Posts Tagged ‘Search Engine Marketing’
Saturday, December 4th, 2010
Business utilization of the Internet has happened in stages and the progression has been rapid.
In the late 90′s static, brochure websites were the rage. Websites evolved into e Commerce sales engines. Search Engines sprang up to help us sort through the clutter that was the Internet. Thus search engine optimization and advertising became important at the turn of the century.
Several years ago static websites evolved into ‘Web 2.0″ sites with customer service features and dynamic user generated content. User generated content became the driver for social media membership websites where people can share opinions, information, and reviews.
We are now entering the era where mobile connectivity is practical. An array of mobile devices enables people to be connected all the time wherever they are. Most of the things you can do on a desktop or laptop you can now do with a mobile device.
As technology evolved one thing never changed. The early adopters jumped on board quickly while the mainstream lagged behind. All stages of Internet business utilization go through phases of ‘interesting’ to ‘mainstream’ to ‘mandatory’. There is always a lag between when technology becomes available and when it becomes mature – from just being interesting to becoming mandatory. Big companies usually show the way and then the methods are scaled to small and medium companies’ needs.
Websites, including online sales when appropriate, are now mandatory. Search optimization and advertising are mostly mainstream if not mandatory. The public has embraced social media, but many businesses are lagging behind the demand. And business utilization and user acceptance of mobile is in the early adopter stage.
What companies need today, if they know it or not, is a holistic Web Presence, not just a website. Web Presence includes:
- A High Class Web Destination (flagship website)
- Active Social Media Pages (and related reputation management)
- Mobile Delivery Capability
- Traffic Generation Tactics
- Content Marketing (more content, more places, more customers)
- Measurement (including ROI)
But to create and manage a Web Presence you’ve got to work at it and that is what is separating web success from failure for most companies; they don’t work at it. In the old days, businesses used Yellow Pages, newspapers, postal mail, print ads, and maybe radio/TV to push out their message and there wasn’t much work involved.Â
With the reality of the Internet those days are gone. You have got to work at Internet utilization to push and pull interactivity with customers.  But most companies, large, medium, and small, have not committed the time and budget resources needed to learn how and implement a Web Presence.
So what’s the answer to the know-how and resource problem?
- Technology tools are needed to consolidate files (articles, audio, video, announcements, events, etc) and simplify the process of publishing the files via a managed Web Presence which includes a website, social media pages, directory listings, blogs, article publications, local search pages, mobile content, reputation management, etc.
- A Web Presence Professional is needed to oversee the Web Presence Technology Platform, help create your Web Presence, and act as expert strategist and publisher.
Well… help is on the way in the form of WSI ReachCast. Contact me for information about how your organization can easily create a total Web Presence and bring order out of the possible chaos of managing your multiple web properties and web space.
Tags: Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization | Comments Off
Thursday, November 11th, 2010
Small companies (defined as under 500 employees) make up 99.7% of the companies in the USA and create about 50% of the GDP and jobs. In fact 79% of companies have fewer than 10 employees and those with fewer than 20 employees create about 19% of the GDP.
So the health of small companies is important to the economy. Small companies need to sustain sales or grow to stay healthy. Are small companies adapting to changing times to promote their sales and stay healthy? Evidence suggestions the answer is some are, but not enough.
It is now a digital world with digital customers and companies must become digital too. Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj0b8sUdGYA Online is where it is at.
But most small businesses still devote most of their online budget to…. their website. What’s wrong with that you ask? Well… a website is just a container for information – a destination. Like any destination, you need to entice people to go there. You get people to go to a website by advertising it via search optimization, search advertising, or via incoming links from other virtual locations. Small companies still don’t invest enough in generating traffic to their destination.
And Internet users (80% of all people who are still breathing) have moved beyond just visiting websites. People use the Internet to have a conversation, to share, or to get what they need more efficiently; that is what Social Media, things like YouTube, and self-serve online customer service are all about. Yet small businesses undervalue search marketing, email marketing, social marketing, sharing (blogs, video, etc), and automated customer service. Instead, they are content with just having a pretty website and even that is often not well done.
Most small business websites are just digital billboard type sites with general company information – ho hum. Most sites lack interactivity, customer service, lead capturing, and conversion elements. The owners of those types of sites don’t get it and often they don’t know what they don’t know.
While not totally useless, many small businesses cling primarily to old methods to keep their sales healthy like networking, customer referrals, newspaper ads, or oh-my-goodness are you kidding me… many still cling to Yellow Page advertising. Businesses caught in the old-era marketing twilight zone are on an unhealthy advertising diet and are going to be sick if they are not already.
