Growing revenue 1 word at a time
What: ClickPath, Kirkland
Who: Jody Huff, 36, managing director
Mission: Help advertisers determine which keywords do or don’t perform in pay-per-click advertising
No free ride: “People have a hard time grasping the concept of sponsored links,” Huff said. “But every time you enter a search, the first listing has paid for that position. And they get there by outbidding somebody else.”
Buy a vowel: ClickPath ensures that clients pay for the right words. It tracks the search term a customer enters in order to reach the company’s site, and which terms are entered by people who become customers. Said Huff: “We track the phone call [from someone responding to an ad] back to the exact keyword that is driving it to the site.”
By numbers: The company is seeking a patent on a process dubbed Dynamic Number Insertion, which Huff calls its “secret sauce.” A shopper arriving at a site by typing “television” will get one contact number, while someone typing “radio” will be routed to a different line. After this analysis, the company will bid on words that lead to sales and not pursue the less-profitable ones.
Employees: 122; now hiring account executives and sales personnel. Huff: “We are in a growth cycle right now.” This follows Kirkland-based Who’s Calling’s purchase of ClickPath in January and the subsequent relocation of the company from Sacramento, Calif.
Financials: The private company does not divulge financial information or client names.
Human contact: Tracking the terms that bring in customers is easy with orders placed through a Web site, but there is a disconnect when the customer uses the phone. “People who are ordering online are buying items of lower value,” Huff said. “Someone who is spending $12,000 on computer equipment will want to talk to a live person before spending their money.”
Double word score: “We have a valuable product that is helping our clients become more profitable,” Huff said. “We provide a specific metric that tells companies where their marketing dollars are most effective.”
- Charles Bermant