After traveling through Europe on vacation the past couple of weeks, nothing said I was home more than grabbing a slice of New York pizza!

Deciding to do a blog post on the topic, I wanted to find out who the “big cheeses” were in the pizza world and see if I could find some insight into their web strategies.

Using the Keyword Destination tool on Compete.com to get a list of sites referred to by a broad match for the generic keyword “pizza”, I quickly found that Pizzahut.com and Dominos.com were the hands-down winners.  Approximately 16% of all “pizza” related search referrals went to Pizzahut.com and 5.8% went to Dominos.com.

Both Pizzahut and Dominos showed strong consumer brand recognition, as seen by looking at branded vs. non-branded search referral data collected by Compete:

With similar patterns in historical UV traffic, these two brands were ripe for comparison:

You would think that two strongly similar brands would show similar ad spend profiles, but I was surprised to see that visitors referred to Pizzahut.com via a search engine were 1.8X more likely to have reached the site through a paid search link as visitors to Dominos.com.

What’s the difference?

Using Compete.com again to analyze keyword search referrals to the two brands provided a bit more insight:

For the sake of brevity I am just including a few keywords, but the general trend was the same.  Pizzahut seems to struggle to rank for organic traffic for long-tail phrases, even those containing their brand name. Paid search helps augment low SERP placement by artificially ranking Pizzahut ahead of the couponing sites vying for this sort of referral.

The Bottom Line:

While there are certainly more “slices to the pie” that this brief analysis can’t cover, the bottom line is that there is a constant struggle going on behind the scenes between large brands and third party sites looking to ride on their coattails through coupon offerings, referral links, and product reviews.  If you find your manager questioning the value of SEO, consider that the average CPC for a “pizza” broad-match term was $0.63 (source: google adwords keyword estimator), and in Q2-2011 approximately 5 million search referrals were sent to both Pizzahut.com and Dominos.com. Strong SEO efforts can translate into significant savings through reduced ad spend on paid search!

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Investors have been fleeing Demand Media since April 6th, as shown in this chart from Yahoo Finance.

April 6 is right around when Google implemented its latest search algorithm tweak, which has hammered Demand Media’s sites according to Hitwise data given to Forbes, as well as earlier data from SEO firm Sistrix.

Demand admitted its traffic had fallen off, but said it would still hit its stated financial goals. Obviously that wasn’t enough assure spooked investors.

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See Also:

• CHART OF THE DAY: What People Care About When Buying A Smartphone
• CHART OF THE DAY: The iPhone Is Now Half Of Apple’s Business
• Dear Steve Jobs: Al Franken Has 9 Questions For You About Location Tracking

Seven in 10 (71%) marketers who use social media plan to increase their use of search engine optimization (SEO) in the near future, according to the “2011 Social Media Marketing Report” from SocialMedia Examiner. Furthermore, only 1% plan to decrease their use of SEO and 8% have no plans to utilize it, with 20% intending [...]<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingcharts/~4/HkKTw3ENvIs" height="1" width="1"/>

Lift in search volume for particular terms – like non-generic brand names – is useful because it indicates that the target customers not only saw the ads, but also remembered them and then took action. It is a better metric than those that only estimate whether ads were even seen or heard – i.e., reach and frequency-based metrics. This even works well for online banner or branding campaigns because it is not the click-through from those ads that we are concerned with, it is the lift in search volume that indicates interest and intent. The habit of search by modern users is now commonplace; as they all go online to look for additional information before making a purchase decision, we now have a universally applicable metric to correlate the effectiveness (and thus the relative ROI) of advertising across channels.

What about absolute ROI? We’ve got that covered too. Beyond lift in search volume, with proper analytics on online destinations, advertisers can track where customers came from, calculate how many took desirable actions like completing a purchase or printing a coupon (for items purchased offline). With these metrics, advertisers can correlate with other known data such as conversion rates of coupons, etc., to derive real-world ROI, scientifically. Obviously there are nuances and caveats, but if applied carefully these methods can help CMOs overcome what keeps them up at night.

