VPs of Search Engine Marketing: The New York Times Approach

1. VPs of Search Engine Marketing: The New York Times Approach Marshall Simmonds Chief Search Strategist, The New York Times Company CEO and Co-Founder, Define Search Strategies

5. Challenges • 11 million documents (roughly??) • (Email) Registration wall • Paid subscription wall • Journalists/editors/guides • Rigid IT • Company ego • Getting them to *GET* search • Resistance to change • What it takes to get things done

6. Working Together • Challenges of working with "old school" marketing and getting them to "get" search • Coping with turf wars/budget grabs • Company ego/resistance to change

7. Working Together • Internal • Management, IT, editors, producers, designers, marketing • External • Users, spiders, engines, my mother

8. Process • Integrate search into the workflow • Small Changes = BIG results • Buy-in from the bottom up? • Enhancing writing styles • Multi-departmental communication

9. Everyone Owns Search Marketing • Challenges of working with “old school” marketing • Editorial/production – upkeep network integrity, find user/engine balance • Design – search friendly design/crawl-ability • IT – metrics/tracking/fixes • Product/development – internal/external search projects • Marketing – keyword research, keyword buys

10. Selling Search to NYT • Results • About.com 1227% increase in search engine referrers since SEO initiative began in December of 1999 • Easy to follow examples: “Pope dies” • Finding projects with extensive involvement • Communication • Consistent message – management, staff, guides/editors

11. Communication: Editors/Guides/Management • Get them moving in the same direction • Unlearning off-line writing styles – it’s a tsunami • Research/identify terms and markets – log files, Word Tracker, Overture suggestion tools • Repeating message

13. Communication: Management/Staff • Newsletter • Search center • SEO discussion board • Dedicated email address • Chats • Frequent reports • On-site trainings

14. Check Lists • Unique Titles • Annotations on all links • Keyword rich anchor text • H1, H2, H3 headlines

15. SEO Architecture Pyramid I™ Focused Targeted Content Title Tag Focused – terse, keyword rich Headline Tags Focused - keyword rich, expand on title tag Optimization Broadens Anchor Text, Alt Text, Captions Focused - targeted keyword phrases Content Verbose – keyword rich, reflects title tag and headline keywords Verbose Keyword Rich Content META Keyword and Description Tags Verbose - Keyword Rich, Theme of Page, Misspellings

16. SEO Architecture Pyramid II ™ Generalized Optimization Home Page Broad – general optimization, low search traffic page Section Fronts Focused – specific optimization based on category, popular terms and audience Article Pages Highly targeted – unique optimization based on research and terms relevant to the audience and story Prime search entry points Highly Targeted Optimization

17. Metrics: Establish Baselines • Baseline traffic • Run Web Position reports • Log files • Index counts • Link popularity reports • Google Alert • Monitoring traffic • Spiders • Referrals • Talk to IT • Track spider’s visits • Track weekly search engine traffic

18. External • User friendly – pushing back registration wall • Appeal to the engines • Pushing back registration walls • Search friendly approach • Network integration • Spider access to archives • Open up experience to public

19. Takeaways • Communication • Manage expectations • Communication • Create consistent lines of communication between editors, IT dept, management – repeat message, give out check lists • Commitment • Make sure everyone has skin in the game/responsibility for search campaign’s ongoing success • Real time examples/results • Stats, successes

20. THANK YOU! Marshall Simmonds CEO and Co-Founder, Define Search Strategies Chief Search Strategist, The New York Times Company Marshall@NYTimes.com