SEO & PPC - Why You Need Both in Your Online Marketing Strategy When considering online marketing options, should you run Pay per Click (PPC) Ads for the same keywords that your site ranks well for with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Absolutely, yes! According to the Google research blog, when you pause a PPC Ad campaign, 89% of traffic to your site generated by those ads is NOT replaced by clicks in the organic listings. Why? The reason is simple: Searchers who click on paid ads are motivated differently than those who click on organic results. When searchers click on paid Ads, they are typically further along in the buying cycle. They search for keywords like, “iPad 2 32gb black.” They have done their homework and already know what they want. They have a model number, an average price in mind, and they probably even know what colour they will choose. Alternately, searchers who click the organic listings of search engine results pages are usually in the research phase … [Read more...]
SEO & PPC – Why You Need Both in Your Online Marketing Strategy
By August 11, 2011 COMMENT(1)Four Tips to Online Reputation Management
By August 9, 2011 COMMENTS(0)Four Tips to Online Reputation Management Online Reputation Management is About Monitoring, Analysis and Influencing Online Reputation Management increases your positive web presence by affecting the outcome of search engine results. It involves monitoring, analysis and influencing. Assess Your Online Reputation - Start with simple searches on popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and MSN for your name, company, brand(s), product(s) etc. Tally the results. If you have more negative results, you need to fix the problem fast! Even if you have mostly indifferent results, you need to do something about it. Users need to find something relevant and positive about you to win them over. Monitor Your Online Reputation - Monitor what’s being said online. Track negative publicity before it can seriously affect search rankings. Use Internet monitoring systems like Google and Yahoo Alerts to track the news, Feedster and Technorati to monitor blogs and other free online tools to … [Read more...]
Online Reputation Management in Today’s Marketing Environment
By August 5, 2011 COMMENT(1)Online Reputation Management in Today's Marketing Environment Whether you like it or not, your business already has an online reputation. Do you know what it is? Some hard facts about Online Reputation Management (ORM) When people review your online presence, they don’t just find your website. They find customer review sites, blogs, discussion groups, social media comments and rankings. Does everything they see throw a positive light on your business? Reality Check: The facts about online reputation Consumers, business partners, stock holders, marketers, journalists, prospective employers, co-workers, personal contacts and others care about your online reputation. So should you! People from all walks of life use search engines to research and gather information, so that they can make informed decisions. Negative information about your brand can ultimately lead to problems in many areas including sales, investor relations, recruitment, financials, image and reputation. In … [Read more...]
What is PPC (Pay per Click) Advertising?
By July 26, 2011 COMMENTS(2)PPC Advertising - What is It? Understanding the Basics of PPC (Pay per Click) Advertising As part of your online marketing strategy, your Internet marketing consultant may recommend running a PPC advertising campaign. So, how exactly does PPC work? Here's my version of PPC in a nutshell, using the Google AdWords program as an example (but it's quite similar with other search engines as well): Start by determining the best keywords to target (make sure your demographic is actually searching for those keywords!) Create compelling and relevant ads and landing pages When web surfers search for those keywords in Google, an ad auction is held. Google ranks ads based on many criteria to decide which ones to display and in what order. Ads are typically shown on the right hand side of the search results, but sometimes at the top of the page You only pay if someone clicks on your ad When your daily or monthly budget is reached, Google stops displaying your ads What is PPC … [Read more...]
Facebook vs. Twitter vs. Google+ [CHART]
By July 18, 2011 COMMENTS(3)
Facebook vs. Twitter vs. Google+ [CHART] What are the Advantages of Google+ over Facebook and Twitter? Google+ has only been out for a month or so now, and it's still in Beta by invitation only, but already has 10 million users. There's been a lot of high praise, but at this point, it's mostly us geeks, early adopters, and Internet marketers using it, so it's not a representative sample of the general public. There's also a much higher percentage of men trying it out, which is also inconsistent with other social media channels. Opinions vary as to whether or not it will knock Facebook off its social media throne. Given that Facebook is now up to 750 million users, that's no easy feat. Only time will tell if people will be willing to make the switch, but I think Google+ is going to give Facebook a run for its money. At the very least, it will give us an alternative to Facebook and a nice compliment to the social media space. Here's my take on the differences between Facebook, … [Read more...]
Internet Marketing with a Sledgehammer
By June 22, 2011 COMMENTS(3)
Internet Marketing with a Sledgehammer When talking about the Canadian government’s tactic to end Air Canada and Canada Post strikes, Bob Rae said, "When the only tool you have in your toolbox is a sledgehammer, everything starts to look like a rock." I love this quote - it applies to so many aspects of our lives and especially to Internet Marketing. When we apply this concept to Internet marketing (or all digital marketing, for that matter) we have to realize that the only reason to implement a tool is ROI, and that we have many tools at our disposal. Pay per Click (PPC) advertising is not the only lead generation tool. Social media is not the only way to drive traffic to your site. These are both great tools – when used appropriately. If a tool is not going to help drive your business goals, there's no point in wasting time or money on it. It’s okay to test it, but sometimes we focus so much on making it happen that we forget why we're using that tool in the … [Read more...]
Internet Marketing Works – A Call from a Happy Client
By June 9, 2011 COMMENTS(2)Internet Marketing Works - A Call from a Happy Client I just had a fun call from a relatively new restaurant client. They came to me originally because they were looking for ways to promote their daily lunch specials. They had a Facebook page with a decent amount of followers, but they had no idea what to do with it. Their website was out-dated and they had no way of making minor changes themselves. They needed an updated look, more autonomy, and some guidance with their internet marketing strategy. We’ve been training them how to use Facebook for a couple months now, and we’re in the process of redesigning their website with a new look, easier navigation, and on a CMS (content management system) that will make it easy for them to make changes on their own. Since they have events planned every night of the week, we made sure to include a super-easy to use calendar that they can update themselves. What I love about this client is the creativity they put into organizing events … [Read more...]
PPC Advertising: Optimize Search Results, Drive Targeted Traffic
By March 4, 2011
PPC Advertising: Optimize Search Results, Drive Targeted Traffic PPC (Pay per click) Marketing is a form of online advertising where you can attract traffic to your website or landing page via ads hosted on a search engine. Google, Yahoo, MSN or any other search engine you choose to advertise with will display your PPC ad when a keyword query matches your keyword list, or when a content site displays relevant content. Such ads are called sponsored links or sponsored ads. They typically appear adjacent to or above organic results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a web developer chooses to place them on a content site. PPC ads typically get 25% of the clicks on a search engine results page. Visitors who click on PPC ads tend to be further down the sales funnel, where those who click on the organic search results tend to be still in research mode. PPC Search Results How does PPC benefit your online marketing initiatives? Immediate Results. Your ad will be visible on … [Read more...]
