Archive for the ‘SEO Strategy’ Category
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% [?]
published by Dan in SEO Strategy
Last time I mentioned how it is important to keep track of the changes in search engine algorithms.
If you are a professional SEO you would have probably noticed changes every now and then. If you’ve been in this profession for more than a year then you would have seen the significant changes such as last years devaluation of reciprocal links. If you notice some SEOs still espouse reciprocal linking as one of the important aspects of their link building strategy. Clearly these SEOs are not following the emerging trends in SEO. Although I am not saying that you should completely stay away from reciprocal links (If you want to participate in link exchange read this Link Exchange Guidelines) since even in organic link building you will be getting reciprocal links from relevant sites the devaluation of reciprocal links dictate that engaging in reciprocal link schemes (massive exchange of reciprocal links) should NOT be a cornerstone of any site’s link building efforts. Unfortunately many honest websites end up firing the services of SEO firms that do not keep themselves updated thus getting sub-optimal, if not harmful, results.
As an SEO how can you keep track of the rapid changes in the search industry? According to SEOmoz’s Randfish what you can do is to:
- Observe the websites you manage - Note that it says websites with an S. You should manage more than one site to be able to note the differences in the performance of each site and thus get enough data to deepen your knowledge about the emerging trends in search.
- Regularly read the following resources - SEO by the SEA (a favorite of mine), SEO Book (one espoused by PhoenixRealm), The Google Cache, and SEOMoz (this one’s added by me).
- Run tests - Tweak. Discover. Learn. Adjust and implement.
Popularity: 15% [?]
published by Dan in SEO | SEO Strategy
I believe this two things to be discussed today should have actually been the one I discussed in the very first place, but since they really are crucial in managing an effective PPC campaign I will still mention them. Better late than never right?
- Compare the advantages and disadvantages compared to other marketing methods - It is very important that you understand the advantages and disadvantages of a PPC campaign versus not only a traditional SEO campaign but other online marketing campaigns as well. In fact if you are also consider other marketing methods aside from those online you should also compare and contrast them to PPC campaigns. This way you will be able to make the most out of all the marketing methods you will be using since you can choose the ones that will complement each other to achieve the results you want.
- Know PPC’s limitations - I guess this should crop up before comparing the pros and cons in comparison to other marketing methods since you have to know the limitations if you want to be able to do a thorough comparison. Note that the major limitations of PPC campaigns are due to steep competition. The competition makes everything so volatile so that although PPC campaigns do not require someone to be an expert to handle the campaign it does require that someone to be dedicated enough to spend plenty of time monitoring the campaign.
Popularity: 19% [?]
published by Dan in SEO | SEO Strategy
- Targeted descriptions - When writing your ad copy for a PPC campaign make sure that it is written to appeal to a very specific set of people - your target customers. You can do this by outlining the exact description of the products and services offered. Do not use broad terms because this will lead to more clicks that won’t necessarily translate to sales thus increasing the amount you’ll be spending for your PPC campaign without substantially increasing the revenue. For PPC campaigns it is important that you get the attention of poeple that are really likely to buy or subscribe to your product/service. If you wish to target a broader audience you can do this via other forms of marketing campaigns such as in your organic SEO results.
- Constant monitoring of the campaign - Make sure that someone is in charge of monitoring the PPC campaign every single day. This is very important because sudden changes may affect the feasibility of bidding to appear for a specific position (top 3?) for a certain keyword. For example if the competition gets too heated, driving the price up, you would want to stop bidding for the position immediately or end up paying too much.
- Periodic analysis - A periodic analysis of the state of the PPC campaign is necessary to keep track of the performance of each keyword. By analysing the performance of each keyword you can adjust your campaign to do better for those with flagging results and completely eliminate non-performing ones. In short you can make timely adjustments to ensure that your PPC campaign always gives you optimal results.
Popularity: 17% [?]
published by Dan in SEO | SEO Strategy
How useful and effective are pay per click campaigns? The answer, like anything in SEO, depends on how well managed your campaign is. Pay per click campaigns can be very effective increasing both the inquiries and the conversions of your website, however, if mismanaged you won’t be see much (positive) results.
There are several key things you should know to be able to manage a good pay per click campaign including:
- Keyword selection - The keywords you select is critical for the success of your PPC campaign. Selecting keywords that do not perform well is not that big a problem although it will not maximise your profits for you but forgetting or excluding keywords that would have performed really well can mean a big loss in potential profit. This is why you should carefully do keyword research.
- Pricing - Make sure you do not overbid on keywords. Even if a keyword performs really well and it would make sense to bid a little bit higher for that keyword compared to non-performing keywords make sure you do not bid to high as to sabotage your profits. The first thing to remember is that you shouldn’t be paying more for the clicks than the amount you’ll be getting for sales or subscriptions. Breaking even is also not good at all since you need to make a profit!
to be continued…
Popularity: 19% [?]
published by Dan in SEO | SEO Strategy
Last time I explained the difference between SEO and SEM. Today I will be discussing whether you should opt for SEO or SEM.
In truth I believe that ALL websites should invest in SEO except for the very few that, due to the site’s nature, do not need to do well in search engine listings (See my post on Instances When SEO is Not Needed). Even if you plan on doing SEM doing SEO is a good idea because, as mentioned in my previous post, once you pull down your ads in search engines you can fall back on the positive results brought about by SEO. Furthermore, by doing SEO you can be sure that you will be doing relatively well in all the major search engine listings. This means that if you concentrate your SEM efforts in just one search engine (Google AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing) you can still rest easy knowing that you aren’t neglecting the user base in other search engines.
Search engine marketing can also be done by anybody but it is most apt for those that need results fast and can not wait for the effects that organic SEO brings. It is also for businesses that are on a very competitive industry and know that they will have a really hard time getting to the top of the search listings.
The important thing to remember when choosing whether to do SEO or SEM is to always put aside a budget for SEO and then work with the rest of the budget for your SEM campaign. There are plenty of good SEM strategies out there to fit budgets of all kinds.
Popularity: 20% [?]
published by Dan in SEO | SEO Strategy
Still can’t get enough links? Here are some more link building ideas you might want to try out (if you haven’t tried it at this point yet).
- Free Stuff - Give away free stuff to people in exchange for links. This is like buying links but can’t be considered a link scheme if you ask for reviews/feedback on the product you give away instead of just a link. Make sure reviews contain links or else this won’t do you any good (in terms of link building). If you do not have any products to give away a free trial service/subscription would do.
- Donate to Charity - Of course this goes without saying that you should donate to a charity that has a website and that lists and links to donors on their site. You can also donate to charities by selling items and giving a portion of or your entire profit to eBay Giving Works (for eBay.com) or eBay for Charity (for eBay.co.uk) since most of the charities that get the donation link to the donor’s site.
- Participate in Link Exchanges - Hannah has a good post that outlines some guidelines for exchanging links. In addition to her guidelines though I think you should also make it a criteria to only exchange links with sites that get a lot of traffic.
Popularity: 14% [?]
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