Text at e-commerce sites should be written with search engine marketing in mind without sacrificing marketing emphasis, said a panelist at the AdTech conference at the New York Hilton on Wednesday.

Search engine marketing (SEM) delivers four times higher conversion than acquisition e-mail or banner advertising, said Heather Lloyd-Martin, president of consultancy SuccessWorks.

When it’s done well, search engine optimization can provide a Web site better positioning across all the search engine directories, remarkable branding, increased clickthrough and more.

“It’s not enough to be listed first when a user does a search,” Lloyd-Martin said. Conversion from the Web site’s landing page should be better than other ways of driving potential customers to a Web site.

How does a marketer make the site’s content attractive to search engine crawlers, called spiders, so the site will be ranked high?

A Web site’s text content should contain about 225 to 250 words, and be focused around two or three keyphrases. Keyphrases should appear in the body text at least three times.

Copywriters who specialize in optimizing Web sites know how to use keywords effectively in site text, without sacrificing marketing goals, Heather-Lloyd said. “Ask for a writing sample,” she warned. “Some search engine optimizers have some killer copywriters working for them and some don’t.”

If a site sells men’s cashmere sweaters and the text on the landing page reads: “See our cashmere sweaters that are the best cashmere sweaters you have ever seen. You’ll love our cashmere sweaters” neither the customer, nor the Web site is well served, she said.

Each Web page title is also important. The title (that is typed into the behind-the-scenes template that prepares the page for rating by a search engine) should be strong and to-the-point, Lloyd-Martin said.

A recent Radio Shack promotion for radar detectors that used the phrase: “radar detectors on sale” which positioned Radio Shack in the third position on several search engines.

What should marketers look for when hiring a consultant to optimize their site?

They should ask for in-house training. The text on Web sites must be routinely evaluated and tweaked, and its more cost-effective if the marketer knows how to do that once the consultant has done the initial optimization.

Text at e-commerce sites should be written with search engine marketing in mind without sacrificing marketing emphasis, said a panelist at the AdTech conference at the New York Hilton on Wednesday.

Search engine marketing (SEM) delivers four times higher conversion than acquisition e-mail or banner advertising, said Heather Lloyd-Martin, president of consultancy SuccessWorks.

When it’s done well, search engine optimization can provide a Web site better positioning across all the search engine directories, remarkable branding, increased clickthrough and more.

“It’s not enough to be listed first when a user does a search,” Lloyd-Martin said. Conversion from the Web site’s landing page should be better than other ways of driving potential customers to a Web site.

How does a marketer make the site’s content attractive to search engine crawlers, called spiders, so the site will be ranked high?

A Web site’s text content should contain about 225 to 250 words, and be focused around two or three keyphrases. Keyphrases should appear in the body text at least three times.

Copywriters who specialize in optimizing Web sites know how to use keywords effectively in site text, without sacrificing marketing goals, Heather-Lloyd said. “Ask for a writing sample,” she warned. “Some search engine optimizers have some killer copywriters working for them and some don’t.”

If a site sells men’s cashmere sweaters and the text on the landing page reads: “See our cashmere sweaters that are the best cashmere sweaters you have ever seen. You’ll love our cashmere sweaters” neither the customer, nor the Web site is well served, she said.

Each Web page title is also important. The title (that is typed into the behind-the-scenes template that prepares the page for rating by a search engine) should be strong and to-the-point, Lloyd-Martin said.

A recent Radio Shack promotion for radar detectors that used the phrase: “radar detectors on sale” which positioned Radio Shack in the third position on several search engines.

What should marketers look for when hiring a consultant to optimize their site?

They should ask for in-house training. The text on Web sites must be routinely evaluated and tweaked, and its more cost-effective if the marketer knows how to do that once the consultant has done the initial optimization.

The consultant should also leave behind a template for the marketer to refer to later in as they work on the site. And, they should find out if the consultant is available for copy consultation later.

How does a marketer know if the text they’ve crafted works?

“Tracking rocks,” Lloyd-Martin said. One study shows that the longer people stay on an e-commerce site the less they buy because they are taking time searching for the specific information they need everywhere on the site, and finally they abandon the site, she said.

Text on e-commerce sites should be written with search engine optimization in mind without sacrificing its marketing value, said a panelist at the AdTech conference at the New York Hilton on Wednesday.

Search engine marketing (SEM) delivers four times higher conversion than acquisition e-mail or banner advertising, said Heather Lloyd-Martin, president of consultancy SuccessWorks.

When it