Yes, a business needs a website. No, a website by itself isn’t enough. You need traffic driven to your website from many sources. You need to engage the public in the virtual world outside of your website and invite them in. And you need to convert traffic from visitors to customers after they arrive. Most small businesses still have not learned how to do those things. Their success and the economy would be a lot healthier if they moved beyond just having a website.
Tags: Digital Marketing, Digital Media Marketing, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Marketing
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, PPC, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Website Conversion Architecture | Comments Off
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
The Holiday Season is nearly here; is your business ready?
Thanksgiving + Black Friday + Cyber Monday + Christmas + New Years = Sales Opportunities
Online driven consumer activity grows each year. Are you connecting with online consumers? Customers find your business online via the following. Are you ready?
- Search Engine Optimization
- Search marketing
- Local Search (Google Places, etc)
- Social Media Interactions and Promotions
- Directory Listings
- Email Campaigns
- Banner ads
- Online syndicated Videos
- Mobile Marketing
And does your website perform well when customers arrive? Is your site ready?
- Search Optimized
- Landing Page Optimized
- User Friendly (navigation, shopping basket, etc)
- Conversion Oriented (customer profiling, clear & timely information, content marketing, calls-to-action, etc)
Digital Consumers drive sales thus the Digitization of Business has arrived.
In doubt? View this brief video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj0b8sUdGYA
Now is the time to act if you want to maximize your Holiday Season sales.
Contact the Digital Marketing Professionals at WSI Internet Marketing. We will provide a complimentary assessment of your business Digital Holiday Readiness.
To your success this holiday season,
WSI Internet Marketing
262Â 898Â 7142 /Contact Us
www.wsinorth.com or www.wsidigitalmarketing.com
Tags: Digital Marketing, Digital Media, Digital Media Marketing, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Marketing, PPC, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Website Content Marketing, Website Conversion Architecture, website development | Comments Off
Monday, August 9th, 2010
One of the long understood principles about new technology from a marketing perspective is that customers can be classified as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. The innovators jump in with new technology almost immediately and there is a time delay before the other classifications join in.
In a rapidly changing technology environment like the Internet, the marketplace can become perpetually jumbled. When things move fast there never seems to be a time when everyone is on the same page. With rapid change, laggards might be just adapting to technology that innovators abandoned a long time back.
For example, when websites and email were the new things, the innovators jumped in, but have since moved on to the latest and greatest technologies which for now are based on mobile devices like the iPad and hyper-smart phones. Some ‘experts’ are saying that websites are becoming irrelevant. But I don’t believe that. Websites are just not as effective for some types of people while becoming more effective at reaching other people.
Relative to websites, the laggards are just now coming onboard. For example, e-Commerce has long been accepted by most, but is just now becoming a comfortable environment for the slow adopters. And in between the mainstream still searches and surfs for web pages of interest and the majority have become comfortable with Web 2.0 which has morphed into a variety of Social Media technologies.
So what should businesses do to cope with this jumbled marketplace? Should businesses just play in the middle ground where the majority is comfortable? Should they establish themselves as leaders by catering to the innovator customers? Should they ignore the laggards as not worth the effort?
What to do is tricky business with no perfect answer. If you sell a trend setting product like the latest generation smart phone, then you need to be in front of the innovative and early adopter customers by advertising where they are hanging out online and via mobile devices.
But if you sell a mature or commodity universally needed mainstream product (TVs, cars, appliances, travel, personal products, etc, etc) you want to reach people in all classifications as they are all potential customers. That suggests you need to have a presence at all stages of the technology’s maturity. This implies you need to be using email, websites, banner ads, search marketing, SEO, social engagement, mobile promotions, and basically all available established and new digital publication methods.
In the end, each marketing situation is different with a lot to consider including your product’s characteristics and the target demographic you are going after. Businesses will profit from consultation with a professional Digital Marketing organization to determine the best marketing approach – not too little or too much and where to be seen. We can help.
Tags: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Socail Media
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Social Media Marketing | Comments Off
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Local Search is the modern equivalent of the Yellow Pages, only better. Local businesses can connect with customers in a variety of ways using online local targeted advertsing methods – some of them for free.
Local search marketing is the thing to do for the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker and any other business with a primarily local geographic marketplace.
Join us at a free webinar to find out the why-for, where-at, and how-to of Local Search.
