Pay-Per-Click Campaigns

Pay-Per-Click campaigns are one area where many people are already investing in online marketing. You may be one of those who recognize the value of such campaigns in finding potential clients. One of the major advantages in PPC campaigns is the fact that you can be up and running with traffic actually coming to your website in as little as one day.

Pay-Per-Click campaigns can also be very expensive. However, they can be greatly downsized and often even completely eliminated by the effective use of an online marketing strategy. You can easily spend a lot less on your PPC campaign than you have previously if your business is consistently at the top of search engine results. However, PPC campaigns are still important tools that can remain as a part of a good online marketing strategy, especially for extremely competitive keyword searches.

The Right Keyword Research

Keyword research will be the thing that makes your PPC campaigns work like never before. If you have your keyword research done correctly, you will have a list of keywords that are used when people search for something your business could provide, including very specific long-tail keywords. These keywords will not only be the ones most commonly used, but also the ones that have the fewest PPC matches for them. This means that when someone uses those keywords your ad will appear at the top, not mixed in somewhere with endless others.

Keyword research makes all the difference between hit or miss PPC campaigns and ones that really work and have a high rate of conversions to sales for the number of click-throughs that you get. Having professional management of your PPC campaigns can mean huge savings and much greater results.

Geo-Targeting Your Ads

Most people do not realize about this PPC option. However, it allows you to target your PPC ads to just the people in your area who are searching for a given term. Using geo-targeting, a search from someone in your geographic area for a generic term like “plumber” would reveal your ad, whereas someone in another state or area that you don’t serve who searches for “plumber” would not see your ad.

Using Google Ads and other PPC services you can choose to have your ads shown only to people living in certain zip codes, cities or regions. By doing so you can bid on very generic terms that previously would not have been a good choice. This is possible because search engines know where searchers are located. You can choose to target:
• Actual location
• Narrow geography such as city, state, metro area
• IP address
In addition you can choose to do PPC campaigns on words with a location qualifier attached to them. Many people will actually choose to include the location qualifier in their search, such as “Atlanta plumber.” By using both the searcher’s actual location and where the searcher is looking, you will have the greatest success possible in your Pay-Per-Click campaign.

The advantages to geo-targeting generic terns for your PPC ads are:
• cheaper click rates
• fast traffic results
• more targeted traffic
• lower competition
• higher conversion to sales

The Importance of the Landing Page

A landing page is the page a prospect reaches when they click through your ad, a link in your article’s resource box, or a link in a press release, video, or audio. The best-designed landing pages have a way these visitors can trade their contact information for a special report or some other content that’s valuable to them. The landing page is a very important component in the online marketing strategy for Pay-Per-Click campaigns. It should be relevant to the ad that you have placed and should contain keywords related to the search. You should have a different landing page for each PPC ad you place. Include navigation links to other parts of your website for even better results in Google.

Consider Using a Content Network PPC Campaign

Content Network PPC allows you to sell advertising space on your own website and use space on other websites that relate to yours. What’s most effective about advertising with the content network is the fact that most of the time people spend online isn’t spent using a search engine, but visiting their favorite sites. Content PPC allows you to get your ad in front of them while they’re on these popular sites.

A large number of websites collaborate in a content network and you get the advantage of the traffic attracted to each of them. Your ad can be so much more than a text ad like traditional PPC. You can opt for images and even video to capture the attention of potential clients. Content network PPC is wide open right now and is an excellent option to explore in your Internet marketing plan.

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The Importance of Blog Comments

Your blog is essentially a forum whereby others will have the opportunity to interact with you. Those who make comments are likely to be potential customers or even existing customers. Always respond to valid questions, comments and complaints. How you handle such things will speak volumes to the followers of your blog.

Bear in mind that you can learn a lot from the comments that your blog receives. Your next big product or service is often waiting to be discovered in the feedback of a customer or potential customer. They may share with you what little thing bothers them most or what would be an ideal addition to what you offer. This interaction that allows you to garner knowledge from those who buy from you is one of the most important aspects of a blog. Use it!

