Archive for May, 2008
published by Dan in Keyword Research
Keywords as well as links are the cornerstones of great SEO. As a cornerstone you would expect people to pay more importance to the kind of keywords they use as well as the concepts that underline keyword research. However, there are still several mistakes that people keep on making that impact their SEO efforts either negatively or simply wastes their time. To make sure you steer clear from such errors you should first realise that they ARE errors. Here’s a short list of some of the most common errors when it comes to keyword research and usage.
Hasty keyword research - The biggest mistake you can make when it comes to keyword research is not to do any real research at all. The next biggest thing is to do just a cursory keyword research. Keyword research is not the hardest thing to do but it still takes time and substantial effort to be able to make the best keyword choices. Most of the errors committed actually stem from this very first error. If more efforted is exerted in keyword research and more time is invested then the likelihood of committing all the other keyword errors are greatly decreased.
Looking at keyword popularity alone - Of course everyone wants to choose keywords that will bring lots of traffic, however, choosing a keyword based on its popularity alone os a huge mistake. The reason for this is that popular keywords are also very competitive. It is hard to rank well for keywords that are too competitive. Aside from the popularity of the keyword you should also consider the level of competition and if you are prepared to enter such a competitive arena. A good strategy if you can not is too add more niche keywords to your keyword selection. Remember being prepared to rank well for highly competitive terms doesn’t only mean know how but also lots of money since PPC bid prices for these terms are higher.
Popularity: 15% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Strategy
2. Get more than one ad type on a single page.
You should aim to appear on the same website and even better on the same page in that site. Having two types of ads appearing on the same page can lead to better results due to the fact that different ad types appeal to different people. Because of this someone might overlook a sponsored search ad but still end up a customer because of the banner ad and vice versa.
3. Consider ad placement
In instances wherein you are able to pull off the above advice you should always remember to consider ad placement. We all know that the area of the page where the ad will appear is vey important but since you generally have no control over the placement of another website’s ads what you can do is at least make sure that you buy a good slot for your banner ad. Of course this is only applicable if the website offers different placement options (right sidebar, top of page, etc.).
4. Run tests again and again.
Run tests on everything from the most effective ad copy to the most effective combination of sponsored and banner ads. Run tests on which websites give you good referrals because these are the ones you would want to have more than two ad types on. If a website doesn’t give that good a traffic you might be satisfied in simply appearing on the sponsored search results and forget the banner ads on that site. Constantly tweak minute things on your ad campaign because you never really know whether some seemingly trivial detail could lead to big returns or not.
Popularity: 13% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Strategy
Now that you know the two main factors to consider when integrating your display and sponsored search ads let me give some tips on the actual integration of the two types of ads.
1. Start with the search ads
Since the sponsored search ads is the primary ad then you should start with it first. It also makes sense in that it is usually easier to write the ad copy for the search ads since you need only focus on the words and can put aside the imagery issue that needs to be resolved when developing the banner ad. When writing ad copy for search ads always keep in mind that you have a very limited amount of space so you need to be really concise yet find the wording that will appeal most to your target audience. And since we’re always SEO conscious make sure you also get to insert some of the keywords if you want to get better results.
After finalising the ad copy for the search ads you can then expand this ad copy for your banner ad. You can also stick to the same wording and proceed to the graphic design phase of developing your banner ad. Note that the good thing about having the ad copy finalised is that the graphics designer will have a more definite as well as clearer picture of the direction to take in designing the accompanying images. If you start out with the banner ad chances are you’ll irritate your graphics designer by having to make him go back to the drawing board when you realise that the existing banner ad design is not too consistent with the newly churned out search ad copy.
Popularity: 13% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Strategy
The Goal of the Ad - While the main purpose of any kind of ad is promote your website/product/service if you think about it each type of ad actually has a different “sub-goal” since a different approach is used to be able to successfully promote whatever it is you are promoting. To make it a bit clearer let me state the goal of sponsored search ads and display ads.
- Display ads - Display ads (banner ads) are usually used to promote branding since it is in banner ads that you can display your company logo, catch phrase, etc. Since the advent of targeted ads in search display ads role has shifted from once being the primary form of online advertising to a mere supporting role. That doesn’t mean that it does not produce excellent results but only that most online advertisers prefer (and with good reason) using sponsored ads as the primary way of promoting things.
- Sponsored search ads - Since sponsored search ads can more easily reach a wider yet still targeted audience it is mostly used to generate leads and sales.
The importance of being able to differentiate the “sub-goal” of each ad is for you to be able to develop/write each ad to suit their roles better. Since you know that display ads are great for branding then you focus on that when writing the ad and since you know that sponsored search ads is used for lead generation then ads should be phrased accordingly.
Popularity: 14% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Strategy
When it comes to online advertising most websites opt to use a variety of methods in order to promote themselves. Two of the most common advertising method used online today are sponsored search ads and the more traditional banner ads.
To be able to make the most of these different types of advertisements one should always look at the online marketing campaign as a whole and focus on integration of different approaches used. While display ads and sponsored search ads will both yield results even without really finding putting a lot of effort in making sure that they play off each other well what you want is to maximise the results you can get and, as already mentioned, you can only do this if you integrate these two methods.
When integrating various ad approaches the first things you should always consider include your target audience and the goal of each kind of ad.
- Your target audience - Even if you only use one marketing technique knowing your target audience is still the very foundation of a successful venture. This comes in useful not just in your SEM campaign but in your over all approach to your website’s SEO and whole website design. When it comes to ads though what you specifically want to know are their needs and the words/images that will appeal to them so that they will end up clicking on your ads.
to be continued…
Popularity: 13% [?]
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