iProspect's director of algorithmic search explains the when, why and how of using vertical search engines to better target audiences.

Side Step for travel. Healthline for medical. Indeed for employment. Seems like not a month goes by without some new vertical search engine cropping-up, promising to cater to an audience that's looking for specific information. But the skeptic in me wonders whether any of these engines will ever gain a large enough user base to be worth the time and effort to be included in a company's search engine marketing campaign. Clients often ask about the implications of new vertical search engines, and my response is always the same: it's too early to tell. At least for now, there is no need to immediately to be included on every new search engine that comes on the block.

The upside
Am I saying that vertical search engines have no role in search engine marketing? No. On the contrary, they can actually provide great opportunities to attract targeted audiences to your website. These engines can not only drive additional referrals to your site, but they can also potentially increase conversion rates because of the targeted audiences they deliver. However, keep in mind that the success of any such campaign depends on the industry and the search engine you choose. Verticals such as shopping, travel and employment may have high enough query volume and conversion rates to warrant incorporating their vertical engines into your search marketing campaign. But remember, it takes both effort and resources to market on any search engine, whether it's new or established. What matters most is making sure that your investment is yielding a sufficient return; otherwise, it could result in nothing more than a costly distraction.

Priorities
Before you start marching down some vertical search engine path, assess your situation. If you don't have a search engine marketing campaign in place, you need to first focus on the major search engines before considering any niche players. Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL will provide you with the maximum opportunity to reach your potential customers. If you have a search marketing campaign in place, make sure it is optimized. Here's a hint: if you have reached a point where it takes significant effort to generate any additional return, it is time for you to expand your campaign to other engines. Then it's time to consider vertical options.

Prove it
Before engaging in vertical pursuits, make sure you can justify it, as there are always costs associated with marketing on any search engine. These costs can be broken down into fixed costs and variable costs. The fixed costs usually involve the set-up associated with the campaign launch, such as learning about the search engine, negotiations with the search engine or agency, getting your content indexed and participating in the search engine's ad program. The variable costs depend on the nature and goals of the campaign, such as ROI goals, budget constraints, keyword selection, competition and product selection. Similarly, you need to estimate the projected revenue to be generated from the engine by using your existing campaign metrics and the current usage volumes of the vertical search engine you're considering.

You can learn the number of unique visitors or searches for different search engines from sources such as comScore Networks and Nielsen Net Ratings. Then, by applying the conversion rates and conversion values from the existing campaign, you can estimate the ROI to be generated by the proposed campaign. Even if the ROI is positive, be sure to compare it with the ROI of alternatives, such as further optimizing your existing search marketing campaign or utilizing other vertical search engines in your campaign. If you perform your due diligence, you will reduce the guess work of choosing the most productive vertical search engine(s).

Final call
While vertical search engines are quite attractive to search engine marketers in their promise to drive targeted visitors to websites, don't target them in your marketing campaign without carefully assessing your situation and options. First, prove the value of a vertical search engine before launching a campaign on it. Next, compare it with the value of alternative campaigns available to you. In the end, there is no one single answer. Whether or not you should use a vertical search engine will depend on your own unique situation.