Embracing Total Search: The Future of Search Marketing
Written By Otilia Crizbasan | 12 January, 2023
Discover the power of a channel-agnostic search approach
Every day there are more than 8.5 billion searches on Google. That is 5.9 million per minute and over 99,000 searches each second.
Each returns a series of Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). For brands, appearing within these results is business critical. It is also very challenging as 92% of all search traffic comes from page one results.
This is why you need to become familiar with the term Total Search.
Doesn’t ring a bell? No need to worry, we have all the answers you need in this article.
What is Total Search?
Total Search offers an entirely new view on search by examining the entire picture. At Luminr we look at this in two ways. One is all about page one of Google and the importance of unifying PPC and SEO efforts to foster a channel-agnostic search strategy.
Second is this idea of moving outside a Google-centric world to consider other platforms where searches are happening like TikTok, Amazon, Tripadvisor and ChatGPT.
In this blog, we mostly focus on Google where on each search engine result page (SERP) you encounter a blend of organic and paid results. SERP features may include paid ads, videos, featured snippets, organic listings, shopping results, maps, and more.
Currently, many brands and marketing agencies are falling short by measuring organic and paid results independently and adopting distinct metrics and strategies for each.
Keeping marketing channels separate makes it difficult to obtain a joined-up view of the customer and to provide a cohesive search experience.
Why is Total Search relevant now?
Search results today are more influenced by the searcher’s intent than the distinction between paid and organic listings, reflecting the evolving search industry landscape.
A Total Search approach will only get more and more relevant as users begin to rely on platforms like TikTok and Amazon to conduct their searches.
TechCrunch reported that 40% of Generation Z users place considerable importance on TikTok’s potential as a search engine, with a preference for social platforms over Google.
We can’t exclude product searches. 61% of US consumers begin their product hunt on Amazon. A 2022 Statista Report found that when conducting an online search for products, leading regional marketplaces were the primary start-off point worldwide with 36% of online shoppers searching for products through this channel. Search engines followed as the second most popular method, with 30% of respondents employing these platforms for the same purpose.
Why is a cross-channel strategy important?
Total Search will help your brand see beyond isolated metrics and allow you to concentrate efforts on your audience’s experience and more effectively target business-critical keywords.
Searchers don’t care about paid listings over organic listings. They simply want to complete their task and receive the best answer to their query. Whether that is buying a pair of trainers or finding the best steakhouse nearby.
The digital marketing community often debates the differences between paid and organic search, despite their similarities. Both begin with a query and target the same end action: driving click-throughs to your website for conversions. Whether this means an e-commerce transaction, an asset download or a contact form fill. Without merging the data, there will always be an incomplete picture of your search activity.
Why you must embrace cross-channel strategy?
A Total Search approach helps brands see beyond isolated metrics. It allows them to concentrate efforts on the audience’s experience to more effectively target business-critical keywords.
Searchers don’t care about paid listings over organic listings. They simply want to complete their task and receive the best answer to their query. Whether that is buying a pair of trainers in their size or finding the best steakhouse nearby.
The digital marketing community often debates the differences between paid and organic search, despite their similarities. Both begin with a query and target the same end action: driving click-throughs to your website for conversions. Whether this means an e-commerce transaction, an asset download or a contact form fill. Without merging the data, there will always be an incomplete picture of your search activity.
4 proven ways to succeed with a 360-degree approach
Replacing siloed paid and organic activity with a Total Search is a must-have approach for your business.
This 360-search view has various benefits for SEO & paid specialists, marketing managers and top decision-makers. If you find yourself among them (and we think you do), here are four interesting advantages:
- Full-funnel visibility
As you probably know, users no longer move through the search funnel linearly but rather bounce between stages.
When you implement a holistic search strategy, your brand will appear across the funnel stages of user searches with the hopes of covering every touchpoint. This leads to better ROI because each channel has the potential to focus on and reach a different type of user.
Imagine having upper-funnel organic results, and bottom-funnel paid results with the same messaging. Instead of confusing users, you give them double exposure with multiple entry points.
- Smarter spending
Do you feel the pressure of making sure you’re allocating the right budget to the right channels? An integrated search strategy with joint-up reporting allows you to make better financial decisions.
You can increase your PPC budget on certain keywords while you improve your organic performance. How about pausing paid activity on terms where no competitors are showing and your brand owns the organic position?
- Faster, more informed decision-making
Total Search can be a big help if you want to make better decisions for both paid and organic channels. By looking at your data holistically, you can learn more quickly than if you were looking at a single set of data.
For example, when looking at new keywords to use in your SEO program, you can use keyword-level conversion data from your paid search query report to optimise your organic strategy. How about using best-performing ad headlines and messaging to optimise title tags and meta descriptions?
- Minimised risks
The search environment is not free of risks but a combined search approach can work wonders. Organic pages might move down the search rankings, or some keywords might take longer than expected to climb up the rankings. You can supplement these scenarios with paid ads to maintain brand visibility while you improve your organic pages.
Imagine your PPC budget is cut or certain giants drive up the bids too high, you will instantly know to put effort into your organic strategy to get certain pages moving up the rankings to mitigate the risks.
Tapping into the world of Total Search
Building effective search experiences means treating the medium of search as a whole. The concept of Total Search may still be a work in progress. But it’s gaining popularity fast and leaving behind those who are not ready to look at the full picture and take action.
To see how Luminr can provide the tooling, insight, and experience required to help your brand achieve its goals through search, get in touch with our team today.