Register for this Free WSI Webinar:
Driving Business with Local Search – Wednesday, August 18 - Your WSI host is Gary Smith
Recent archived Webinars (click a link to view) –
- Public Relations on a Dime via Social Media,
- Analytics Data and PPC Optimization to Achieve Meaningful Results,
- Surf and Turf with Search and Social
For additional info or professional assistance, contact us.
Influence Your Online Audience to Stay Engaged with Your Brand
Tags: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Marketing
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing | Comments Off
Friday, January 29th, 2010
The following message was entered in a previous blog post. “I’m very interested in finding opinions on 1) whether AdWords is becoming too expensive and 2) whether optimization is the only way to go.”
Short Answer: No and No. or… Yes and Yes. The right answer depends upon your situation.
Long Answer: (First, review recent posts: Long Tail Keywords & SEO + Social plus there are many PPC & SEO posts in the September / October / November time frame archives – see the archive links in the right column of this blog)
For most search marketing situations SEO and PPC are complimentary, not either/or choices. PPC might be the only choice (SEO for new websites can take months; PPC is immediate) and other times when PPC is impractical (if your ad cost to product price ratio is bad, your ROI will suck with PPC).
As to the economics: SEO and PPC cost factors include:
- SEO requires a budget for the initial optimization setup, landing page design, and for ongoing reports & maintenance. SEO is becoming more and more complex and competitive and thus more costly to accomplish. PPC generally requires a lower budget for setup, reporting, and maintenance, but also needs landing page design plus an ongoing ad budget is required.
- Because of user behavior, about 80% of search traffic is generated by organic listings (via SEO) and 20% from paid listing ads (via PPC). SEO only works if you can get a web page listed on page #1 for a keyword of value to you – not often easy to do. PPC can get your ad with a website link on page #1 for any number of keywords. SEO difficulty and PPC keyword auction prices determine the economics.
- SEO and PPC can be locally or nationally targeted. National efforts are more costly because it involves more competition for organic listings and more bidders in the keyword PPC auction. Local SEO marketing can be very cost effective using geo-targeted keywords and Google Maps. Local search is a great replacement for expensive Yellow Page ads.
- You can go after short tail or long tail keywords. Generally, short tail keywords require a large budget for page #1 organic listings. And short tail keywords can demand a very high price in the PPC auction, but PPC may be the only way to get to page #1 because of SEO competiton for a short tail keyword.
In summary, a mix of SEO and PPC is the right approach based on timing, product pricing, strategy considerations, and the ‘keyword economics’:
- Lower cost keywords = niche market, low competition keywords / long tail keywords/ local marketing.
- Higher cost keywords = mass market, highly competitive keywords / short tail keywords / national marketing.
BONUS INFO: Google continually changes the SEO playing field.
- About 300 small tweaks to search algorithms are made daily. Major search ranking method revisions are done periodically.
- Last year Google made local search results automatic for everyone using your PCs IP address without the need for a geo-targeted keyword phrase entry.
- In December 2009 Google released behavioral ‘personal search’ for people logged into their Google account to serve up individually tailored results.
- This week Google released a cookie based personal search method for all users. Now two people in the same room using their individual computers are likely to get served up different search results.
- Live search results plus social media results for keywords are changing the look of page #1 listings by crowding out web page listings.
So… No, AdWords are not becoming too expensive and no, optimization is not the only way to go. Or… Yes AdWords can be expensive and yes optimization can be the only way to go.
Still confused on which search marketing path to take? Contact me, and let me be your search marketing guide.
Tags: Internet Marketing, Pay Per Click ads, PPC, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing, SEO
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, PPC, SEO | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Below is a summary of what some marketing ‘experts’ see in their crystal balls for 2010.
Social Media will play a larger roll in Search ranking results. Search engines are going to include more real-time content (Twitter, blog posts, video, etc) as listings and/or as a measure of user preference as a factor in web page relevancy & page rank (popularity) calculations. As a consequence, look for new ad formats that pull user generated content for use within ads.
Marketing on mobile devices is the next big growth area. Expect a rise in coupon offers sent to mobile devices. User surveys indicate receiving coupons is an acceptable practice, but marketers will need to avoid becoming too intrusive.
Social channels like Twitter will look for ways to monetize. A business revenue model is needed to support the huge established user & audience base. Speculation includes the creation of accounts for large users like businesses and celebrities. Or a creative use of a search revenue model will emerge. Likewise, News Organizations will continue to struggle with a revenue model for online content. Expect ongoing experiments of online subscription and ad supported models to pay for online news content.
