The following are some initial questions I ask potential clients when evaluating the search engine marketing potential of their business.
This multiple-choice Search Engine Marketing Communications Survey takes about two minutes to complete.
Download your copy of the Search Engine Marketing Communications Survey PDF.
What is your primary business?
A. Store-based merchant
B. Catalog
C. Virtual merchant
D. Consumer brand manufacturer
Which type of search engine marketing do you use the most?
A. More pay-per-click than organic
B. More organic than paid
C. Both equally
How does search engine marketing perform compared with your other marketing programs?
A. Better
B. Much better
C. Same
D. Worse
E. Much worse
How large is your keyword inventory?
A. Less than 50 words
B. 51 words to 100 words
C. 101 words to 200 words
D. 251 words to 500 words
E. 501 words to 750 words
F. 751 words to 1,000 words
G. 1,001 words to 5,000 words
H. 5,001 words to 10,000 words
I. More than 10,000 words
What percent of your online sales are attributable to search engine marketing?
A. 5% or less
B. 5.1% to 10%
C. 10.1% to 15%
D. 15.1% to 20%
E. 20.1% to 25%
F. 25.1% to 30%
G. 30.1% to 40%
H. 40.1% to 50%
I. More than 50%
What percent of shoppers who come to your site through your paid search program make a purchase?
A. 0.5% to 1%
B. 1.1% to 2%
C. 2.1% to 3%
D. 3.1% to 4%
E. 4.1% to 5%
F. 5.1% to 6%
G. 6.1% to 7%
H. 7.1% to 8%
I. 8.1% to 9%
J. 9.1% to 10%
K. 10.1% TO 15%
L. More than 15%
In the past year your pay-per-click conversion rate:
A. Went up
B. Went down
C. Stayed the same
By what percent did your pay-per-click conversion rate increase?
A. 2% or less
B. 2.1% to 5%
C. 5.1% to 6%
D. 6.1% to 7%
E. 7.1% to 8%
F. 8.1% to 9%
G. 9.1% to 10%
H. 10.1% to 12%
I. 12.1% to 15%
J. More than 15%
How much do you spend in a typical month on all types of search engine marketing (pay-per-click and search engine optimization)?
A. Less than $1,000
B. $1,001 to $2,000
C. $2,001 to $4,000
D. $4,001 to $6,000
E. $6,001 to $10,000
F. $10,001 to $20,000
G. $20,001 to $30,000
H. $30,001 to $40,000
I. $40,001 to $50,000
J. $50,001 to $60,000
K. $60,001 to $75,000
L. $75,001 to $100,000
M. More than $100,000
What percent of your online marketing budget is spent on search engine marketing?
A. 5% or less
B. 5.1% to 10%
C. 10.1% to 15%
D. 15.1% to 20%
E. 20.1% to 30%
F. 30.1% to 40%
G. 40.1% to 50%
H. 50.1% to 60%
I. 60.1% to 75%
J. More than 75%
What is the average amount you pay per click?
A. 5 cents or less
B. 6 to 10 cents
C. 11 to 15 cents
D. 16 to 20 cents
E. 21 to 25 cents
F. 26 to 40 cents
G. 41 to 50 cents
H. 51 to 75 cents
I. 76 to $1
J. More than $1
Will you increase your amount of pay-per click advertising this year?
A. Yes
B. No.
Do you manage your search engine marketing program in-house?
A. Yes
B. No
Do you plan to outsource your search engine marketing program?
A. Yes, within six months
B. Yes, within one year
C. Yes, within two years
D. No plans
Which search engine produces the best web sales results?
A. Google
B. Yahoo
C. AOL
D. MSN
E. LookSmart
F. Other
Which of the following programs or strategies are you using to improve your paid search program? (Check all that apply)
A. Adding more multiple word phrases to keyword inventory
B. Writing more descriptive ad copy
C. Testing keywords and phrases to land on appropriate home or product pages
D. Monitoring competitors’ use of keywords and phrases
E. Syncing keywords and phrases with product availability
F. Testing keyword inventory effectiveness using cluster analysis, data modeling and other tools
G. Other
Which of the following programs or strategies are you using to improve your organic search engine optimization? (Check all that apply)
A. Rewriting keyword descriptions on the home and product pages
B. Including the actual phrases commonly used by searchers on product pages
C. Including common product keywords in the image file names and in image display captions
D. Designing customized landing pages and creating exclusive merchandising sections
E. Enhancing site navigation
F. Increasing the use of header tags in content on the home page and product pages
G. Better use of web analytics
H. Other
What benchmarks do you use to measure the effectiveness of your search engine marketing program? (Check up to 3)
A. Site traffic
B. Sales
C. Conversions
D. Average order size
E. New customers
F. Click-throughs
G. Cost-per-clicks
H. Rank on main search engine page
I. Other
Did you allow your affiliates or other third-party resellers to bid on your brand name?
A. Yes
B. No
Do you bid on the brand names of your competitors?
A. Yes
B. No
What is the annual sales range of your online retail business?
A. Less than $1 million
B. $1 million to $4.9 million
C. $5 million to $9.9 million
D. $10 million to $24.9 million
E. $25 million to $50 million
F. More than $50 million
Thanks for taking the Search Engine Marketing Communications Survey.
Search Marketing Communications 