SEO Secrets - Marty's Atlantic BT Keyword Matrix

*** Quick Note
Friend told me he was confused by my use of SEO in stead of PPC and he is right. I think of PPC as the first step in successful SEO, but probably should have use PPC in this title instead. My bad, once Blogger grabs a title there is not changing it. So read about a PPC trick, tool, secret that can help get the feedback loops started and so get you half way home on SEO :). M

Ever feel like your entire life was leading to THIS moment, this time? That is how I feel and it is maximum cool. Working on our first input, a campaign on Magento ecommerce, a platform I would have sold my soul to have as a Director of Ecommerce (two years ago). Behind every website's curtain is a Content Management System (CMS). A CMS determines what right brainer marketing types like me and the teams I've managed can actually DO with a website. You are only as powerful as your CMS and Magento is POWERFUL.

Atlantic BT, where I'm Director of Marketing, has done a lot of Magento installations. We want to let others know we are here and can help. We also want a template for our marketing process. We want to train our content campaign muscles since Atlantic BT has grown rapidly (more than 25% a year for over 3 years) via the best advertising you can't buy (word-of-mouth). WOM is great, but how do to start an ever widening ripple? How do you create a market these days?

I like to start Internet marketing campaigns with PPC because it is immediate and helps define the map of the longer content creation journey. In the beginning of an Internet marketing journey the number of unknowns is intimidating. Jump in and start swimming even if those first efforts look nothing like swimming. Even if all we do is NOT DROWN then it is all good (lol).

PPC's Short Shift
There aren't a lot of great PPC resources like SEOmoz. Organic is cool and rich with ideas, intelligent helpers and tools, PPC not so much. I'm a big believer in PROCESS = PRODUCT, or the Quirky thing. I will share our journey on ScentTrail Marketing and Atlantic BT's Blog as we journey along a very cool path.

Got my first idea for a share yesterday reading Brad Geddes' excellent Advanced Google AdWords (highly recommend Brad's book). Brad cuts the Google intimidation factor down and is helping me polish skills I have used in years (always had teams to help with this until joining our little resource strapped skunk works). I owe the Keyword Matrix graphic to Brad. Brad knows the most intimidating thing about AdWords is the INFINITY of it. Using AdWords is like saying let's fly to the moon tomorrow.

I've been an Internet marketer a long time. More than twelve years in a space exploding and changing has taught me a few things. Chief among those lessons is chop impossible tasks down to smaller understandable ones (yes, my friends know I used this exact tactic to ride a bicycle across America two years ago never thinking of it that way but as a series of 60 fifty mile rides LOL). The most important organization you can do early is to group or tag your keywords. Keyword grouping creates several important benefits including:

Reduce Google Intimidation
I'm working on a cool project with a brilliant guy (my boss). The idea is we will mashup tools, create algorithms to model paths to conversion based n as little as three touches. Cool and predictive modeling couldn't get any hotter (see my Scoop of VC Ann Winbald's segment on Squawkbox from two days ago).

• Coverage - you don't miss an important keyword group.
• Personas - feedback loops feed your stories, personas and ad copy. 
• Attack Plan - By blending data such as SEOmoz Authority estimates with Global broad and exact search data it is possible to mathematically map your PPC journey (more on this in another post soon). 
• Infinite Space Not - By cutting down infinite space to four manageable dimensions you learn what type of keys generate the best response (and this can vary by campaign, season, ad copy and offer to name just a few).

 The biggest benefit may be the last. I hate twisting in infinite space. Internet marketing has a natural tendency to do the twist. Starting with a simple idea complexity layers in with each step. Before you know it you've invade Russia in the winter (not a good idea as history has shown LOL). Hope this early rough tool idea, really just a visualization of Brad's book, helps you see PPC differently. My example is full of Magento references because that is what we are working on. Read Brad's notes on each on page 24 and 25 for more.

Marty