Expect increased use of Social Network member profiles as the basis for targeted ad campaigns. Some advertisers are already experimenting with real-time personalized ads based on profile info from networks like Facebook. Ads linked to user interests is not a bad idea, but expect regulatory push-back based on privacy concerns.
Digital marketing is extremely measureable and accountable. But expect large advertisers to demand more data from ad agencies & publishers regarding ongoing, ’unpaid’ residual benefits from the Social Media affect of users ‘virally’ spreading the advertiser’s message long after the ad or posting has ended.
Online video is certain to grow. Video has a high conversion rate. One in eight viewers of effective online product related videos ends up buying. And online, on demand content is growing. So usage will increase of short videos that show up in websites & portals like YouTube. And on-demand access to sites like Netflix, Blockbuster, and network TV show portals will explode at some point. This trend will accelerate as technologies emerge to create a seamless link between computers and TV sets. Ad based and subscription based revenue models will follow to monetize this emerging capability.
Tags: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, social networks
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization | Comments Off
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Today is Cyber Monday, the online equivalent of Black Friday. I bought a Thanksgiving newspaper to get the free standing ad inserts and likewise in the last few days I have seen promotions for online deals via emails from eCommerce websites and in banner ads all over the web. Let’s contrast the newspaper inserts versus web based marketing.
I was in the market for a 32” LCD TV which is a relatively high ticket item so I wanted to select on value (good quality and fair price). So I was in the consideration/research part of the buying funnel, but not yet ready to buy.
I looked through 2 inches of newspaper ads making notes on TV brand/model and the price. I found 8 stores with 12 brand/models some of which repeated between stores. I was aware of the good/bad reputation of some brands, but some brands were new to me (they hadn’t done their top of funnel marketing). Prices ranged from $250 up to $750 – all for 32” TVs.
My problem was how to choose the best value and be in line before the store ran out? The paper ads only offered a couple of lines of information about the TV’s specifications. No ad gave warranty or feature details. I would need to drive to stores scattered over 15 miles, find a clerk that knew something, make a decision and get back to the store with the best TV. That process is impossible on Black Friday!
So I went online and entered “LCD TV” into Google. I got links to buying guides, professional & user reviews, stores’ TV web pages, price comparisons, and Videos about TVs. I learned about 720p Vs 1080p, contrast ratios, TV tuners needed for HDTV, warranties, signal input connection types, response time affect on image lag (blurring during fast action), and a whole bunch of other stuff I didn’t realize was important.
Within one hour I knew what TV features were important to me and which TV had them. From user reviews I knew which TVs were unreliable plus subjective info that you can’t get by reading specifications. I narrowed my selection down to two brand/models. I then easily researched which stores had the best price. I could even check stock at some stores.
My selection could have been purchased online and some places even had free shipping. But I found the model I wanted at a store with a Friday only price $60 less than any other store even with free shipping. And that store did not have an ad insert in the paper!
I went directly to that store early Friday morning and made my purchase. In 20 minutes my shopping was done for the day and I felt good about my purchase. I got a deal without most of the Black Friday hassles & anxieties and I got the lowest price. For big ticket items why would anyone use anything but an online shopping process; if they were buying online or from a brick and mortar store?
Manufacturers and retailers with web pages ranked high in search engines; that provide not only specifications, but understandable information about products; who do “total funnel” marketing; who encourage user reviews of products and their store; and who are transparent with product availability & price are the winners in the Digital Marketing arena. Newspaper ads can’t compete.
BTW – I bought a 32” Samsung model 540 for $378. Google it! 32″ Samsung 540 LCD
Tags: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, PPC, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing, SEO, social
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, PPC, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
First, I wish everyone a joyful Thanksgiving.
After finishing your marketing plan check list (see the prior post) you are ready for Internet Marketing Mix selection. Here’s some hints for selecting your channels. References to the ‘funnel’ means the buying funnel (see an earlier post).
Search Marketing includes SEO & PPC. These are bottom of funnel tactics to provide purchase or action ready prospects the pull information they need to make their decisions.
PPC ads are effective immediately, can be local or national targeted, but are especially effective for local businesses as a Yellow Pages ad substitute. PPC has a cost per click so you need to watch ad cost affect on margins. Cost effectiveness depends upon intelligent ad set-up, landing page design, monitoring results, and A/B ad testing so make sure you have the know-how and time to do PPC right.
