Leverage Blog: How to Exploit the Web.

Pay-Per-Click online advertising: What is it?

This week clients have asked about our pay-per-click advertising services, and the questions were good ones.  Here are my answers:

Q: What is pay-per-click?

A: Pay-per-click online advertising, or PPC, is paid text advertising in search engine results.  On Google they are called "Sponsored Links" and on Yahoo! "SPONSOR RESULTS."

Businesses with websites purchase keywords-- the terms a customer would use to try and find their product or service-- and only pay when a visitor clicks on the listing.  (It doesn't get much more 'targeted' than that.)  The cost of each click is determined by competitive bidding, and prices range from a dime (.10) to over $13.00.

Small and medium-sized businesses getting started in PPC should budget $750 - $2,500 per month for a 3 month trial campaign, evaluate results and adjust accordingly.

Q:  What does my business need to do to get started?

A:  My experience has shown there are 3 keys to an effective PPC campaign

1. A fantastic website
   • PPC advertising will drive qualified leads to your site.  What will they find when they get there?  A clear, professional design?  Compelling copy?  Testimonials from your elated clients, and an easy way to request a quote?  Driving traffic is half of the equasion, and converting visitors into leads is the other half.
2. The right keywords and ad copy
   
   1. research tools from the PPC advertising platforms are great at helping identify who your competitors are online and seeing how much traffic you might expect-- and at what cost.  You only get 65 characters per line in Google's PPC program so your message better be just right.  Ad copy will make the difference between a prospect clicking on your ad or the other other guy.
3. A resource to manage your campaigns
   1. There is one PPC platform for Google and a second for Yahoo!, MSN and AOL.  Plan on managing your bid prices daily to start and 3 days/week moving forward.

Q:  What's the ROI?

A:  The return on the PPC investment is going to vary, but because it's so targeted it's easy to measure.  You'll know how many clicks you're getting each month, and if the people on the phones (and email) are asking prospects where they heard about you you'll get an idea of ROI.

In the service sector, where a new customer or project could amount to $2,000, $10,000 or more the return is easy to see.  1 new project pays for the campaign for the whole month-- maybe for half-a-year.  If your company sells prodcuts and an average ticket is $350, let's say, then we can easily calculate a break-even point.

The bottom-line:  I like PPC.  Wheel Media is creating PPC campaigns for our clients, training them on the management, and helping evaluate results.  This is the most effecient, not to mention affordable solution for small business.  Is PPC a better choice than search engine optimization?  it depends on your business and where your customers are.

It's worth a serious look

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Local search and web design: A match made in heaven

I wrote earlier this month about the death of the yellow pages, and author and search guru John Battelle has some great insights on the YP and Yahoo! Local Search today:

Yahoo Local has rolled out an update to its business model for local merchants, and it's looking a lot like what the Yellow Pages do, only online, self service, cheaper, and, well, what I've been on about for a while - a step towards the online version of what the Yellow Pages really need to become...  (Full article here.)

My particular focus is on your business, and using the web to help you grow.  If you feel your customer is using search engines to try and find you (probably) and you buy a local ad (they are pretty affordable,) then you need to differentiate your business from the other guys.

You need a clear, smart, compelling website that inspires your prospects and motivates them to call, to come by, to request a quote.

...oops, I misspoke.  You need a great website to differentiate regardless of whether you advertise on Yahoo!, The New York Times, or by trailing a banner by from a plane flying over the Giants game this weekend.

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Google on your radio

Well, not exactly on your radio, just selling advertising on it.

Yes, with it's acquisition of tech firm dMarc Google is bringing it's easy-to-buy (and easy to target) advertising platform to radio.  dMarc's technology sorts out the complex process of scheduling and placing radio advertising, and over the coming months Google will streamline and simplify it further.

Google's press release is here.

More businesses are advertising online (78% more)

Anything that grows 78% year-over-year is hot, and local ad spending on the web did just that in 2005-- to the tune of $4.8 billion dollars.

Businesses-- some local and some national-- are rushing to advertise on sites like  sacbee.com and sfgate.com, eager to drive customers in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay to their sites.

