Is Bidding on Trademarked Brands a Viable SEM Tactic?
The rationale behind bidding on trademarked brands is something like this: if I bid on my competitor’s name than my company’s PPC ad will show up in any branded searches for my competitor. Since my competitor and I are going after the same target audience, this is good way to piggyback on the brand value of my competition and drive targeted leads to my own site. Full disclosure, bidding on a competitor’s brand for my own PPC campaign is an SEM tactic that I once tested. I tried it out for a month or two, but I quickly realized a few very important things. First, when someone is searching directly for a brand they are just about ready to pull the trigger and convert. My CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Business.com Business Directory Listings
Business.com, the premier online destination for businesses of all sizes and industries to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses, has recently launched a new and improved business directory to better highlight approved and US-based vendors. Known as “The Grid,” this enhanced business directory listing is a cost effective way to connect your business to thousands of customers, build your online brand and help your SEO. Unlike most directory listings, the Business.com Grid gives your business the opportunity to list much more than just a sentence or two describing your company. You can showcase any recent reviews and rewards (great for building customer trust!), as well as list any promotions your business might be CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Competing with Google for Ad Space
In my opinion, PPC still has its place in the grand scheme of things when it comes to online marketing. Personally, I’ve found that PPC campaigns are great for branded keywords because it helps minimize the risks and costs that many site owners deal with. Not so long ago, SEO keywords would only cost $1 a click. That was a completely reasonable cost and I happily paid it, especially to help get Brick Marketing some national exposure. However, those same keywords are now costing me $12-$15 per click! Suddenly PPC is not as cost effective as it used to be. And what’s more, the average searcher is getting much smarter. They know the difference between an organic listing and a paid listing, and they understand CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
How Can PPC Help Your SEO?
For small to mid-sized businesses that don’t have $10k to drop on PPC every month, there is still some search marketing value to be had from launching a PPC campaign, even if you can only spend a minimal amount. In my experience, organic SEO produces much more long-term results than PPC, but certain elements of PPC can actually enhance your SEO. Keyword Research The nice thing about launching a PPC campaign is that you can get a lot of useful data very quickly that can then be applied to your SEO campaigns, including keyword research. Site owners can test the effectiveness of certain keywords with a PPC campaign and then slowly incorporate those new keywords into their SEO. Instead of waiting 3-6 months to find out if CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Are Your AdSense Ads Really Worth It?
At PubCon Las Vegas back in early November, Google’s Matt Cutts warned “If you have ads obscuring your content, you might want to think about it…Do they [visitors to your site] see content or something else that’s distracting or annoying?” Many in the SEO industry had already assumed that ad heavy sites were being targeted by Panda, but this confirmed their suspicions. After Cutts’ announcement, many SEO and PPC professionals commented that this advice was a stark contrast to Google AdSense’s advice of “ads located above the fold tend to perform better than those below the fold.” So what is a lowly site owner to do? In my opinion, if Google says that sites with too many ads above the fold are likely CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Improve Your AdWords Account with the New AdWords Performance Grader
AdWords can be overwhelming to marketers and small business owners. It's often hard for newcomers to understand their performance. Even the PPC connoisseurs needs to take time now and again to step out of the trenches to analyze where they stand on the AdWords battlefront. This month, we've created the AdWords Grader in response to this very need. If you're looking to improve your PPC performance (and let's face it, who isn't?), consider taking advantage this newly released tool from WordStream. The AdWords Performance Grader grades your AdWords account performance by analyzing several key performance indicators such as Quality Score, Account Activity, Click-Through Rate, and Impression Share. It then compares your results against those of other AdWords advertisers with CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Tips for Determining Your SEM Budget
When the economy took a turn for the worse, companies learned quickly they had to tighten their purse strings. Budgets were slashed in an effort to just maintain some semblance of a profit margin. Many people found themselves defending their positions within a company in order to survive round after round of layoffs. When times are tough, penny pinching becomes a way of life. Not to say that the economy has fully recovered, but there are signs that a recovery, albeit a slow one, is on its way. The State of Search Marketing Report 2011, produced by Econsultancy and SEMPO, projected that search engine marketing will spend an estimated $19 billion this year, a 16% increase from 2010. An increase is spending is CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Does Google AdWords Affect Your SEO?