SEO has the lowest cost per acquisition, but top 30 search engine ranking will take a lot of work and patience – months. SEO can be acomplished for a local and/or national target market. Considerable skill is required for DIY web page optimization or you need a budget to outsource SEO to specialists. There is also a modest amount of ongoing maintenance needed for ranking stability or improvement. But the rewards are substantial and lasting.
Social Media Marketing (SMM) is an umbrella term covering many sub-channels (Networks, Content Sharing, Bookmarking, Blogs) . It is a powerful driver for fast results, SEO ranking improvement, and is effective for long term relationship building. Relevant SMM elements are useful at various stages of the funnel. SMM can be very targeted based on many criteria. SMM is the most labor intensive Internet Marketing channel. On a DIY basis the cost is just your time. Or you can effectively outsource SMM activities to experts which isn’t a bad idea because it is a time consuming, complex, and fluid landscape.
Display Ads (Banner Ads) is mostly a top of funnel tool for brand building or presenting offers – much like newspaper or magazine ads, etc. Targeting is possible because in the digital world ad placement can be aimed at a specific audience. Cost is modest compared to traditional ad publication options. This is not a DIY method as access to an expansive ad network is the best route – find a service provider. Display Ads have a lower response rate than more direct marketing methods as people tend to tune-out intrusion advertising, but Display Ads are effective if targeted intelligently.
Email Marketing is used for either new customer lead generation or relationship building or up-selling with existing clients. This is a top of funnel to mid-funnel activity (awareness and consideration stages). With a targeted, opt-in list, email marketing has proven effectivness and is the most efficient form of Internet Marketing from a time and out-of-pocket cost standpoint. To avoid SPAM issues, delivery problems, and monitoring complexities, email marketing is best done in partnership with a mass-email service company. Also, lead generation emails are best done with a ‘drip email system’ that auto-sends emails to prospects on a schedule (like with traditional ads, it takes several impressions before prospects take notice).
So now you have the info you need to get started. Just be careful because a little information can be dangerous. It is your company’s well being that you are playing with so give serious consideration to getting the advice and services of an expert; at least until you have more experience.
Tags: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, PPC, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing, SEO, Socail Media, Socail Media Marketing
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, PPC, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization | 3 Comments »
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
If you are an owner or manger of a small to medium enterprise (SME) you carry a heavy burden for the well being of your business. Not only must you be competent at producing the goods and services you offer, you must also deal with a lot of supporting business activities and systems that you are not trained in. Don’t you agree?
SME’s do not have a large staff of specialists to handle all business related things like…. Marketing/Advertising. Marketing is often a part time job coped with by the owner or an operations manager or some salesperson. Decisions at SME’s about marketing/ad activities are often based on gut-feel, personal experience, and opinion rather than training and hard data.
So along comes Digital Marketing. Digital Marketing is a BIG disruptor to the world of Traditional Marketing / Advertising. A good disruptor, but a disruptor none-the-less (see an earlier post). Digital Marketing = Change, big change. SME owner managers have a gut-feel for newspaper & magazine ads, TV & Radio ads, the Yellow Pages, billboards, etc. Gut-feel about tradional marketing is often good enough because you are on familiar ground. But most managers lack personal experience with Digital Marketing. So resistance sets in.
Resistance to change is a very human reaction. We find change threatening and inconvenient. Change can be seen as riskier than standing still. People feel connected to the old way. There are fewer role models for new versus old. People fear failure from lack of competence in the new way. People can feel overwhelmed by the task of learning new things. People might be skeptical or irrational about the value of the new way. People may wonder if they are being deceived by the advocates of change. Or people may feel the new way will obsolete their knowledge thus undermining their worth.
So many resist, rationalize, and delay implementing change. But change, both good and bad, is a constant. Resisting change, especially good change, or hoping it will go away is not a responsible thing to do if you are the owner or manager of an SME. Digital Marketing is a good thing. If you aren’t adapting, then you are giving an advantage to competitors who are adapting.
I have found that the biggest challenge in implementing Digital Marketing is not proving the value of Digital Marketing; it is getting decision makers to alter their behavior to accept the changed realities of the Marketing/Adverting landscape. Business survival is like Darwinism; but not evolution of the fittest, it is really about evolution by adapting – ignorance & delay is not bliss in the competitive world of business.
