Archive for PPC
Search Engine Marketing Effect
Posted by: | CommentsSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a regular strategy in the lives of webmasters in all industries. This method has proven effective with regards to increasing the amount of traffic on a website through search engine rank results. However, those who combine SEO with SEM (Search Engine Marketing) techniques will reap the greatest benefits online.
Search Engine Marketing
SEM is paid online advertising, known as pay-per-click that is displayed in highlighted text or on the sides of search engines. These advertisements come in many forms including text, image and video. To be effective, they must be eye-catching and one of the first items on a search engine page. The higher the ranking, the more probable leads will click the advertisement which could lead to sales.
Setting a Budget
Unfortunately since the Internet is saturated with Internet Marketers, SEM can be an expensive solution. Luckily, advertisers can set a daily budget or maximum bid amount to maintain the costs. Once the predetermined budget is reach for the day, the advertisement is removed from the search terms.
Google Statistics
The vendor of choice for Internet advertising is typically Google AdWords. According to a recent report by eConsultancy, almost 95 percent of businesses and marketing agencies utilize Google for their SEM needs. The study further proved that 53 percent of respondents are transitioning marketing and advertising budgets from print to search engine marketing.
SEO/SEM Strategy
SEM has proven to be most effective as a segment of an online marketing strategy that also includes social media marketing and SEO. By combining these methods, online businesses will generate online name recognition, targeted potential-customers and increased website traffic which leads to higher revenues.
Hiring a Professional
For those that do not have the time or technical know-how to implement such a strategy, there are a number of integrated marketing firms to assist with the website design and management. Many provide guaranteed results. For instance, many SEO and online marketing companies guarantee a client’s website will be on the first page of Google within a specified time period. Again, first page equates to more traffic and thus more sales.
Search Engine Optimization and online marketing have gradually changed over the years with Google telling the Internet world what they need to do to be noticed by visitors. Since Google makes the rules, most Internet Marketers will implement strategies and concepts specific to the Google algorithm. As it changes so do most professionals so it is important to pay attention to the changes that are enforced.
Related posts:
The Effect of Search Engine Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a regular strategy in the lives of webmasters in all industries. This method has proven effective with regards to increasing the amount of traffic on a website through search engine rank results. However, those who combine SEO with SEM (Search Engine Marketing) techniques will reap the greatest benefits online.
Search Engine Marketing
SEM is paid online advertising, known as pay-per-click that is displayed in highlighted text or on the sides of search engines. These advertisements come in many forms including text, image and video. To be effective, they must be eye-catching and one of the first items on a search engine page. The higher the ranking, the more probable leads will click the advertisement which could lead to sales.
Setting a Budget
Unfortunately since the Internet is saturated with Internet Marketers, SEM can be an expensive solution. Luckily, advertisers can set a daily budget or maximum bid amount to maintain the costs. Once the predetermined budget is reach for the day, the advertisement is removed from the search terms.
Google Statistics
The vendor of choice for Internet advertising is typically Google AdWords. According to a recent report by eConsultancy, almost 95 percent of businesses and marketing agencies utilize Google for their SEM needs. The study further proved that 53 percent of respondents are transitioning marketing and advertising budgets from print to search engine marketing.
SEO/SEM Strategy
SEM has proven to be most effective as a segment of an online marketing strategy that also includes social media marketing and SEO. By combining these methods, online businesses will generate online name recognition, targeted potential-customers and increased website traffic which leads to higher revenues.
Hiring a Professional
For those that do not have the time or technical know-how to implement such a strategy, there are a number of integrated marketing firms to assist with the website design and management. Many provide guaranteed results. For instance, many SEO and online marketing companies guarantee a client’s website will be on the first page of Google within a specified time period. Again, first page equates to more traffic and thus more sales.
Search Engine Optimization and online marketing have gradually changed over the years with Google telling the Internet world what they need to do to be noticed by visitors. Since Google makes the rules, most Internet Marketers will implement strategies and concepts specific to the Google algorithm. As it changes so do most professionals so it is important to pay attention to the changes that are en6forced.
Related articles:
When is PPC Advertising Ideal?
Posted by: | CommentsPPC (Pay Per Click) advertising is perhaps one of the most popular advertising models on the internet, currently utilized by Fortune 500 companies and small business alike. Google AdWords is the most famous and most popular PPC advertising program available, and if you’ve ever clicked on a link in sidebar of a site then you have probably clicked on an ad that was created within the AdWords program. The concept is simple – you pay the advertiser (Google in this example) every time they send someone to your site.
Using PPC advertising can give you highly targeted traffic because it simulates having a top ranked site for the keywords of your choice. Companies and website owners bid on keywords, and the more they pay, the more their link appears in the search results. While being at the top of Google for the keyword of your choice may seem appealing, PPC advertising can quickly diminish your advertising budget if you’re not careful. The following information reveals when PPC advertising is friend or foe.
Low Competition Keywords
Bidding on low competition keywords can have one of two effects – it may give you access to an untapped traffic source, or it could waste your money as their is simply not enough public interest in the keyword. Even if there if interest and you get plenty of clicks in a short amount of time, there is no telling how well this traffic will convert to sales. The goal of a PPC campaign is to gain more in sales than you spend on advertising, and in order to do this you’ll need to either perform extensive testing, or understand your conversion rates beforehand. Finding the right keyword to bid on is the name if the game in PPC advertising, and while it may be tempting to bid on a highly popular keyword that on the surface appears to be profitable, it is important to keep in mind that you’re competing with companies that have very ‘deep’ pockets.
After Conversion Rates Are Established
Perhaps the best way to get the most out of your PPC investment is to thoroughly establish what your conversion rates are for specific keywords before pouring money into a campaign. For example, if you know that for every 100 people that visit your site you get 10 sales, and your item costs $5, then you make approximately $50 for every 100 people that visit your site. Thus, you would not want to pay more than $0.25 per click ($25.00 per 100 clicks) because you would be exceeding a safe investment level. After you’ve established your conversion rates and you’re having success with a particular keyword then you can begin upscaling your PPC campaigns for even greater success.
Conclusion
If your site is relatively new and you’ve not yet established a reliable and consistent conversion rate then you should proceed with caution when attempting your first PPC campaign. Unfortunately, investing a small amount at a time will not give you a solid indication of a campaigns potential success, which is why most people wait until they’ve had conventional SEO success before moving into PPC advertising.
The Three Foundations For Your Powerful Online Presence
Posted by: | CommentsLunarpages, through our strategic partner, LocalDirective, is dedicated to helping you build a powerful online presence that accelerates your business growth. Your most important goal is to establish a firm foundation from which to grow your online presence. Even though it may seem overwhelming with all of the apparent choices, there are only three things you must focus on to achieve online success:
1) A Comprehensive Website that supports pre-defined objectives. This means your first step in developing a new site is to determine what it is you want to accomplish. For many businesses, it is to grow sales online through e-commerce, drive traffic to physical locations, or for phone or form lead generation. But other purposes might be to build deeper brand loyalty or even to help people self-serve customer service functions. Once you have your objective, then you can proceed to methodically follow best-practice guidelines for site development. If you already have a website, you may want to consider a ‘Revitalization’ effort if your site is not delivering the results it should.
2) Once you have established your online destination, the next step is to drive traffic to it. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) in the major national and (potentially local or vertical) search engines enables you to choose to whom your advertising will show, presents a message you want to share, and delivers visitors to the website or landing page destination of your choosing. SEM marketing is immediate, and you can expect results to begin within days from starting your program. It is the ultimate form of directional advertising, boldly replacing the Yellow Pages in that function. Search engine marketing is sometimes called Pay-Per-Click, Sponsored Search or Paid Search. Google says that up to thousands can be earned for each dollar spent in search. Many advertisers report a high ROI as compared to most (if not all) other forms of advertising. What is great about SEM is that it is very controllable – everything from where and when your ads show to how much is spent each day.
3) The third element of your powerful online foundation is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that builds a strong organic presence for a handful of your most important and highly trafficked keywords. Since the search engines determine your placement for keyword searches, a solid program will attend to both ‘On-Page’ factors (how your website is designed and the content) and ‘Off-Page’ factors that increase your ‘popularity’ for the best placement on search results pages. SEO is a longer process than SEM, and Google suggests expecting up to a year for full optimization. Note that many Social Media Marketing (SMM) opportunities serve as SEO techniques, including use of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, as well as on-site and off-site blog posting. A good approach is to begin developing your SEO strategy a bit after the start of your SEM program, so you can use what you’ve learned to develop the most effective SEO approach.
Be sure to check out our website for information about our search engine marketing programs and learn more about how to build your powerful online presence.
Watch For The LocalDirective Sizzling Hot Summer Sale Email Next Week!
