

 

Chapter 4: Search Tactics and Measurement

 

Chapter 5: Search Benchmark Data Keyword Prices (PPC)

 

Chapter 6: How We Search & Shop

Should you get a copy? That depends.

 

If you are in any way a professional in the search engine optimization or PPC business, then I would say that having a copy of this guide is essential.

As the name says, it’s a benchmark.

 

If your involvement with the world of SEO is only occasional and not that important to you or your company, then there is probably more detail here than you need.

 

One way to get a feel for whether you should have a copy is to see if you ever find yourself needing answers to the following questions. If you do, you’ll find answers in this guide.

1. What do companies typically pay per click in various different industries and industry categories?

 

2. How do the top four search engines compare when it comes to demographics and usage?

 

3. What kind of budgets do my competitors have for search marketing? What should my own search budget be next year?

 

4. What should I test to improve my search marketing results?

 

5. How much should I worry about click fraud?

 

6. Is it worth hiring a professional Search Engine Optimization company for organic search? Will they deliver better results than we can achieve in-house?

 

7. Has the way in which people look at search results pages changed? How much of any given page do they actually look at? And are there differences in this regard between the major search engines?

 

8. What kind of conversion rate should I expect from my PPC and organic search listings?

 

9. How many of my prospective customers use shopping comparison sites?

 

10. Are Press Releases really a good way to generate qualified traffic and inbound links?

I could go on and on. There is a ton of information and data in this guide. All of it current. All of it useful.

 

If your business depends on strong search results, whether organic or PPC, or both, get yourself a copy now.

 

Find out more about The Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007...

Also, read my reviews of other marketing reports by MarketingSherpa... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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