Pay per Click, or PPC, marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools that are available on the internet today.  But just like any other advertising campaign it needs to be done with careful planning and consideration in order to avoid certain pitfalls that may occur while you are creating your marketing campaign.  If you begin your PPC marketing plan without careful planning first you have set yourself up to lose thousands of dollars and tons of wasted hours.  There are books available that you can read that will help you put a great plan into place for your PPC Marketing plan.

Putting a successful PPC marketing plan is easy though without books if you avoid a few of the more common mistakes that most people make. Note though even if you have discovered that you have made one of the following errors that can be easily fixed quickly and get your campaign back on track.

1.The most common mistake people find themselves doing in creating their PPC marketing plan is using their homepage as the landing strip.  While to most business owners it may seem logical to have your visitors brought to your homepage there are reasons why this should not be done.
• People who will click on your advertisement are most generally looking for a specific item. Instead of bringing them to the home page, create a landing strip for your ad to bring them too.  This will allow you to bring your customers exactly the right spot that they are searching for. This will make them happy because you saved them time and as a result they are more than likely to visit again.  Each of your landing page should be keyword specific relating to your add. It should also not contain any other links or distractions.

2.If your landing page is confusing to your reader you will lose sales as a result.  If you create a PPC that is targeted to the visitors key word it will result in sales almost every time as long as it easy for them to read and understand.  Your landing page should also be part of the keyword that they are searching for.  Make sure that it easy for the reader to find. You should also have several different landing pages if you have several different keywords or topics.

3.Every search engine that is available on the internet today will use its own methods as to where to place your ad.  One of the biggest mistakes that people who are new to PPC marketing make is that they do not tightly target their keywords well enough to get considered for optimum placement on the search engines.  Over 85% of all search engine results are based on the top three ads.  If you are not able to focus your keywords well enough you will not make the top three and have the potential to lose a lot of money as a result.

As you can see the more common mistakes made by new users to the PPC Marketing world are fairly easy for anyone to make. Knowing how to fix them is the key to a great PPC marketing campaign.

Pay per Click, or PPC, marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools that are available on the internet today.  But just like any other advertising campaign it needs to be done with careful planning and consideration in order to avoid certain pitfalls that may occur while you are creating your marketing campaign.  If you begin your PPC [Continue]

As a small business owner you know that PPC advertising is a huge market on the internet today. PPC marketing is best well suited for those websites that have not yet established themselves in the world of the search engines.  But PPC does have a downside as well. PPC can cost you thousands of dollars in marketing dollars if you do not take time to carefully plan out your PPC marketing campaign. Against popular PPC marketing is not just selecting a few keywords and designing your advertisement, actually there is much more involved. There are tips though that you can use to reduce your PPC marketing cost and create a great marketing campaign as a result.

1. Competitors
The best way that you can start off your PPC marketing campaign is to check out the competitors.  Look and see what kind of strategies that they may be using to market their business. There are tools that you can purchase that will help you have a fair idea of the advertising strategies of your competitors.  The most important thing for you to pay attention to when you are looking at the competitors ads are the keyword placement, ad body, and where the ads are being placed on their site.

2. Keyword Variations
It is important for your PPC marketing campaign to incorporate proper keywords in suitable variations throughout your website. If your keywords are not placed properly then all your other efforts will be effortless.  You need to take considerable time when you are creating your keywords. Careful research of what keywords people are searching for will aide you in your keyword search.

3.Keywords to avoid
If you begin your PPC campaign off by using hypercompetitive keywords you are setting yourself up for spending tons of money and your marketing budget will dry up quickly.  However there are a lot of low cost keywords that you can use with proper matching techniques that will be able to save you money in the long run.

4. Call to action terms
Your call to action terms is very important to your PPC marketing campaign.  If you use words such as click here or buy here customers will not be as apt to follow the directions because they feel it is just a high priced gimmick.  However if you use the words sale, discount, or even buy 1 get 1.  These are terms that the customers are looking for and are more apt to click on the links as long as you deliver what you promise on the other side.

5. Honest
It is ok to make a mistake but be honest and correct it and apologize to your visitor. Also when you are using PPC marketing all your information should be honest with no false information. The false information will turn your customer away. It will also leave your site with a negative reputation. If you are practicing dishonesty in your site you are only going to accrue the cost with no returns in the end result.

6. Review your ad performance
Make sure you check on your PPC ads on a daily basis. This will allow you room for fixing any errors that you may inquire.  It will also allow you time to optimize your site if you are not seeing the results that you are seeking.

Making money with your PPC marketing campaign can make you tons of cash if it is done correctly. The more time and effort that you put into the PPC marketing campaign the more revenue you stand to generate in the end.

