A Look at Who Builds SEO and PPC Tools

The following is an excerpt from the whitepaper, “The Anatomy of Search Marketing Firms: An Insider Look at Search Marketing Service Operations.”

Every marketer wants the best toolset to be used for their campaigns, but search marketing software is developed by a wide range of companies. Knowing who is behind development and maintenance of the software is just as important as knowing what features it offers because the costs and effectiveness of software varies by developer and can significantly affect the outcome of a campaign. It is crucial that clients clearly understand the benefits, limitations and market readiness of the software its employees and agencies use and the developers who make them.

Search engine provided tools are available for most paid search and SEO functions. Google’s tools are the most popular but not the only game in town. Most firms use at least one tool from search engines whether it be webmaster diagnostic tools, paid search management or analytics. While these tools are usually free, some firms do not use them because:

• Multiple Interfaces: Some tools, like bid managers, only work with the search engine who provided the tool. The result is that users must use multiple tools for the same function;
• Quality: Effectiveness of the tools across the search engines can vary dramatically;
• Privacy and Security: Some firms believe sharing sensitive client data with search engines is a conflict of interest.

A 3rd party product is software licensed by the firm from another company that is dedicated to building and maintaining software products. 3rd party products have dedicated development, maintenance, sales and support teams to service clients. While many 3rd party products are run as independent businesses, in some cases, a services firm may offer its tools as a commercial product. Such proprietary products are used by the firm’s employees to service clients and are licensed to other firms for use with their clients.

Proprietary software is an application built by the services firm to be used only by its employees. Some firms maintain full-time in-house staff to develop and maintain the software while others outsource. One of the benefits of proprietary software is tight integration into the firm’s processes, but reliability and effectiveness of the tool depends on the firm’s development acumen and expenditure on development, maintenance and support of its proprietary tools.

Like proprietary software, proprietary tools are built by the service firm to be used only by its employees but instead of writing custom software, these tools are built using off the shelf software, such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access. Proprietary tools often develop organically by the services teams and usually are not supported by dedicated developers. Proprietary tools may be as simple as standardized templates or very intricate and sophisticated tools to automate workflow and other functions. While typically considered inferior to custom software, proprietary tools do offer flexibility and, for some firms, a superior and cost-effective solution when combined with search engine provided tools.

To read more and download the whitepaper,Click here. Please contact us if you would like to discuss search marketing software solutions in depth or if you have any other questions.

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