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Search Engine Marketing is quickly becoming a main focus for marketing departments – from small businesses to large companies. Here, we answer your questions about this evolving form of marketing.
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1. What is the difference between "Pay Per Click" search engine
marketing and non-paid search engine marketing?
Pay Per Click search engine marketing is when you pay a fee each time
someone clicks on a link to your web site as advertised in search engines
such as Google and Yahoo. These advertised links are typically on the right
side or at the top in a "sponsored links" area of a Google or Yahoo page.
The fee per click is determined by how competitive your desired keywords
are. A monthly budget is set and used over time as users see your ad and
click through to your web site.
"Non-paid" search engine marketing is when a site appears on the left
side of a search engine page based on its ranking, which the search engines
determine by how relevant the site is to the search terms (keywords) entered
by their users. While the site owner is not paying the search engine each
time a user clicks on the link to your site, chances are they are paying a
professional to continually "optimize" their site to appear as relevant as
possible for their desired keywords.
2. What do statistics say about whether users use left-side ("natural
"or "organic") page results or right-side ("paid" or "sponsored") search
page positions?
While consumer studies show that first-page organic listings capture more
than 50% of click-throughs, the top pay-per-click ads capture approximately
10% of click-throughs, a portion of prospective customers not to be missed.
We recommend a combination of both types of search engine marketing for an
effective campaign.
3. What is a link building campaign and how important is it to our
overall search engine strategy?
One of the "off-the-page" factors search engines use to measure the
relevancy of a site is the number of other sites on the Internet that link
to that site. If other sites are driving traffic to a site, a search engine
may consider the site more important, or more relevant. Therefore, a link
building campaign to increase the number of inbound links can support an
overall search engine marketing strategy. We recommend clients begin with
their own link building campaign by ensuring their site is linked to from
all organizations of which they are members and from strategically aligned
companies in their industry.
4. How do we measure the effectiveness of a Pay Per Click campaign?
First, determine the cost per qualified lead from your other marketing
efforts, as well as the value of those leads. You can then compare the cost
of marketing in the search engines - then measure the effectiveness of your
campaign by reviewing statistics on how many site visitors who clicked on
your ad then called by phone, emailed or submitted a form on your site. If
your campaign is not producing the results you're looking for, review your
site's calls to action and ease of use in addition to your keywords
effectiveness.
5. What is "conversion" and how do we measure it?
Conversion is the process of turning a casual site visitor into a
customer after they arrive at your site. A web site should be ready to
receive visitors with valuable, well-positioned content and clear calls to
action. Conversion can be having them call a 1-800 number, buy a product,
complete a survey or form, subscribe to your newsletter or any other action
that accomplishes a predefined goal. Defining conversion is one of the first
steps not only of an effective search engine marketing campaign but, more
importantly, of an initial web site development effort. With clear calls to
action, a site will be ready to convert the traffic driven by a search
engine marketing campaign.
6. What's the fastest way to appear in the search engines and drive
traffic to my site?
A Pay Per Click campaign can be activated immediately, driving traffic to
a site within a day or less. An added benefit of a Pay Per Click campaign is
that search engines will use that immediate traffic in their evaluation of
how relevant or important the site is, thereby supporting their longer term,
organic evaluation of a site's relevancy. While a campaign for organic
search results can deliver more traffic over time, it does takes longer to
produce results (sometimes several months or more). For a comprehensive
search engine marketing strategy, we recommend a client leverage both types
of campaigns - a Pay Per Click campaign to begin delivering results
immediately while the longer term organic campaign ramps up.
About New Target Inc.
New Target, Inc., based in historic Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, is a
dynamic web site design, development and hosting firm characterized by
strong and steady growth since its inception in 1998. Today, New Target is a
full-service provider of quality, custom web solutions including web site
design, application development, e-commerce, fully managed hosting, search
engine positioning, email marketing, and content management and maintenance.
The New Target team is an experienced group of designers, developers,
strategists and customer support professionals, each dedicated to providing
the highest quality service.
Every year since 2001, the Washington Business Journal has ranked the
company within the top fifteen Interactive Web Design Firms of the
metropolitan Washington, D.C. region as well as on its list of the region’s
top Community Investors.
April 2008
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