As a small business owner you know that PPC advertising is a huge market on the internet today. PPC marketing is best well suited for those websites that have not yet established themselves in the world of the search engines.  But PPC does have a downside as well. PPC can cost you thousands of dollars in marketing dollars if you do not take time [Continue]

Search engines are the gateway to the Internet; they are the first tool that potential customers use to find the products and services they need. This is why link popularity is so imperative. If the customers do not find your website, you have no possibilities of making any sales.

You’re probably wondering what the blazes is popular about a link! Well, in a word – plenty! Link popularity refers to the ranking assigned to your website by the search engines, and it determines the ranking your page gets when keywords are entered into a search engine. So, you’re probably wondering, how do I make my link popular?

Search engines are discretionary, giving status and ranking to sites that have links to their pages from related, quality sites. It’s a simple formula, but a very important one. Google created the system, and now virtually all the most popular search engines employ it to rank your web pages in their indexes.

The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it will be to achieve link popularity, but without achieving this step, it is almost certain your site will never rank highly on any search engine. But don’t be discouraged; there are tried and true ways of achieving link popularity using the most competitive keywords.

There are a few things you should be aware of. The first is that just linking up with a large number of other websites will not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may have quite the opposite effect. This is particularly true when pertaining to websites that are nothing more than “link farms” – pages containing line after line of indiscriminate links. Search engines may aggressively discriminate against your website if you are associated with a link farm, so steer clear of them!

The next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the site you are linking to. Never link to a page you have reservations about your visitors seeing. The last thing you want your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap. Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your link popularity, if not completely destroy it.

So let’s get to what you need to do to achieve supreme link popularity and improve your rankings to stellar status on all the popular search engines.

The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in the door, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such as Open Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site is business-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, and despite the fact that it will cost you around $300 a year, it will be money well spent. If your site is
non-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will take time and follow-up to actually get it listed. Open Directory is gives you a free listing whether you are business-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to make a lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your site listed.

You are aiming to get listed in the highest level of appropriate category, and this just takes some common sense. For example, if your company ships Alpaca wool from an Alpaca farm located in the middle of Nowhere, Tiny State, do NOT submit your listing to “Retailers from Nowhere, Tiny State.” BIG MISTAKE! All you have to do is look a little deeper – and submit your listing to the “Fine
Alpaca Wool” category. You will not only associate yourself with culture and quality, but you will be listed in a national category.

The next step after you have attained directory listings is to locate other quality sites that will increase your link popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way related to yours, so not only will your link popularity increase, but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to avoid your competitors and look for sites that are useful to your site’s visitors. Let’s look at the Alpaca Wool site example. Linking up to a site that sells knitting supplies would be helpful to your visitors, and the chances of the knitting supply site wanting to link up to your site are also greater. By linking to a related site that will be relevant to your website’s traffic, you are increasing both of your site’s business prospects – and both of your sites’ link popularity.

Not all sites want to link to other sites, so you will have to do some research when you are looking for possible linking partners. Google is an excellent starting place for your search. Make sure you enter keywords that you think quality customers will also enter to find your own site. Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked, non-competing websites that have a links or resources page. Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at the quality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use. Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and determine if your own site would fit in with the crowd.

When you decide you have found a good prospect, you must set out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a link on your own links page to their site. This is an essential first step; it shows good faith, and ups your chances significantly of their reciprocity. After you have added their link, you must contact the webmaster of their site. Since this is almost always done by email, you want to make sure it is immediately clear that your message is not junk mail. This requires that you tell them right off the bat that you have added a link to their page on your site. A hook like this almost always insures the reader will read on.

Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how much you appreciate their website. Make sure you emphasize that you have actually visited their site, and that their site is not just a random pick. Give them the address of your links page, and ask them to check out the link for themselves. It’s a good idea to mention that they will not only benefit from the increased traffic your website will direct their way, but you will also increase their link popularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is so essential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don’t sound like a professor! Finally, tell them you would greatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link on their own links page to your website.

Go through this process with as many appropriate sites as you can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality and non-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevant sites, be sure to check these website frequently to see if they have added a link to your page. Give it about a month, and if no link appears, try another charming email. Then give it another month, and if your site is still absent from their links page, it’s time to remove their link from your own links page. The only time you want to pursue a link further than this is if you believe a site is crucial to your link popularity and your business needs. Just
remember to keep all your communications complimentary and
cordial.

Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in search engines frequently to see if your link popularity has improved. This is not achievable in the blink of an eye. It will take some time and a good deal of work. There is no way around the labor-intensive quality of improving your link popularity, which is why search engines regard it with such importance.

By the way – make sure you have a beautiful, streamlined site or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you. Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as long as it takes, until you achieve link popularity stardom!