Tags: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, PPC, SEO, Social Media Optimization | 3 Comments »
Friday, November 20th, 2009
In search engine PPC advertising, you bid on the cost per click for keywords via a silent auction format for the right to have your ad show up in a higher position for searches of those keywords in the Sponsored Link area of search engine result pages.
What happens if Company A bids on a keyword in the form of the name of Competitor Company B for the purpose of directing prospects to Company A’s website – a sort of brand hi-jacking? A high profile example of brand hi-jacking was publicized yesterday in my state. Law Firm A bid on Law Firm B’s company name (the usual series of the partners’ last names) as a keyword phrase in Google for the purpose of directing Internet traffic to Law Firm A’s website.
Was this a smart or dumb business decision by Law Firm A? Was it legal or illegal? Was it sleazy or just a sign of the times? First of all, this is not a new situation; it has been going on between competitors for many years. Lawsuits have been filed against search engines and occasionally the advertiser primarily based on trademark laws.
What makes the above case different is Law Firm B is suing Law Firm A based on state privacy law contending that “Defendants’ obtaining and using the keywords (plaintiff’s company name) is an intentional and illegal effort to trade on the hard-earned names, personal reputations and good will of the plaintiffs”. What follows is not legal advice, I am not a lawyer. And even if a search engine allows it, that does not mean you can not be sued.
Yellow Pages’ advertising has and will continue to migrate to the Internet and the disputes will follow. Search Engines are the ’new yellow pages’. Many have tried to sue search engines for allowing brand hi-jacking but with little or no results.
Each search engine has their own fluid criteria for allowing bids on another company’s name based on things like; recent court decisons in various countries; is the name tradmarked; are you an affiliate; are you using the name in a just generic manner, etc, etc. You need to check on the current restrictions of each search engine publisher before deciding to use this PPC tactic.
BUT…. what seems to be a clear legal area is: You can not use another company’s trademarked name or brand, if you have no affiliation with them, in your actual ad copy or in your website content or related marketing collateral without getting black-balled by search engines and/or sued. So you may be able to bid on a competitor’s name as a keyword (a behind the scenes activity), but not use trademark material in your PPC ad or website.
If Law Firm B prevails over Law Firm A based on privacy laws; if potential clients of Law Firm A are turned off by the practice; or if the Legal Association bans the practice as unethical is yet to be determined. In the meantime, prospects that search using Law Firm B’s name could be landing on Law Firm A’s website.
Tags: Add new tag, Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Pay Per Click ads, PPC, Search Engine Marketing, Search Marketing
Posted in Uncategorized | 26 Comments »
Monday, November 16th, 2009
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a competition between similar content web pages for the opportunity to be ranked higher than the other guy for a search keyword relative to your business. If you are competing in a national marketplace for a highly competitive keyword, then high search engine ranking is a daunting, time consuming task.
In a national marktplace scenario your SEO must be perfection and a web page needs longevity for high ranking. Some businesses don’t have the resources, will, or need to compete nationally for high search ranking.
But what about businesses only interested in the local marketplace? You know; a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker or a doctor or lawyer… In the case of local search an old joke comes to mind. Two men in the woods are being chased by a bear. One man says their effort is useless; they will never outrun the bear. The other man says I don’t have to outrun the bear; I only need to outrun you.
With local search, you do not need to out perform the entire nation with SEO for a coveted keyword; you only need to outperform the handful of your competitors in the area. Search engine searches with a city or zip code plus your keyword will provide local content web pages. And in Google, now a non-geographic search will serve up local content (local web pages and/or a Google Map) because Google uses your PC’s IP address as a location indicator.
If you are doing better search optimization than your local competitors , you don’t need SEO perfection; it is a local, relative competition for high ranking. A local market business needs to just be ahead of its local competitors, not the whole country, for the keyword it is interested in.
Why should you care? Statistics from several research agencies reveals that approximately:
- 70% of searches are done to find local providers of goods and services
- 60% of search users have substituted search engines for the phone book
- 70% of online searches are used for local search to find a source for offline purchases
- 75% of Internet users do local search at least each week, many more often than once per week
- 80% of Internet traffic begins at a search engine even for users aware of local brands & services they are looking for
- 95% of Internet users use search engines to research buying decisions including local provider reputations and
- 50% of users frequent online eCommerce websites with a preference for local providers
So… are you running faster than your local competition relative to local search optimization or falling behind and getting gobbled up? And then there are local PPC & local Display ads, but that is a story for another time.
Tags: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, PPC, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing, SEO
Posted in Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, PPC, SEO | Comments Off
