ClickZ: Ass-Backwards SEM

A Fredrick Marckini column points out that the standard methodology marketers use for winnowing down media buys to the most efficient mix can prove completely backward, if the advertiser's site isn't first optimized for conversion. He points out that the Darwinian process of selecting the most efficient vehicles works only when the selection criteria (presumably conversions) is already optimized on the site.

Narrowing down the media buys first and then optimizing the site for conversion will lead an advertiser to optimize against a narrow audience, potentially forgoing larger and even higher-converting populations.