Read More:  How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising

Erik_SontumClickZ: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising. http://bit.ly/ardDy5 via @tomtsinas #merkevare

acfou@clickZ How to calculate relative ROI across channels using lift in search volume #ROI #IntegratedMarketing - http://bit.ly/g5FUu

Carroll_PowellRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

hilloupayjouRT @travelwithdayo: Solid article on how to use Search to Calculate Ad Awareness ROI: http://bit.ly/aHqGQV #SEO #Advertising

iamgfcRT @clickz How to Use Search to Calculate the #ROI of Awareness Advertising – ClickZ http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

jumpcurveRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

SthdesignRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT

lawton_chilesRT @TomPick: RT @clickz How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising – ClickZ http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

RobHerremaRT @clickz How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising – ClickZ http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

chead95Good article, but Search misses other brand relationships – RT @clickz Using Search to Calculate ROI of Awareness Ads-http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

doughayRT @clickz How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising – ClickZ http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

mobiaconRT @eMarketer: “How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou”

ADMAFORUMRT @dpletikosa: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising http://www.clickz.com/3633054

dpletikosaHow to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising http://www.clickz.com/3633054

KristenShueRT @TomPick: RT @clickz How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising – ClickZ http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

TomPickRT @clickz How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising – ClickZ http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

joskouiHow to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising. #Search, #ROI, #Marketing, #Advertising http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

followtorontoRT @tomtsinas: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising | http://bit.ly/ardDy5

vidaimaginariaHow to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou @eMarketer

conversionationHow to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising – ClickZ http://ow.ly/1QSFR – very interesting for the integrated thinkers

micheleguidoRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

ChrissyZhouLeverage search marketing to boost up your bottom line http://www.clickz.com/3633054

AdvertisingPRCalculate the #ROI of Awareness #Advertising through #Search http://bit.ly/99y2HG

pweiderholmRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

oleagaRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

travelwithdayoSolid article on how to use Search to Calculate Ad Awareness ROI: http://bit.ly/aHqGQV #SEO #Advertising

kingstonjrGreat article. RT @clickz How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising – ClickZ http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

telerobRT @digeratti: RT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

digerattiRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

tomtsinasHow to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising | http://bit.ly/ardDy5

AgeSluisRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

Slingshot_SEORT @eMarketer How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

gailtwistRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

pathamilton3How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG

iancsouzaUsando mecanismos de buscas para ajudar no cálculo de ROI de publicidade tradicional. Útil! http://bit.ly/99y2HG (via @eMarketer e @acfou )

micklalalaHow to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou via @eMarketer

cxdigitalRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

IdeaViewsRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

NASinsightsHow to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

Lisa_CorcoranRT @eMarketer How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

RobertoCarrerasRT @eMarketer: How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

eMarketerHow to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising - http://bit.ly/99y2HG RT @acfou

jrmostellerRT @clickz How to Use Search to Calculate the ROI of Awareness Advertising – ClickZ http://bit.ly/7zp3FE

acfouCMOs bemoan inability to track ROI across channels - http://bit.ly/bAM4gu; lift in search volume can solve that - http://bit.ly/g5FUu

http://adage.com/superbowl09/article?article_id=134136

Lift in search is a great indicator of interest. Modern consumers may be inspired by TV ads, but they usually go online to do more research for themselves, to inform their own purchase decision. The following examples show the lift in search after Superbowl commercials or for launch of products like Subway Footlongs. The use of unique, made-up words makes it easier to detect lift in search (see related post: made up words are great for tracking buzz and search volume ). There is now a correlation between offline paid advertising and online behaviors of modern consumers that can be tracked and ultimately related to sales. 

