The new style of Internet marketing includes much more than just getting ranked on Google and Yahoo or Bing. However, these are still very large components of successful web marketing strategies. Qualified, targeted, web leads are necessary to succeed in our technological age.
Our current business clients average about 25-75% of their web traffic from “organic” search engine ranking results depending on where they focus their marketing dollars. “Pay-Per-Click” generates about 35-55% of web visitors and the rest of the leads come from blogs, listings, press releases or links from other sites linking back to them. Let’s talk about the “WHAT” you are getting for the money you will spend.
There are a number of Internet marketing strategies that will generate user traffic to your website. Let’s cover the 2 major ones.
1. “Organic” Search Engine Marketing – SEO(Search Engine Optimization) – This method involves getting your site ranked on the 1st page of Google by optimizing your site “naturally” so you don’t pay when someone clicks on your link. The basic SEO techniques used for this are:
· Keyword Analysis – What are your customers searching for? What words didn’t you think of?
· Volume Analysis – Which keywords are being searched for more often?
· Website Layout – Relevant SEO friendly content and good SEO link structure. So important.
· Keyword Density – The keyword ratios of your content and text. Too much can hurt you.
· Link Building – “Quality” SEO links on and off your website. Beware of link farms.
2. “Sponsored” Search Engine Marketing – PPC(Pay-Per-Click Advertising) – This method involves paying to have your website link placed at the top of search engine ranking results. You bid for the placement and only pay when someone clicks on your link.
· Creating a Google AdWords Account
· Targeting Ad Campaigns to Your Industry
· Keyword Specific Ad Groups
· Tracking Better Performing Ads and Cheaper Ads
· Managing Daily and Monthly Budgets
· Tracking Conversion Leads
Are They Good “Qualified” Leads?
You can always generate random, junk, web traffic that is not “targeted” with 10,000 website hits a day with a scam or something crazy. But, that person is not “qualified”. Make sure you are spending your Internet marketing budget on quality web leads who actually want your product or service.
The Internet search engines now allow a person to search for exactly what they want. A “Baby Blue Burton Snowboard” is very specific. Where as, “Chicago Pizza” is more general. Both produce ten top search results which any online merchant with a website can market to.
If you sell that type of product, and your “Organic” and “Pay-Per-Click” search engine marketing campaign is set up correctly, your website’s link should be showing up on the 1st page of Google when someone searches for it. And if your SEO marketing copy is well written, they will click on your link instead of your competitor’s link.
Which Internet Marketing Strategy Should You Use? Good question. Simple explanation.
All clients need a customized marketing strategy on the Internet to succeed. If you are a doctor’s office, you need to be marketing to sick people. If you are an auto garage, you’ll need to market to car owners. We always recommend to clients that they pursue both methods.
Pay-Per-Click advertising will give you immediate results with cost per clicks. But, once you stop paying for PPC ads, the leads will stop as well. Organic SEO marketing will take longer to rank, 3-9 months sometimes, using ‘White Hat” companies and best practice techniques, but could cost you less in the long run. (“Black Hat” marketing can get you banned from Google.)
Why? Because once you’ve paid 1,000’s of dollars for organic search engine optimization in the search engine rankings, clicks are coming in and it can be a low expense to maintain it’s position into the future while the clicks keep coming.
This is where the expertise of your Internet marketing consultant pays off the most. They will focus your marketing dollars so that you are displayed in front of those “qualified” people who are looking for your service or product. These are the areas you should be getting upgraded and consulting on to increase your web traffic.
How much should I expect to pay for a Internet advertising and marketing?
It usually costs about the same as advertising in the Yellow Pages Directory or in a Big City Newspaper. You pay more for bigger coverage. It can be less depending on how competitive your industry is.
Promoting a “Los Angeles Law Firm” or a “Houston Plastic Surgeon” is going to be more than marketing a website for a “Denver Auto Mechanic” or “Wyoming Vacation Ranch”. The reason being is that certain industries are willing to put more money into their marketing success.
Some web marketing campaigns can be as little as $600 a month for 9-12 months of marketing support for a small niche company or service, while others can be $10,000 per month for 2 years. And, you should always continue with SEO maintenance once you start ranking in Google or Yahoo otherwise your labor will be wasted once your competitors come after you.
Remember, your competitors are always after you too. In order to get one of those top ten spots on Google, you’ll need to push someone else off the page. They will notice…I promise.
In the end, when you choose an Internet marketing consultant to work with, they should provide you with monthly reports showing:
1. How much web traffic you are getting?
2. Where the web traffic is coming from?
3. What pages on your site get more traffic?
4. What pages you are ranking on Google, Yahoo, Bing(MSN) with for your specific keyword phrases?
We believe you should see the results that you are paying for. Your Internet Marketing provider should always be sending you a monthly report with the above listed tracking information on it for your marketing campaign.
Other than that, look for credentials and previous client results. If they have a good rating with the BBB and they can show you a list of 1st page ranking clients, you are probably on the right track to a successful web marketing campaign. Enjoy the new leads.
Web Marketing Example: