a451 Search Engine Marketing

Thales - SEO and PPC

Thales is a global leader in the quest for security and mission critical information systems for defense and security, aerospace and transportation. The company has operations in 50 countries and has 68,000 employees. Thales has earned recognition for the development and deployment of dual civil and military technologies. Leveraging its international operations and spanning the entire value chain from equipment to systems and services, Thales is playing a pivotal role in making the world a safer place.

Thales –

Search Engine Optimisation & Pay Per Click Case Study.

Project History

With the status of ‘a global leader’ in security and mission critical information systems for defense, security, aerospace and transportation it is vital for Thales to be dominantly positioned on search engines to reflect their reputation. The previous Thales website was three years old and the objective of the redesign was to bring all the diverse businesses of Thales into a single highly functional and user friendly site.  The website’s complexities of content and international presence were both major considerations in the brief along with the scale of the site.
 

a451’s role 

a451 had been Thales’ search engine marketing agency for the previous 5 years and were invited to pitch for the search engine marketing of new site. Thanks to this earlier experience with Thales the a451 team had a close working relationship with the client and an in-depth understanding of the company, its offering and its marketing and business goals. A close working relationship with the design and development agency was a priority in order to deliver the client's strategy.

The priority of the new website was to ensure it achieved and then exceeded the previous website’s key performance indicators and metrics which a451 assisted in defining. The site had to attract a diverse target market, which included defence industry professionals and commentators amongst others. It then had to deliver to them the information they were looking for quickly and easily. Due to a451’s expertise in search engine optimisation and paid search they were chosen to fulfil this role.

Objectives

•    Exceed previous website’s performance.
•    Diversify the target market attracting a wider range of clients.
•    Contain up-to-date information.
•    Be easy to access and understand.
•    To improve upon current Search Engine rankings.
•    Increase international awareness of Thales.
 
The Strategy
 
The a451 solution was to carry out a detailed review of the new Content Management System with special attention to the site’s architecture. This was undertaken and by working closely with the developers it ensured that all major issues were addressed and rectified early in the development process.

With the use of internally developed keyword mapping tools and in depth keyword phrase research, key phrases were assigned and optimised on all target pages including markets, products and services.

Develop a wide spectrum of key metrics to determine the value of the visitors to the site and to Thales business goals.

 
Results
 
The launch of the new website saw all important metrics maintained or increased within a very short time.

There was an immediate increase in visits of 16.74%. Year on year visits to the site continue to increase at a rate in excess of 15%.

The targeted key metrics were met and provided a measurable value of the Web site to Thales' business goals.

a451 have been retained to manage and advise on the search engine marketing of the website.

 

"We were very impressed with the professional and proactive way with which a451 approached the search
engine marketing of the Thales UK website and when the Group’s global site was redesigned, it made sense that a451 should continue to optimise the new site. We were very impressed with the results"

Jon Lunn

Director, Internal and e communications Thales UK