"Retention was a big part of what we
needed to do better," said Chris Burford, Ashworth's director of search marketing. "While we wanted to get more enrollments on the front end, we also needed to get them to stay for a while and spend
money."
The company started by attacking its roster of 25,000+ keywords, weeding out the costly terms that were driving lots of non-converting traffic, and honed in on terms that
would better attract their target. Burford also made use of automated SEM management systems that helped find keywords with poor quality scores, manage bids to specified maximums, as well as take
advantage of the various match types available across the big three engines.
Ashworth's strategies also included landing page optimization, email follow-ups, as well as a retooling of the phone sales reps' scripted dialogue. But keyword-focused optimization was the first step toward generating the desired results.