You should also take the time to comment on other blogs related to your field and leave your own website address to create more valuable backlinks. Do not make a comment that is little more than an ad for your own business. It will likely not even be approved if you attempt to do so. Make relevant, helpful comments. Leave your website URL in the space provided only.

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Directory Submission

Links are the key to getting listed high in search engine results. One-way links are what you want, so make sure you focus on getting your site listed in as many places as possible. Directory submissions are excellent ways to get your site’s link out there, even though many people will tell you that business directories are outdated. They do indeed have great value in getting backlinks to your website.

The types of directories you should submit to include:
- major directories, like the fee-based Yahoo directory and the free human-reviewed DMOX
- local directories, like local.com, localize.com, hotfrog.com and specific group directories like your local Chamber of Commerce
- industry specific and niche directories, such as cmac.ws and other niche groups found through an online searches
- Yellow Pages/411 directories like YellowPages.com, Superpages, com, Yellowbook.com, InfoUSA.com and Localeze.com
- Review directories like Kudzu.com, Insiderpages.com, Tripadvisor.com, AngiesList.com, BBB.org and Citysearch.com

These directories will help your business be located much more easily as they are typically at or near the top of search results for a business name or the niche and location. Therefore, your presence in the relevant directories will get you near the top of results. Your website traffic and your phone inquiries will increase as a result of being listed on directories. Therefore directory submissions are a solid part of any marketing plan.

Inclusion in directories will also validate a company’s existence for search engines. It creates backlinks to the website and citations that help the search engines index a company. Newer directories with Web 2.0 capabilities even have the interactive option of adding reviews, which creates even more content for a site. This means better natural search results and local search results for your business.

Most directories are free of charge, however some have a fee associated with them. If it is a big-name, powerful directory, it may be worth the investment.

Review directories serve a variety of purposes, such as:
• Backlinks
• Citations
• Reviews
• Local rankings
• Building customer trust

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Doing Detailed Keyword Research

Hand-in-hand with the whole process of identifying your ideal customer is doing detailed keyword research. Even if you know who your ideal clients are but have no idea how to lead them to your site, you will not be successful in converting them to actual clients. This is typically a one-time task done at the beginning of your online marketing campaign and can be delegated to a keyword research specialist for extremely effective results.

The Necessity of Keyword Research

Keyword research is like turning on the light. By doing keyword research you will know, and not guess, exactly what your potential clients are searching for when they look for services and products like you offer. Simply knowing who your ideal clients are is not enough. You have to know the phrasing they use when they search. When you discover those phrases, your keyword research is done.

Luckily, the keyword research portion of the marketing plan only needs to be done once, unless you diversify the line of products or services you offer, new uses are discovered for them or you open a new division of your company.

In order to nail down the keywords that are being used to find companies in your field, ask yourself some questions.

How Will People Search for You?
What types of phrasing will potential customers use when searching for you? Will they look for a person, position, a firm or a solution? Will they use geographic modifiers like city, state or region? Will their level of motivation come through in their search, by using specific words?
• Specific person: “Plumber”, “plumbing contractor”, etc.
• Geographic modifiers: “plumber Atlanta”, ”plumber Atlanta GA”
• Motivation levels: “emergency plumber Atlanta”, “24 hour plumber”
As a critical part of your keyword research, you should employ a keyword research tool. While there are a variety of such tools on the market, Google AdWords is a free one that can help greatly, as it generates keyword ideas for you, as well as synonyms. Cross-reference your keywords with geographic modifiers. This will often help you be as effective as possible getting ranked according to strong keywords. The more precise the keyword, the better conversion rate it will have for sales.

Use Nitro Samurai (http://www.nitrosamurai.com) or another pay site for further building a list of long-tail keywords. They can help you determine which very specific keywords are most valuable. It will also give you an inside look into which words your competitors are using and the quality of the SEO competition they present, when you do a keyword search for them.