Google has certainly emerged as the search engine of choice in the past five years or so. Its market share is much higher than search engines like Bing and Yahoo! and some websites that were previously used for search, like AOL.com, have been forced to go in different directions entirely to stay relevant. While AOL still offers a search component, it’s become more of a news source. It’s not surprising. Google has become the king of search. Of course, there always seems to be a conspiracy theory or two surrounding “royalty”. One such conspiracy theory surrounding Google is whether or not there is a correlation between purchasing Google AdWords and ranking well in the search engine. This debate CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Learn PPC Campaign Management at the AdWords Advantage Online Summit
Are you a business owner looking to get your PPC campaign off the ground or take your current AdWords campaign to the next level? Are you marketing professional who wants to learn how to best utilize PPC for your company or clients? Then the AdWords Advantage Online Summit is the right seminar for you! Starting Tuesday, May 10th, this online summit spreads out over 2 weeks, with multiple sessions each week. Unlike regular marketing summits, the AdWords Advantage PPC training sessions have been designed to fit into the schedule of working professionals. Since it is online, there is no travel required! This means you can attend each learning session from the comfort of your own CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Questions to Ask Your New SEO Employees
With so many resumes and cover letters bouncing around in the search space right now it is going to be difficult to pick the right one. How do you know if that resume is not lying or if it is not completely fabricated? There are some ways you can pin point if the person you are speaking with is the right candidate to fill your search engine marketing position. Here are a few questions that come to my mind to ask your new SEO employees: Name me 2 or 3 internet marketing related blogs that you read. If someone truly comes from a strong internet marketing background they will most likely be able to answer at least a few internet marketing related blogs. Some of the industry related CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Things Marketing Software Can’t Do!
Don’t get me wrong, using automation and software programs at times is a must because after all there are only so many hours in the day to get everything done, but there are times when software programs and automation tools are just not cool to use. Social media and search engine optimization is the process of marketing, communication, and audience interaction; can you trust a computer program to do that safely and accurately for you? Here are some things marketing software products can’t do: Software Can’t Think In some cases software can think but when it comes down to making an educated business decision; how is a software program really going to pan out? As a business you need to put yourself in the shoes of your audience CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
Ways to Speed Up Your Search Engine Visibility
Search engine marketing is a process that incorporates many different activities and efforts. Search engine marketing is traditionally a longer process but there are ways to speed up visibility online while you wait for things to work on the organic side of search marketing. Blog Post Writing and Submission Writing blog posts and submitting them through a variety of social media channels can quickly boost your traffic while you wait for organic rankings. Not only will a blog post pull in traffic if leveraged correctly but it also drives power to your website along with the possibility of others bumping into that post in search results which could also bring in organic traffic. Sites like Digg, LinkedIn and Reddit are great areas to pull in CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
SEM DIY – Do You Have What It Takes?
This might sound like a funny question but often time’s people really don’t understand what it truly takes on a daily basis to market a company online. The days of writing a press release and an article and sitting back are long gone and with the frequency of new content and material finding its way into the lighting quick search space it really takes a daily effort coupled with intense multi-tasking skills to really get any name out there. Search engine marketing in today’s marketplace calls for daily activities and efforts. Let’s discuss what you would need to know attempting your own search engine marketing: On-Site Search Engine Optimization If you do not have any knowledge regarding keyword research this will be your first step. Optimizing a website CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
2011 New Years SEM Resolutions to Consider!
With the New Year right around the corner it can often times feel like a clean slate ready to start the new business year on a fresh page. The same applies to search engine marketing and how you go about building your business online. It’s been a strange few years for many businesses which is why 2011 should be the year where you grab your search marketing campaigns by the neck and really work them. Here are some great goals if you are not sure where to start: Increased Blog Writing 2011 is the year to blow the dust of your blog and kick things up a notch. Tell yourself that you will make an effort to increase your frequency of writing every week. A Little Extra Link CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
5 Ways to Become an Industry Authority
Everyone wants to be considered an authority figure in their industry. Why else would you start a business? Becoming an industry figure that has power and influence takes time and hard work but it is something that can be done you just have to take the right steps. Here are 5 ways that you can build yourself and your business as an authority in your industry - of course, every industry and local/national factors make this slightly different, but this is a list of some of the key areas to consider: Launch A Blog Launch a blog and write in it every single day regarding a variety of topics in your industry. If you are in a heavily congested space online you might have to write a bit CLICK HERE TO READ MORE...
SEO Journal is Written by
Brick Marketing Founder,
Nick Stamoulis:
Nick Stamoulis - SEO Bio.
Tel. - 877-295-0620
nick@brickmarketing.com
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Brick Marketing - SEO Company
