Are Your B2B Paid Search Campaigns Trying To Serve Two Masters?
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from a seasoned Google AdWords mentor was to "not try and serve two masters within a single campaign." If your campaigns are like most, they have a fixed budget and are ROI driven. In this situation, we are constantly trying to ratchet down the cost per lead while still using up the budget to get as many leads as possible. But beware! At some point you can almost be guaranteed that you'll be requested to "fill up the pipe" by ramping up volume (and spend) for the short term. Unfortunately, trying to jockey between the two is a recipe for long-term frustration and compromised results.
This may seem trivial to many, especially at the outset of a campaign when everything is new, shiny, and exciting. But as I and my clients have learned, as a campaign matures -- and you are looking to improve upon current and past results -- that lingering question once again rears its head. ROI or volume? It's very hard to run disciplined, scientific campaign tests and optimizations if that question isn't clearly answered and adhered to.
The Importance of (KPIs) Key Performance Indicators for SEO
When it’s time to determine how effective an SEO, advertising or marketing campaign is, the need to establish KPIs (key performance indicators) as benchmarks to measure goal conversion, time lines and tactical objectives.
Performance benchmarks exist for a very specific purpose, to measure conversion and marketing objectives, but KPIs also allow us to extend beyond one-dimensional thinking and truly develop long-term strategic and pivotal advantages.
Link Building for Big Old Sites
I love big sites. They are like sprawling mansions in a state of renewal and dilapidation at the same time. New kitchen, old bath. Sub-zero inside, rotten wood outside.
The longer a site has been around, and the bigger that site is, the more likely it is that site will have already attracted hundreds if not thousands of links. Many of these existing links will have come about without anyone actively pursuing them. For example, I'll bet Coca Cola's web site has a section for employment, and I'll bet that employment section and the pages within it are deep linked to by other sites. I'll further bet that Coca Cola likely does not know how many other sites are linking to their employment section pages, nor have they checked.
Many large scale corporate sites have multiple content sections (AKA silos) with different personnel responsible for them. Over the years, these sites often go through several staff changes, teams, agencies, etc., and end up with an enormous amount of inbound link equity.
Search Advertising with the new Microsoft adCenter
With the launch of the popular web service AdWords from Google Inc, it seemed that Google had monopolized the online advertisement management scenario on the internet. However, arch rival Microsoft was not the one to be left behind. Microsoft has recently launched the adCenter service, with similar features to those of Google AdWords and have ...
You Reap What You Sow with Organic SEO
Since you never know which keywords will gain traction first (at which rate, how often they will spike or fluctuate based on factors like supply / demand, seasonal trends or alternate broad match variations) you need to separate keywords that perform from keywords that do not.
It is important to look at patterns as they emerge as well as compare them with historical data mined from your websites previous traffic patterns via site analytics.
Assigning performance benchmarks for keywords is one way to determine if you are maximizing exposure through the terms your site is optimized for. However aside from observation, knowing how to create the effect is (the ranking) is equally as important.
Stop the Confusion! Use SEO Terms Correctly
We have a problem in the search marketing industry, and it's getting big enough to potentially threaten our livelihoods. The problem is especially dangerous in that customers seeking out SEO services are more confused than ever, which is unfortunate since SEO is no longer a new industry.
A big reason for the confusion is the misuse of industry terms. This wouldn't be so bad if it was just the general public using incorrect definitions. What makes the problem serious is that it's primary cause is people in the SEO industry who use words incorrectly.
Here are some common reasons terms get misused and why it's important for people to get them right:
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Website Optimization Tips for Link Building and SEO
Since link building is one of the most important aspects of SEO, let’s take a minute to revisit some very important link building and website optimization tactics.
Trust, timing and authority are three metrics that impact the target site for building links. Sites that rank at the helm of search engines (above the fold on the ...
