Hockey gear retailer HockeyGiant.com has maintained keyword positions on search engine Overture Services Inc. since 2002, but it took the implementation of Overture’s conversion tracking tool earlier this year to gauge its real return on the program. Applying that intelligence to its keyword spending has shrunk the retailer’s keyword list, bumped up its spending on the best-converting terms, and boosted its conversion rate by an estimated 20% to 25%, says Paul Schwartz, director of e-commerce.
Previously, the web retailer, which also has two superstores and several rink-based stores, had been tracking based on data it got from its e-commerce platform provider. But Schwartz says Overture’s tool, Conversion Counter, generates greater detail in tracking customer behavior from initial search through conversion.
Schwartz adds that the tool allows HockeyGiant.com to test the effectiveness of different terms. “We had a standard list of keywords. We were able to say, what happens if we don’t pay for a top position, but pay for position two or three instead? It allows us to test different concepts,” he says.
While spending on the Overture listings remained about the same, spending priorities within the program shifted as HockeyGiant.com saw which keywords generated better returns than others and increased its spending accordingly. At the same time, the retailer got rid of other keywords that didn’t perform, bringing its main keyword list down into the range of about 300 to 500.
Schwartz adds that Conversion Counter also provided insight on the difference between searches for single keywords vs. multiple-word phrases, a factor in the improved conversion rate. “For example, did ‘hockey” return more than ‘hockey stick’ or ‘goalie equipment?’ It showed us the terms our customers use to search and how we could bring them to more relevant pages by understanding that,” he says.
HockeyGiant.com’s conversion rate now hovers around 3%. Cost-per-click spending on Overture has stayed within the same range for the past few months as it’s helped drive higher sales, Schwartz says. Though the retailer also maintains paid listings on Google, it hasn’t yet drilled down to the same level of detail on its Google cost-per-click return, he adds.
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