So, while perusing Google’s Hot Trends today I noticed a particular brand of digital camera was one of the top gainers in search queries: the Polaroid T730 Compact 7mp digital camera. Curious as to what’s so special about it, I googled it, only to embark on one frustrating journey.

 Google Search Results For Polaroid T730 Compact 7mp Digital Camera

Two things I learned: 1. When writing a review, don’t be an ass; 2. If you’re going to spend a lot of money on competitive keyword advertisements, it’s likely a best practice to give the searcher what they are actually searching for.

The top organic spot for those keywords doesn’t belong to Polaroid, as one might expect. Actually, Polaroid is nowhere to be found on the first page, organic or paid. Way to be in charge of your brand, there Polaroid.

Had the company been more proactive about SEO – yes, they actually have a website, and even a product page for the T730—interested customers would not have to suffer through number-one-spot squatter Woot.com’s excruciating review by "WOOTBOT," which earned the number one ranking as of midnight this morning. Despite the stupidity of it, I was still miraculously interested in learning more about the camera*, mainly because WOOTBOT didn’t mention a price.

Back to the search results, then. Not willing to brave another organic, non-Polaroid page on the product, I turned to the retailers who popped up for the keywords, who surely would have detailed (unbloviated) product information that included pricing, especially since I had to spend their money to find it.

Top result: Circuit City. Of course they’ll have all that. No, they don’t. In fact, clicking on the top paid search result directed me to a listing for Bissell Pet Odor & Removal Formula with Scotchguard, which retails for $12.99, in case, unlike me, you actually have a pet or find yourself in need of that information on The Price Is Right.

 Circuit City’s Paid Search Destination

Good job capitalizing on that ad spend, Circuit City. I’ll bet Office Depot knows how much it costs. Nope. Their paid link takes me to a landing page advertising 10% off, well, anything I guess. So if I ever actually find the camera and learn the price of it, I can save some unknown quantity of money.

Shopping.com? Close. Polaroid T730 memory cards, but no camera.

Amazon? Blank white screen. Service unavailable.

BizRate? Everything but that particular product.

Target? Enter your zip code to see the Target Weekly Ad. No thanks, and go screw yourself.

 Target’s Sign Up For The Weekly Ad

Wal-Mart? Polaroid TVs, cameras that perhaps are similar, but no trace of the T730.
 
Back to the organic results, then. Byrev.net had a much less BS-ified review, but still no price. DealsPlus: jackpot. $74.99, $5 shipping. Too cheap for me to be proud of as an expectant father, and I’m way too invested now to be disappointed with general affordability. I’ll dream about that $850 Canon listed below, and eventually buy something in between.

But here’s the point: Every one of the major, corporate retailers failed the search marketing test. None of them SEO’d their sites well enough to pop up in the top 10 organic rankings where searchers automatically associate credibility—until they read something written by WOOTBOT—and none of them actually capitalized on an interested buyer via great, relevant, and/or useful landing pages.

Lesson: Shoppers, especially during the discovery process, will give you, maximum, ten seconds (more like four) to earn their visit and/or business. They need information, not fluff, redirection, malfunction, or similar/related product pitches. Give them the right landing page and you’ll not only not waste your daily ad spend, but you may just earn a loyal customer who’s very tired of the BS.

_{*My best guess was that the review overall was positive, after sifting through stories of fat men and vacuums, and obscure Latin and German phrases nobody searching for camera information on the English version of the Internet needs to ever, EVER know.}