Paid Search Engine Keyword Strategies: 2nd place is better than 1st

[regic]

In sports, being number one is the primary goal, the reason for being. But when it comes to paid search engine marketing (SEM), being number one — bidding the highest amount for a keyword to ensure that your company tops the list of results — may be a path to campaign failure. Recent research by San Francisco-based eye-tracking analysis software firm EyeTools, combined with what we see day in and day out with our clients, leads us to the conclusion that being number one in most cases is a waste of money, while camping out in a lower position often proves to be more productive.

A common occurrence we encounter is a CEO or a vice president communicating downward to the search manager the mantra “we want to be in the number-one position at all cost.” Another scenario is when the search manager or vendor wants to impress superiors or the client and bids for the top spot irrationally. None of the people in this common scenario understand that the number-one position in SEM isn't all it's cracked up to be. Let's take a look at why...

full article: http://multichannelmerchant.com/webchann..._05302006/