What we're seeing from all this investment is more information about how your customer is using the web:  They are flocking to local online resources like The SF Chronicle website.

Where is the opportunity for the Consulting Firm in Sacramento?  For the Contractor in San Francisco?  Search engine optimization (SEO) for your website.  Target the words that describe your products, in the cities you serve, and you'll be leapfrog the competition (and hear from customers that are actively looking for you.)

Depending on your industry, SEO will often provide a greater return on investment than a banner ad on sacbee.com.  How much does it cost?  Tell me a bit about your business here, I'll do the research and let you know.  No sweat.

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Full story here

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The death of the yellow pages

A quick thought on the yellow pages:  Even a hot-air balloon won't save them.

I know it's hard to imagine a world without that big book in your drawer, and I know that sometimes it's more effective than a search engine at finding a local service, like a plumber.  Or a roofer.  Or a jumpy-house for your daughter's birthday.  (You didn't forget, did you...?)

But Local Search from Google, Yahoo and MSN will replace the yellow pages, because it's getting better.  Better at presenting all the plumbers in your area, instead of a random few.  In the past local search has fallen-short because we're not getting the results we want...so we turn to the big yellow book.

But the advertising revenue is too great for the search industry to ignore, so local results are becoming more relevant, more useful, and the search-method of choice.

Where is the local-search opportunity for your business?  If you deliver a product or service within a specific regional area you still have time to beat the competition.  How?

1. Build a clear, smart, professional website.
2. Optimize it (i.e., search engine optimization, or SEO) for specific, local keyword searches.

Just showing up in Google's "Local Results" is not enough to win the business.  A one-page website created by a friend is not going differentiate you from the other guys.

I still believe local search is the biggest opportunity for small business on the web.

 

New in Search Engine Marketing: Pay-Per-Call

When I discuss search engine marketing (SEM) strategy with clients we evaluate the opportunity/impact/expense of two core tactics:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

A new tool called Pay-Per-Call is being rolled out by Google and Yahoo! and I've added it to the list.

Pay Per Call adds a phone number to paid search results.  Calls to a toll-free number are forwarded to the advertiser's business and are tracked and billed by the search engine (or their partner.)

The service is very new so listings are hard to find...so far.  The opportunity is great for simple services, like a florist. This searcher/customer is less interested in comparing flower shops and more interested in ordering a bunch.  For most B2B firms however-- an example might be aircraft sales-- the visitor is going to be clicking-on website links to evaluate the business; they'll be less-likely to just pick up the phone and say I'd like to buy a plane.

Pay-Per-Call is now on my radar.  Learn more here.

Search Engine Optimization discussed in Newsweek

In a November (2005) Newsweek I found an article in the Business section about search engine optimization (SEO.) Well-done Newsweek. Did the article inspire the small-medium enterprise? Well, not exactly. The practice is described as a “Shadowy world,” and optimization firms are likened to lobbyists.

Lobbyists? Now that fills me with pride.

Brad Stone gets it right in several areas though, including his comment that some sites appear at the top due to unscrupulous methods. This is true, but not for long.  Google (and Yahoo! and MSN) are too big and too smart to let “search engine spammers” skew their results.

The fact that SEO is being covered in a magazine like Newsweek is inspiring to me because it helps bring the opportunity into the mainstream. SMB’s have so much to gain from SEO, but many of my clients aren’t yet making the investment because evaluating the service is difficult.  And with everything else that’s competing for your attention throughout the day researching something new often gets re-prioritized. Hey, I get it.

The article targets the consumer/searcher more than the business-owner, and the tone of Stone’s somewhat dark portrayal of the SEO industry plants the seed of fear. Granted it’s warranted to some degree, as there is plenty of deceptive advertising out there ("TOP 10 SEARCH ENGINE PLACEMENT GUARANTEED!!!") as well as over-promise, under-deliver among "SEO specialists." My advice in moving forward is simple-- gather information and select someone that understands where the internet fits in your business model (and someone that you trust.)

The SEO opportunity for the SME is of course huge, especially for geographically-bounded businesses, but when they have reason to fear the vendors they will hold off on the investment.

OK, back to the shadows.