Competitive Analysis

Online competitor research and analysis - a review of several competitors and their web presence, exposure and targeting and performance on specific keywords

Initial Web Strategy Implementation (beta)

Development of the initial web strategy is confirmed based on research.

Search term selection, strategies, and sequencing of key terms

Search term phrase research, development, validation and sequencing of use - This is based on the research above to define search terms and to validate those terms as part of the web strategy. This cost includes a year of cycling keywords across all pages of the site.

Table 2: Costs by Phase of the SEO Project Process continued)

Phase

Description

Costs

Creation and maintenance of the Optimization Matrix

The intent of this phase is to integrate the research of both the auto sector and Zap Cars' specific competitors into an SEO Optimization Matrix. Using a series of pricing and website optimization routines as created by the vendor(s) chosen to implement this process, the goal of this step is to have Zap Cars become one of the top four returned sites from website searches on their targeted keywords.

Test site for optimization testing and validation of optimization matrix

Creation of test pages for optimization validation, ensuring the specific search terms are going to return the specific results and attain the objectives as defined. This step is also iterative and focuses on fine-tuning the entire optimization process over time.

Project management of all optimization routines, including integration onto the specific pages of the site

This is where the many search engine terms are integrated into the specific pages of the site. This also includes the inclusion of key terms into the actual web content of the site itself. The project management surrounding this phase is specifically focused on embedding all search terms both in the HTML headers of the page and within the page content itself, then testing it recursively with the tools from the immediately previous step.

Optimization of content and website performance

This is the phase where all the previous work throughout the entire SEO Project is integrated into the website, tested and validated as being recognizable by each search engine bot or automated search application that is used to indexing the web.

Table 2: Costs by Phase of the SEO Project Process continued)

Phase

Description

Costs

QA & Link Tests

Pre-launch stress testing and link testing including QA Tests, this phase is specifically focused on making the site as reliable and scalable as possible. This phase also includes regression testing across all available browsers, testing using open source browsers, and stress tests with applications replicating 100,000 quotes generated per day. The intent of this phase is to also stress test the integration systems that support the entire website.

SEO and Analytics Launch

In this phase the actual SEO strategies are initiated and the hosted analytics applications are used to begin tracking the performance of keywords and their influence on website traffic.

SEO Phase II Word Strategy

After sixty days of the initial SEO strategy being in place, this phase focuses on launching the second set of words and beginning to chart their impact on total website performance. The ability to track the overall performance of keywords on taking Zap Cars higher in organic search ratings is also quantified in this section.

Phase I Personalization

This is the first phase of the personalization to reading cookies from website visitors and personalizing the content displayed on the site. The logic of having personalization follow SEO strategies is that it is essential to first drive traffic to the site so this personalization option will deliver a higher ROI.

Personalization Objectives, timeline, project plan and approach to managing dynamic content

Defines the strategy and key approaches to making the personalization target the specific contents based on visitor's areas of interest.

Table 2: Costs by Phase of the SEO Project Process continued)

Phase

Description

Costs

Personalization Test Phase and Regression...

The cost includes the 12-month subscription for a hosted analytics application that is accessible from any web browser.
Maintenance and Continued Support

The intent of this phase is to specifically focus on how to keep the many integration points in the SEO applications connected to the analytics application, in addition to tracking the most dominant areas of interest by visitor.

TOTAL COST

Rich Media Advertising on Google, MSN and Yahoo

The immediately previous section of this plan, Pre-emptive Web Marketing including SEO and Analytics, has specifically focused on how to drive up traffic in the area of organic search within all search engines who rely on "bot"-like technology that scours then indexes the Internet for new content. Further, experts assert that broadband Internet connections enable marketers to increasingly employ rich media ads that include elements such as streaming video, thereby making ads more effective and interactive for users. As such, research indicates that rich media may soon comprise approximately 30% of all ads, leveraging such ad forms as display or banner advertisements according to Swinburn (2005). Table 3, Addressing Search Engine Marketing Concerns by Paid vs. Organic Search, Corporate Executive Board (2006) shows the differences between using paid search relative to organic search.

Table 3: Addressing Search Engine Marketing Concerns by Paid vs. Organic Search

Clearly, using rich media advertising puts Zap Cars in much greater control of gaining rapid visibility, minimizing upfront costs of optimization and the ability to quickly gain scalability across many different search engines at the same time. Google's AdWords Service has become the majority of the search engines' revenue stream specifically due to these factors in addition to the behavior of Internet users favoring the use of search engines for commercial, educational and entertainment pursuits.

The development of rich media advertising strategies at Zap Cars needs to include the development of integration structures back to the analytics platform and reporting applications to compare the performance of organic-search driven programs vs. The performance of rich media, or paid search programs as defined in this section. Table 4 shows the costs per rich media campaign for Zap Cars for the entire fiscal year.

Zap Cars Online Advertising and Media Plan

Web Property CPM/CPC AD SERVING COSTS GROSS PRICE NET PRICE Impressions Ordered Clicks Ordered GROSS TOTAL Google AdWords Zap Me! AdWords and Banner Ads CPC $

125,000.00 SUBTOTAL: WEBSITE 1 $

125,000.00 Yahoo Motors Banner Ads and Rich Media Placement CPC $

62,500.00 SUBTOTAL: WEB SITE 2 $

62,500.00 MSN and Microsoft Sites CarPoint or autos.msn.com CPC $

187,500.00 MSN Auto sites CPC $

62,500.00 SUBTOTAL: WEB SITE 3 $

250,000.00 PLUS ADSERVING $

750,000.00 -- $

750,000.00 TOTAL MEDIA PLAN $

Online advertising's budget favors Google AdWords and related rich media ad placement with this specific portal, and places the majority of the budget with Microsoft's autos.msn.com (formerly CarPoint) and spending on specific sites on MSN that fit with the target demographic of the company. The remainder of the budget is to be allocated to Yahoo Motors. All investments in online media are going to be measured on a Cost Per Click (CPC) basis with net impressions and clicks ordered to gauge the performance of this specific strategy.

References

Corporate Executive Board (2004) - Emerging Marcom Strategies. The Corporate Executive Board Marketing Council. Washington, DC. 2004

Corporate Executive Board (2006) - Leveraging Search Marketing. Report on search marketing concepts. Washington, DC.

Swinburn (2005) - "Online Ads Measure Up," B & T. Weekly (24 June 2005). Amanda Swinburn.

Table 1, Zap Cars Digital Media Budget