Monday, April 23, 2007

Clever Search Engine Optimization


Last week I participated in a conference call hosted by MarketingSherpa.com. The purpose of the call was to review the findings of the 2007 Ecommerce Benchmark Guide 2007. The topic of the complexities with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was discussed and I was extremely impressed with a technique that was utilized by a Jewelry Blog website. Often we optimize search based on the product, such as Manufacturer, Category, Type, Model, etc., but the Jewelry blog site utilizes what I call "clever association." Since celebrities wear jewelry and famous celebrities have high search volume why not leverage celebrity fame to sell products on your site. This blogger/ecommerce site was very successful with this technique. They took a picture of Misca Barton wearing an outfit that would look good with a necklace from their website. The site was optimized for Misca Barton and sales went from relatively zero to $50,000 during the Christmas Shopping season.


The moral of the story is to think "beyond the product" when optimizing your website for search. It is easy to get pushed passed the first results page if you optimize only for standard product parameters. Think about who or what can you leverage to bring traffic to your site. Of course be mindful of copyright laws. Do not create a site that implies that a celebrity endorses your product. Make sure that you have permission to use a particular image and use wording that does not imply that your have paid the celebrity to use your product.
Lastly, do not not ignore the standard search optimization association. "Clever association" should be used in addition to standard associations.