What is harder to do is track lift in search from smaller TV media buys or from terms which are generic — e.g. American Express OPEN, Proctor & Gamble’s TAG (men’s deoorant), etc. And furthermore, people may or may not remember the brand name itself and may type in a more general search query — e.g. “talking baby” instead of” e-Trade” or “dancing lizards” instead of “SoBe LifeWater.” And most people usually forget to type in special URLs specified in the ads. So the opportunity is to 1) use made-up words which can be used to detect lift in search and 2) search-optimize around other more generic terms that people may search for if they remembered the ad, but did not remember the brand name itself. 

key learnings include:

1. only the superbowl TV ads generates enough awareness to drive lift in search volume detectable above the noise or normal levels

2. made up words are useful in correlating paid advertising and subsequent online actions (e.g. search) because most users forget or are too lazy to type special URLs

3. is is always better to have real analytics from the site to see when paid campaigns hit; site analytics will also reveal more information about users including demographic information, what they are looking for, and even whether they “convert” to a sale or a desired action — like print off a coupon, etc.

Notice the January spikes for several of the examples below — these are their Superbowl ads in action. But also notice how sharp the spikes are — most of them go back to prior levels within 1 – 3 days (see related post: the ephemerality of the Superbowl halo )

Source: Google Insights for Search

Excerpt

The Powerful Long Tail of SEO: By Glenn Gabe

I think many people in Search understand the importance of ranking highly in Google, but I think too many people outside of Search are hung up on ranking for just a few target keywords. As mentioned earlier, I’ve written about the long tail of SEO on my blog, and it’s hard to overlook the power of the long tail when heavily analyzing search traffic across websites and verticals. I’m constantly talking about the long tail during client meetings, internal brainstorms, and to random people on the subway. Don’t worry, I’m in New York, so most people are used to this type of strange behavior.

To quickly review, the long tail of SEO includes longer queries, typically including three or more keywords. These longer queries derive from your target keywords (or your head terms). For example, a head term might be Nintendo Wii, but a long tail keyword might be what are the best Nintendo Wii games. Although many people focus on head terms, the long tail might generate more quality visitors in aggregate (taking into account all long tail keywords versus just head terms). Anyone tracking SEO for a living has probably seen the impact of the long tail.

continue reading about long tail SEO by Glenn Gabe  ….

Compare “head” keywords which drive traffic to Apple.com (e.g. iTunes drives 7.1% of the site’s traffic) versus “long tail” keywords which drive traffic to MobilOil.com (e.g. “mobil1 turbo diesel truck”).  The time index of these long tail keywords are far higher than the time index of the head terms.

Apple.com  (Source: Compete.com)

 Top 25 Search Keywords driving MOST VOLUME to Apple.com

Mobiloil.com  (Source: Compete.com)

Top 25 long tail terms which lead to HIGHEST TIME INDEX (people spending time on the site)

Anheuser-Busch Whacks Retainers for Its Agencies

http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=134630

2009 has also been declared the year of search and social marketing. Many of the biggest brands now realize they must do something in search in order to be found when users are out looking for something. Knowing that 80% of online journeys begin with search (Forrester April 2008), it is more important than ever to be “findable” — after all, if they can’t find you, you don’t exist. Companies are also looking for efficiencies in social marketing — literally having people carry forth their message or amplify it for free. This is a good move because most modern users trust their peers far more than they trust an advertiser’s ad message anyway, according to countless studies.

Excerpt:

Don’t drop names with Google…
Outside of search, you might be able to throw a big brand name around and get somewhere. Unfortunately, the search engines don’t necessarily care. That’s one of the reasons you’ll see all types of websites ranking for highly competitive keywords. Actually, I’d argue that some smaller online businesses can easily outmaneuver larger websites and companies in SEO. When it comes down to it, the engines care about quality content, a good user experience, relevancy, and popularity. In other words, create outstanding content that can be easily crawled and indexed, optimize that content based on keyword research, make it easy for your visitors to find and use your content, and if those visitors find that content valuable, you might gain important inbound links (AKA votes). If that happens, subsequent rankings can follow… BTW, you’ll notice I didn’t mention that you need to be a big brand or a multi-billion dollar company to do this. That’s part of the reason blogs have become so powerful. They give the small guy a voice…and that small guy can often outrank large companies in the SERPs. Empowering, yes? Scary to large businesses and big brands, you bet.

Continue reading about competitors in organic search…