Search engines are the gateway to the Internet; they are the first tool that potential customers use to find the products and services they need. This is why link popularity is so imperative. If the customers do not find your website, you have no possibilities of making any sales. You're probably wondering what the blazes is popular about a [Continue]

Many people ask what search engine marketing (SEM) is and how can it help their business?  Search engine marketing is the promotion of your website through search engines such as Google while obtaining more web traffic to your website.  This in turn generates more leads for potential sales within your business.  A very important part of search engine marketing is pay per click advertising.

Pay per click advertising brings in internet traffic to your website once your pay per click campaign is active. You can actually start receiving targeted visitors to your site within minutes, provided of course you have set up your PPC campaign correctly.  SEO on the other hand will minimally take hours, days and in some case three to six months before you will see results.

1. Ensure your business website is registered with the major search engines:

Within today’s world, unbelievably more people spend more time on the internet as compared to those who do not use the internet. The younger generation (ages 18 to 35) spends more time upon the internet as compared to other market groups.  No matter the market group, which you are targeting, you must ensure your business website can be found within the major search engines upon the internet.  Internet visitors utilize the search engines in searching for products, services and information.  If you do not have your business listed within the major search engines, you will be losing business or even worse go out of business.

2. What can SEO do for my business website?

The most effective method of search engine marketing is search engine optimization.  SEO improves the quality as well as increasing the multitude of traffic to your business website through the major search engines.  The more often your business shows up within the major search engines, the more visitors you will receive to your internet site, which will in return generate more leads as well as sales for your business.

3. What is the big deal about rankings with my business website and search engines?

You want your business to rank well within the search engine rankings.  Upon achieving good rankings, you will find that your business website will bring people in who are looking for particular services or products.  These are commonly titled “potential customers”.

4. SEO is not a one-time deal

SEO requires a lot of time as well as your efforts in obtaining success.  This is not a one-time thing, which you must perform.  SEO in order to be effective must be updated continually; as well as often.  If you are not confident with your own SEO skills, I would recommend you hire a professional SEO to aid you with your SEO needs.  This will allow you to focus on other matters pertaining to your business.

5. What is pay-per-click advertising and how can it aid my business website?

How important is search engine marketing?

Search engine marketing is very important for your business and should be permanently instituted within your marketing plan for your business.  If you utilize search engine marketing effectively, you will find that your business will experience the success you have worked so hard to achieve.

Many people ask what search engine marketing (SEM) is and how can it help their business?  Search engine marketing is the promotion of your website through search engines such as Google while obtaining more web traffic to your website.  This in turn generates more leads for potential sales within your business.  A very important part of search [Continue]

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a term utilized in promotion and advertising upon the internet.  Search engine marketing generates traffic from internet search engines to your website.  This allows traffic to be steered toward your business website.

What is marketing?

Marketing is a plan or execution of the marketing mix for products or services to create business exchanges between people and organizations.  One more important fact of marketing is the four “P’s”.  Personalization, Participation, Peer-to-Peer and productive modeling.

Draw internet visitors to your business website

To become a successful internet entrepreneur, you must learn how to draw internet visitors to your business website.  No matter the quality of your web content, which you have upon your business website, if no one knows your business website exists, you will not be successful.

Let search engines work for your business website

You must strategically place your business website on the popular search engines upon the internet.  Search engine marketing is used to describe paid visibility within the internet search engines.  This entails marketing your business website to steer more visitors to your business website.

What is SEO?

SEO is where you will match your content to how you want internet traffic to find it within the search engines.  This must entail keyword and or meta-tags with your keyword listings.  Keep in mind that you cannot control what internet visitors initially search for within the search engines.  You will not know what pages will get the most visits from internet traffic.

Consult a SEO expert

You will not have to dish out loads of money but keep in mind that you will have to pay for the initial outlay of having your website content optimized.  SEO practices have been questioned from an ethical standpoint as of recent.  Some SEO consultants will fill your website content with spam and this will end up getting your business website penalized by the major search engines.  Ensure that you interview carefully for a good SEO expert, otherwise you will face negative results as compared to positive results for your business website.

Pay-per-click advertising

Pay-per-click advertising is when you receive advertising space upon a website. You pay when someone clicks on a particular link.  This can definitely lead to more internet traffic flowing into your business website; however do not forget to have protection in the case of what is commonly titled “click fraud”.

What other forms of PPC can be utilized with my business website?

PPC advertising also can be found in the form of search engine services such as a great tool titled “Google Adwords”.  Google Adwords give you not only paid inclusitivity within the Google Search Engine but also across numerous ranges of subscriber websites.

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a term utilized in promotion and advertising upon the internet.  Search engine marketing generates traffic from internet search engines to your website.  This allows traffic to be steered toward your business website. What is marketing? Marketing is a plan or execution of the marketing mix for products or [Continue]