I know internet marketing is still very mysterious, difficult to comprehend and often easy for marketers to hide behind fraudulent or misleading web analytic reports and false promises, which ultimately lead to zero delivery.
It sucks. I know. But I’m here to help…
Here is a list of the 5 questions you ABSOLUTELY should be asking your Pay Per Click marketer before signing into a business relationship:
Yes, internet marketing works! When you think of looking up information or an address where do we usually turn to? If you said the internet you are correct (MSN, Yahoo, AOL and Google).
Google holds about a 70% stake in the internet search business. So why is Google, so important? Because if you rank on the first page for search terms related to your business is likely to increase a great deal, because majority of users do not go past the first page to find results.
There are several way to the top of Google’s rankings, but one leaps ahead of the rest in terms of return on investment… Blog, Blog and Blog you can never blog enough.
Google uses the most current information to rank. BTW there is a complicated formula they use to rank their Search Engine Optimization. Also, if you notice when you go to www.google.com if you type in a search term and at the very top of the page towards the right hand side it says “sponsored links.” These are links and text that companies are paying for. How do you pay for these? You can hire a Google AdWords professional to do what is called Pay Per Click marketing, so you only pay for what people use. In other words, the price depends on what “words” you choose. Very common words are going to cost you more money, but again it’s about ranking in the top five results.
I love PPC. I also love music. Put them together and what do you get? Beats and Rhymes by Chuck Lewis - The Poetic Prophet. Scott first found this, but he only discussed SEO! This talented musician breaks down internet marketing especially PPC into basic segments. You can check him out on You Tube where he’s known as the SEO Rapper.
I came across this gifted project coordinator/marketing specialist, singer/songwriter in a marketing e-mail. He has a number of videos that inform and entertain covering topics such as Design Coding, Link Building, Conversion Closing even Social Media Addiction. I especially like Paid Search 101, “Check the cpc, that’s the cost per click. Make a judgement call, is it worth that hit? If it is then keep it, if it’s not then delete it. Stay within your budget, that’s not a big secret. Track your results, reporting is critical and set your goals right, be Google Analytical.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c96LTLlaXew.
The SEO Rapper takes complex concepts and tells a story. Set in a format anyone can understand, PPC is not so overwhelming. It’s fun, it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it.
The Upper Left Corner
Without fail, in my efforts to stay professionally developed, there is always an A-ha moment where I bonk myself on the forehead with the heel of my hand and wonder how I forgot what I’d just re-learned.
The most recent moment came while attending a webinar on paid search. The speaker, David Szetela of Clix Marketing, was discussing the importance of quickly getting the message to the visitor that your site is where they need to be. The best way to do this is to reiterate search terms (key words) on the landing page.
The best position in which to do this is the upper left corner. Eureka! There it is.
Most of us are targeting left-to-right readers. We don’t start reading in the middle of the page, so why do we insist on putting headlines front and center? It looks pretty. Well, pretty don’t pay the bills. We typically have less than ten seconds to capture attention and persuade prospects to take the next step.
The same principal that applies to the lot upon which your home is built also applies to virtual real estate; location, location, location. Next is content. Internet marketers can greatly increase their click-through-rate and in turn conversion rates if the first thing searchers see (location) is material relevant to their search (content). To maximize the probability that the visitor will read a whole headline and act on it, include search terms. If a visitor sees what was searched for immediately then he’ll be more likely to spend time exploring your site and purchase your product or service.
Which is the whole point.
A-ha.
Thinking about optimizing your website for the search engines? Or, starting to build one and want to make sure you’re ready with a site that is “search engine friendly”? Great, search engine optimization is truly the blood of any website, delivering valuable traffic and sales to your company’s online presence. But, you need to be prepared and educate yourself. We’ve dealt with many companies and websites in a search engine optimization capacity. The search engine optimization world is one surrounded by mystery. Although there is a thriving online community, search engine optimization is not typically offered as a course at schools or universities around the country. It is very much a skilled learned through experience.
But, often time’s companies or “SEO experts” don’t know exactly what they’re doing. Not only is this unacceptable as you may be paying these companies or individuals good money, but in the long run some techniques employed by less experienced search engine optimizers or those willing to take short cuts can cause your site to become permanently banned by the search engines.
Over the years we’ve learned that education is the key to success. Whether you’ve just begun the process of looking for a company to provide search engine optimization services, are well along the process, or already have a company you’re dealing with and want to make sure they’re doing things correct this is a helpful and simple 5 question guide:
I read an interesting email newsletter this afternoon by Google AdWords Expert, Perry Marshall. The article, revolving around the quality of Google and Google’s “weird” practice of not publishing any old ad, or allowing any old keyterm - effectively not gobbling every advertisers dollar was addressed:
Sometimes people get mad at Google ‘cuz they won’t just take their money and run the ads they write. Worse yet, they won’t even tell you WHY. Maddening, isn’t it? Dave Bullock explains why, like this:
“People should think of Google as being their first customer. People search Google because they trust it. Your ad on their search engine is an endorsement, and you’re borrowing their identity.”
