Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Other Kind of ‘Search’ SEO Resellers Can Help Clients With: Internal Site Search Optimization


Part of being a white label SEO reseller consultant is staying up to date with what’s happening in the online marketing industry and knowing what services will be popular in the coming year. Being knowledgeable in these areas ensures you are able to provide the best business advice to your clients. If you’re this kind of reseller, you should read on about internal site search. It’s a different kind of search that not only improves your client website’s usability, but also integrates well on their marketing plan.

Apparently, some marketers have already started using their website’s search box or search feature to make more leads and sales. Are you up to date with this? Are your clients using this site feature as well? If a recent research is any indication, there’s a bigger chance that you have yet to capitalize on this opportunity.

Majority of Retailers Ignore Site Search Data


Nearly 57% don’t use site search data (Image: ELI Systems)

Internal site search can provide insightful data and perhaps be integrated into a business’s marketing plan. Unfortunately, most of the respondents do not use this data, ELI Systems’ Globale-Commerce Site Search Survey found. The company asked retail brands how they used site search when it comes to improving user experience. White label SEO resellers need to read this report.

In summary, this is how researchers put their main findings: “Site Search is among retailers’ top three priorities for 2014 yet many e-commerce marketers lack resources and know-how to use search to significantly enhance their marketing campaigns.”

(Image: ELI Systems)
When asked how they use site search data for their marketing programs, a majority 56.9% of respondents said they currently do not use this data. It’s quite unfortunate as data from the search box is rich in information that can help your retail clients sell more. For instance, what items are visitors searching for the most on the site? Do they call popular products by a different name?

The bright side is nearly 27% use it to create SEO landing pages populated with site search results. Another 24% integrate data into their email marketing campaigns. Marketers also confirmed using site search data it for creating custom banners, retargeting ads, and other initiatives. The main reason why they do not use it is limited resources (50%).

Site Search Optimization Plans for 2014

While nearly 57% of retailers currently do not use site search data to improve their online marketing, some 47% plan to do so in 2014. This presents various opportunities for whitelabel SEO resellers and consultants, web designers and programmers, and other experts in the Internet marketing field. The Global eCommerce Site Search Survey also asked retailers what their priorities will be in this area and here are their answers:

Site search features retailers want for 2014 (Image: ELI Systems)

Retailers are looking to implement A/B testing more than anything next year, with 28.8% of respondents saying they will add this feature in 2014. Quick view windows (25%), personalized search history (20%), and refinements (19.6%) are some of the other features marketers will add in 2014. By helping your retail clients connect with programmers and designers who can implement these site search functionalities, you’ll be able to help them improve their business.

What’s certain is that you will need more SEO-optimized content when you start implementing search site functionalities. For instance, in A/B testing, the traffic coming from site search query is split into two. Instead of using only one landing page, you will need another one. This means more product descriptions and articles need to be written. More images need to be sourced, edited, and uploaded. So before you seek help from developers and programmers, make sure first that your trusted outsource SEO provider can handle the increase in demand for more content, images, and pages. Without a scalable backend, it will be difficult to implement site search changes.

The Main ‘Search’ Clients Need Help With

Retailers or not, your white label SEO reseller clients will need help from you when it comes to search engine optimization. Some clients are starting to see the positive effects of SEO on their business and are planning to spend more on it. However, SEO’s growing complication is convincing owners to simply outsource the initiative instead; it’s easier to outsource it than learning and experimenting. 

63% of marketers will spend more for content in 2014 (Image: Webmarketing123)

A separate study by Webmarketing123 found that the number of marketers relying on agencies for SEO and search engine marketing has risen 50%. And in the same way as helping clients in site search efforts, helping clients in SEO also means being able to generate sufficient content to fuel their online strategy. It means having a reliable backend provider with sufficient writers, graphic designers, and video editors to provide your client with all the content they will need. Content is a huge opportunity for resellers and providers as 63% of marketers from B2B and B2C sectors are looking to increase their spending on content in 2014. 

Whether internal site search or search engine optimization, you need to help clients in these two “searches.” You can look for credible programmers and developers to assist with implementation of site search features but before you do, make sure you have a reliable white label SEO reseller program provider that can supply the content needed to implement these changes.