Document Data for Future Use

Be sure to keep a running tab of all the keywords you discover. This will give you information to work with for your online content. It will also keep you from having to repeat the keyword search.
Keywords will be used in every aspect of your online marketing. Therefore the research you do in the beginning about your ideal client and how they search will carry over in all your online content. You will use those keywords for:
- Articles
- Blogs
- Search Engine Optimization
- Press releases
- Ads
- Social media
- Videos and audios
- Tags
Even simply adding one or more traffic methods per month to your existing traffic generating strategies will earn significant results. Target a couple more keywords from your keyword list each month.

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The Importance of Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a term used to refer to any applications that allow users to interact. Social networks, blogs, video sharing sites, wikis and more are some of the commonly used Web 2.0 applications that can be used as an effective part of any online marketing campaign. In fact, many of these types of applications allow an excellent source for feedback to a company.

One of the major purposes of using Web 2.0 in your quest to drive traffic to your website is to create backlinks to your site. So you will need to make comments on other sites with links back to your own sites. You will also need to create your own blogs, videos and social network identities to share useful information for those who would be potential customers for you.

As with any of the online writing you do, pay close attention to make sure that it is search engine optimized. Use keywords strategically in your content. This will ensure that you get the best ranking possible in relevant searches.

By using Web 2.0, you are opening up your business to explosive growth. It is easy for fans of your service to share it with others.

The feedback you receive from Web 2.0 gives you a wealth of opportunities.
- As individuals leave testimonials, you build credibility.
- As customers leave comments and suggestions, you get important feedback that allows you to tweak your product to best serve your customers. You will be much more on target with their needs.
- As complaints are dealt with your reputation for customer service is built.

Right now, Google, the leading search engine worldwide, loves Web 2.0 content sites such as:
- Videos
- Press releases
- Articles
- Hub Pages
- Squidoo

Therefore careful use of search engine optimized content on such sites will help give you the ranking you want in the search engines.


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Keeping On Top of Things

By keeping a finger on the pulse of your industry you will easily find new topics for blogging, articles, press releases, videos, audios and even social networking comments. This way you can quickly jump on new trends as they become popular. Technology can help you do so by
staying on top of the latest developments, trends and hot spots in online marketing, you will have a much better chance to keep your online market domination. There are always new developments in the dynamic world of online marketing. Therefore, staying abreast of new technologies and new trends is essential. You can do so by:

- seminars
- webinars
- following blogs
- watching the competition
- subscribing to RSS feeds
- being on email lists
- social media

In addition you can use Google Alerts to keep on top of things happening in the media in either your industry, in a field relevant to yours, as well as in online marketing trends. By setting up a Google Alert, you are automatically informed when information concerning the topics you choose are updated in selected online formats. This helps you to keep on top of things so that you can share relevant information in a timely manner and drive people to your website for relevant solutions.

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Additional Traffic Strategies

By using a wide variety of traffic strategies, you will have the best chance of being able to attract the maximum number of potential clients to your website. Apart from the techniques already mentioned, there are other ones that will help you drive traffic to your site. Some of them are even completely free, while others involve a varying amount of investment depending on the quality of equipment you want to use to create the medium.

 

Classified Ads

By placing carefully created online classified ads you can easily drive traffic to your website. Many of these websites are free of charge, like Craigslist.org. You can choose to put an ad in the sections that best fit the services or products your company provides. You can even put links directly back to your website in many of these ads. The sheer volume of traffic on such sites will help people find you and your website more readily, as there are numerous people who use such sites as their go-to resource for many things.

To get the maximum amount of use from your classified ads, create links to your ad using social bookmarking sites and other social networking sites. This will create additional backlinks to your ad and help it get ranked in the search engines. Any content that gets ranked in the search engines is excellent for your online marketing.

Make sure that the ads you place on classified ad sites are search engine friendly, like all your online content. Use keywords correctly, without stuffing them into the ad, to maximize your search engine result ranking. Such ads need to be placed monthly to stay current in the search engines. Vary the content though and add seasonal specials, if appropriate.

Some of the best classified ads include:

• Craislist.com
• Backage.com
• Topics.com/classifieds/city
• Olx.com
• Oodle.com
• Kijiji.com
• UsFreeAds.com 

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