Next week, we will have a special offer for those with VPS, Dedicated or Business Hosting Plans. You can get either our SEO Kick-Start Program ($249 value) with any custom Search Engine Marketing (SEM) package or $100 off your SEM strategy development cost. If you are not a VPS, Dedicated or Business Hosting customer, but would like to participate in this special offer, contact LocalDirective at 1.888.613.7174 or CustomLP@LocalDirective.com today!
Five Steps to Owning a Thriving E-business
Posted by: | CommentsIf you want to have your very own e-business, take note that there are several things that must be done in order to get up and running online. Not to worry, we have listed the five simple steps you can take to do just that.
Register a Domain Name
A domain name is simply a URL that acts as the name for your website. You can register one with registrars such as Dotster, GoDaddy or Yahoo. Registration is good for a year, but you typically have the option to register for up five years depending on the registrar. A domain name doesn’t cost much these days as you can easily find them for under $10 per year. When registering the name, think of something that will be easy for people to remember and one that perfectly suits your business.
Find a Web Host
If you intend to run your e-business through a website, then you will need to sign up with a web host. Web hosting companies offer the service you need to create and maintain a website. They offer the server that will serve your content and the connectivity that allows your site to be accessible by internet users. There are thousands of companies that can provide you with this type of service. What you have to do is perform the necessary reach to ensure you land a reliable service provider.
Site Design
Once you have registered a domain name and signed up with a web host, the next step is to create your website. For this step, you essentially have two choices: hire a professional web designer, or build the site yourself. Hiring a professional designer can be very expensive depending on the requirements of your website. And while creating a website can be difficult for someone with no experience, many tools exist to simply the process. There are a number of special programs that make it easy to create a website through a variety of templates and pre-built components.
Payment Method
If you plan to sell products or services from your website, then you will need to find a way to accept payments from your customers. In order to accomplish this, three key components are required: a shopping cart, merchant account and payment gateway. These components may be obtained separately or together in a bundled service. For example, PayPal is a service that can provide you with a shopping cart, merchant account and payment gateway, everything you need to accept and process payments in a secure, and efficient manner.
Promote Your Site
Once your site has been created and integrated with the necessary features, it’s time to promote it to drum up some business. There are many ways you can go about promoting your site, including online advertising, PPC campaigning, and search engine optimization. Everyone has their own preferred method, so it is up to you to find out what works best for your site. Just remember that site promotion is critical, because without traffic, your e-business can’t survive.
Making Search Engine Traffic a Priority
Posted by: | CommentsMost online marketing approaches are risky and unfortunately, many of them will not result in the increased website traffic you desire. Today’s internet marketing firms will try to sell you on everything from pop-up ads to mass email campaigns, both of which people tend to find very annoying. Being that an email campaign is more like spam distribution and pop-up advertisements are so aggravating they could actually cause you to lose customers, investing in such marketing solutions just might equate to throwing money out the window. Instead of wasting money on these risky strategies, perhaps you should focus on something that actually works – search engine optimization.
Boost Traffic the Natural Way
It is a proven fact that the most effective way to reel in targeted traffic and potential customers is through the search engines. A number of studies show that nearly 90% of first-time visitors find their way to a website via search engines powered by internet brands such as Google and Yahoo. You yourself are probably in this high percentile of web surfers who bypass all the pop-ups, spam messages and PPC ads by relying on the convenient search box to find the content you seek. Search engines offer a consistent stream of targeted website visitors and in most cases, leveraging this traffic is absolutely free. What you have to do is make sure your content is relevant to the search results because if it isn’t, visitors will likely be very disappointed when landing on your site. If you keep this is mind when optimizing your site, the search engines will reward you with increased traffic of excellent quality.
When Users Search, Everybody Wins
Search engine traffic results in a win-win situation for anyone trying to promote a website or business online. Improving your volume of traffic does take a lot of money or hard work for that matter. All that is required of you is good site optimization. Despite the millions of active domains throughout the world, an alarming number of web pages are not indexed by the major search engines for the simple fact that most of them are not optimized correctly, or not optimized at all. Unless you have a winning marketing strategy that simply cannot fail, this makes it very difficult for anyone to find your website. Though it can be a challenge, optimizing a website is also something that can be done by an individual with little to no marketing knowledge.
Believe it or not, the search engines want to send you as much traffic as possible. This is because the more users who find the content they want, the more they will rely on that search engine and recommended it to others. The actual search engine benefits tremendously as these recommendations lead to increased popularity and advertising revenues. Search engines can be an excellent resource that helps internet users find what they desire and provide you with the targeted traffic needed to keep your site alive.
