(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)
Loading ...
Over the past 3-4 months I have spoken to a number of leaders in Search Marketing and today I am very fortunate to speak with David Temple, the Regional Head of Search for Asia Pacific at Neo@Ogilvy. David has over 10 years of online marketing, consulting and business development experience and I was keen to pick his brain on a few topics concerning Search Marketing.
Dr Mathew McDougall: How did you become involved in the search industry?
David Temple: In 1998 I worked for US Internet selling websites. My clients started asking me how they can be found in search engines so I started reading everyting I could find and optimized their sites. It was a real rush getting them listed in the top for competitive terms and I was hooked on search engine optimization.
Dr Mathew McDougall: How can you use search to benefit smaller clients?
David Temple:Smaller clients actually have an advantage sometimes over large enterprises when it comes to search engine optimization. For one thing they don’t have the layers of bureaucracy. They can make recommended changes to their website faster and reap the rewards sooner. When it comes to paid search they may not have the budgets of the larger clients but they can focus on the longer tail which converts better.
Dr Mathew McDougall: Do you think it’s more difficult to keep up with industry trends in search marketing than it was a year ago? Why or why not?
David Temple:Yes, I do think it’s more diffiicult. First there is increased competition. As more and more companies learn about the effectiveness of search, pay per click rates are rising and more and more companies are using organic search. For organic search personal search, universal search and social media marketing have all come into play. It’s more about digital asset management and optimization these days and you have to understand how they all work together.
Dr Mathew McDougall: Tell us about a successful search marketing campaign that you’ve run…what made it work? What made it fun? How did it benefit the client?
David Temple:The most succesful search marketing campaigns I’ve run involved both paid and organic search. It works well because of the learnings from both. For instance the ad copy that had highest clickthrough rate we adopted for meta descriptions. If the description worked well in the serps we used that for ad copy. We also used the best converting terms to develop more content. It was fun because the results were incredible and the client exceeded their ROI requirements. Under promise, over deliver that’s also what made it fun.
Dr Mathew McDougall: How important is it to be “visible” in the industry these days?
David Temple:I think it’s critical to be visible in order to attract clients. Search marketing is becoming very competitive and you need every advantage to be top of mind. Speaking at industry events, blogging and generally being involved in the search marketing community are important ways to stay “visible” and relevant.
Dr Mathew McDougall: How does link building fit into social media? Does PPC fit in at all with what you do?
David Temple:Levaraging social media for link building can be an effective approach. Developing relevant content that benefits your audience is more critical and getting links from authoratative sites is invaluable.PPC fits in well with SEO and our philosophy is that you must have a holistic approach to search marketing. The sum is greater than the parts.
Dr Mathew McDougall: Have you used any “questionable” techniques in search marketing?
David Temple:No, not on any of our clients’ sites. We work with major brands like Adobe, British Airways, Intel, Samsung, P&G and others. Getting them banned from search engines would not be a good career move.
Dr Mathew McDougall: What industry trend leaves you cold and why?
David Temple:Although not an industry trend, the amount of disinformation and the number of incompetent or even shyster organizations claiming to do search marketing leaves me cold. Besides giving those of us the do good work for our clients a bad name, it tarnishes the industry image and makes it more difficult to convince clients the value of search marketing.
Dr Mathew McDougall: What is the best part of your workday and why?
David Temple:The best part of my workday is reporting the results to our clients, particularly if they had doubts about search marketing from the start. They become believers real quickly and start seeing search marketing not as a cost center but as a profit center in many cases.
Dr Mathew McDougall: What advice would you give to someone new trying to make a name for themselves in Search Marketing right now?
David Temple:First I’d like to say this is an ever changing field and anyone trying to make a name for themselves has to be on top of those changes. In addition become a specialist at something in the industry and share what you know, engage in the community and help others grow.
Dr Mathew McDougall: Thanks David for your time and insights in Search Marketing.