The fact that the whole world trusts Google - and the true meaning and cause of that trust - is somewhat overlooked in all the hoopla about their juggernaut success.
People talk about Google’s skyrocketing stock values and Page Rank Formulas and the birth from fledgling lab project at Stanford, and the geek culture and the free 5-star lunches in the employee cafeteria.
But not too many people really ask, why does the world trust Google? When someone wants to know something, why is the first place they think of looking, Google? Why is Google a verb?
Because Google is the most accurate available representation of what human beings consider important and valuable on the Internet.
Google isn’t just a directory of information, a vast resource of knowledge, it is “the most accurate available represenatation of what human beings consider important and valuable on the Internet;” and your business listing - either organic or paid is a tremendous quality and branding boost. In past generations people turned to the yellow pages for that same vote of confidence - albeit without the complicated algorithims. The more you paid the larger your ad. The closer your name to the beginning of the alphabet the higher up your listing. A listing in the local yellow pages ment you were a legitimate local business. But, we have since moved to a digital era, with the new global yellow pages - search engines. No longer is the placement of your website, business, listing or ad based solely on your name and amount you are willing to pay, but now they are based on quality - a fact that many people may not know, a fact your audience may not know, a fact that you may not know, but it is a fact everyone have inevitably realized through their use and research online. Your company name in the search engine is an immediate - and global - vote of confidence in your service (no matter how local your business or how targeted or wide your services).
Where are you in the search engines?
I was on a conference call yesterday when it dawned on me that, at our core, we are an Internet Lead Generation service.
There are a number of steps, and hurdles we go through with and for clients, but at the very end, our bottom line, relates to your bottom line - Internet Lead Generation.
There are four major phases or legs to a complete Internet Lead Generation package:
These 4 steps are holistic. Planning is perhaps the most important phase, but often the most neglected. In truth any web development company can build an awesome website without knowing too much about you as a client.
What colors do you like, what text will go where, etc.?
As long as the site isn’t too complicated the initial design and development of a site can be done without much planning. But, without knowledge of your industry, a web development company can’t implement the right terms into the text and properly optimize your site. Without planning and a deeper understanding of you we can’t code the site properly for long-term search engine success and both the developer and the client will be left hanging after the initial creation of the site - what next? The planning phase is a guide for the entire process. Planning ensures that everyone is on the same page through the different stages of completion and sets a standard for success.
Development, after planned properly and thoroughly, is a simple process. With an end in mind a good team of programmers, designers, and writers, can generate a successful web presence.
Maintenance, the third step to Internet lead generation is very important. You must use your website as the tool it was developed to be, without updates, additional text, news & events, etc. it becomes stale - and even with proactive marketing - can fall short of your goals.
Finally, the fourth step, marketing is important to the overall success of the lead generation potential of your website. Without updates, and proactive marketing, the likelihood that people will stumble upon your site is pretty slim. Much like any business you need to get your website out there, talk about it, network, participate in blogs and communities, advertise, etc.
Keeping these four steps in mind you should have no problem turning your website into a valuable Internet Lead Generation tool.
It might be a little dated, but I found this great post over at PronetAdvertising about the future of marketing, and why Internet marketing in particular is so powerful:
I’m sure most of you heard about the $200 iPhone price cut that Apple announced yesterday and the sound of hundreds of thousands of early-adopters scream. Here’s a look at the ensuing battle of the Google Search Ads that resulted from Apple’s move. And why television and print advertising is a thing of the past.
I was surfing the Internet this morning when I stumbled upon an old colleague’s blog, Tropical Web Works. The posts, authored by Sonja Ray, haven’t been updated in a little while, but there is still some great information buried within.
The post that most intrigued me was “Eight Tips Every Adwords Advertiser Should Know.” It contained some great basic steps that every advertiser should follow including:
Exclude myspace?!
I had never heard that before. Although by default if you do opt-out of the content network you have no fear of being included on myspace, if you don’t take this crucial step you may be included on Myspace. Why would anyone want to do this? Why would you want to take the time to alienate or eliminate a huge base of eyes to get your product in front of? Sonja makes a great point:
When myspace.com started carrying Google ads, thousands of advertisers were suddenly hit with huge advertising bills because of all the kids on myspace who click-click-click willy-nilly on everything they see, with no intention of buying anything
This seems to support our own observations. The advertising and medium must support the audience. Although Myspace is a great potential source for advertising (either with adwords or some other tool), its young, advertising savvy base is often not fooled or enticed by advertising, and, their familiarity with the system sometimes leads to them hurting advertisers (false clicks).
Just to let anyone using the following services know:
Constant Contact will be unavailable on Saturday, April 14th between 5:00am and 10:00am EDT. Please save your work accordingly.
On April 14, 2007, the Google AdWords system will be unavailable from approximately 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Pacific Time due to system maintenance. Please note that your campaigns will continue to run normally during this short downtime.
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