Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click Building Your Online Success Jennifer Shaheen The Technology & eMarketing Therapist www.TechnologyTherapy.com You Will Learn • How consumers currently search the web • How to identify the most promising phrases for search optimization • How link building and social media affect traffic to your site • SEO, PPC and SEM - What they are and how they can help you build traffic to your site • How to develop sound budgets and tactics for your online search strategy. PPC SEO Search Engine Strategies • SEO: • (Search Engine Optimization) is the art and science of publishing information and marketing it in a manner that helps search engines understand how your information is relevant to relevant search queries. • PPC: • (Pay-Per-Click) is a pricing model where ads are shown on search engines and contextual partners, but you are only charged if a potential customer clicks on your ad. We All Start Here Choosing Your Keywords / Phrases • How do you search? “New Year’s Eve Parties in Boston” “Cloud based CRM solution” “Best Chef Restaurants Atlanta” Who Is Your Customer? • How does your customer ask" questions? • What words or phrases do " your clients use to describe " what you do? • Is your customer looking to buy right away or just get information? • Are brands or location of value? Keyword Research 1. Start by making a list of what you consider good keywords. • Think like your customer • Will they type brand names? • Do they know the jargon? Keyword Research Type the words into Google | Yahoo| MSN • Did your results return competitors? • If NO – then this is not a good keyword phrase Keyword Research Narrow down your list & then see how competitive " the words your choosing really are? • https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox • http://freekeywords.wordtracker.info/ SEO " Search Engine Optimization " especially on " Google Google’s Goals • Google is trying to make the search experience more precise for the searcher. Not the company trying to reach them. • Google changes their algorithm to enhance the searchers experience. Feb 24, 2011 • Matt Cutts (head of Google’s Webspam team) said, “Google has been thinking for quite some time about how to deal with content that isn’t obvious spam but is clearly not designed with the best interests of the user in mind. Google needs to be open to ways where we can improve.” What Effects SEO? • How your website is designed • Popularity • Content • Inbound links: • Directories • Social Media • Twitter • Facebook • Linked in • Yelp • Other web sites Search Optimization • What drives search engines to index your website? Site Design / Layout What a search engine will see What You See Search Optimization • What drives search engines to index your website? Relevancy Keyword placement areas: Header area Page & folder names Content Headings Images / alt tags – keep it under 100 Links –names & titles Internal Links It’s all about strong CSS coding Preparing for SEO • Keyword research • Plan to build and follow SEO best practices: • Google Accessibility guidelines:" http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py? answer=40349 • Yahoo Search Help:" http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/basics/index.html • KISS • Sites that have simple elements make some of the best seo designed sites. Note: h(p://validator.w3.org/ Clarifying SEO Myths • Meta tags are disregarded by search engines. TRUE & FALSE" • Meta description is more about marketing than seo: • “While Google does not to take the keywords meta tag into account, Yahoo is using it.” • Robots are often used to call crawlers back to the site. • Value = noindex, nofollow • “Don't fill your page with lists of keywords, attempt to "cloak" pages, or put up "crawler only" pages.” – Google Keywords & Content • You need relevant content. • Page Title " (up to 60 Characters) • Meta Description for " marketing (160 characters) • On Page Headings • Cross-Linking in your " content • Marketing tip: • Provide humans " with actionable requests Page & Folder names • Page and folder names are one of the first things the engine sees so try and use keywords here. Domain name Page Name Link Building • Guest writing on blogs or local newspapers • Commenting on some blogs that reference web addresses • Business Groups, associations and directories • Social Media Google Places Google Webmaster Google Webmaster Invest in SEO Monitoring Software Invest in SEO Monitoring Software Getting Business Now! SEM & PPC What is SEM? • Search engine marketing, or SEM, is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion.[1] -Definition from Wikipedia -PPC is apart of SEM Advertising Jargon • CPM: Cost per thousand impressions • CPC: Cost per click Through • CPL: Cost per lead (lead usually meaning a free registration) • CPS: Cost per sale • CPA: Cost per action PPC • Pros • Cons • Flexibility to test different ad copy • Cost messaging for conversion • More people click on organic • Unlimited keywords (cast a wider side. [65%/35%] net) • Immediate results (can increase within a week or two) • Test landing pages Google Traffic Estimator https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox Adwords • Keyword research • Groups words into Ad Groups / Campaigns • Write 2 different ads • Send visitors to landing pages • Monitor the conversions Tricks to Ad Group Management • Geo Target: • Show your ads only in areas of the country your business is focused on. If you can sell anywhere think about where your target audience is. This will keep you from wasting your funds. • Time Control: • Don’t run your ad 24/7 set a time range for your ads so you can maximize your spending. • Bid per word: • Google likes you to group bid but I recommend looking at each word and changing your bids based on the different success rates you are having • Contextual Ads: • You may want to turn this feature off or Set different bids for these ads to make you dollar go farther. Ad Group: Campaign • Create a campaign per service Specific = Success ; General = Wasted • Identify negative phrases: • This will vary for everyone – FREE, CHEAP if you’re an upscale firm. • Split Test: • Create 2 Ads • Google will rotate • Delete inferior ad and try it again The Power of Landing Pages • One focused goal # of People who took ac=on • Most important message upfront # of total visitors • User & site targeting • Reduce or remove navigation • Higher conversion rates: 250 forms requests 25% 1000 visitors Landing Pages & URL’s • When creating ad groups create them around focused keywords and direct traffic to specific pages Landing Pages & URL’s Landing Pages & URL’s Goal Tracking • Setup Goal Tracking in Your Google Analytics Change & Track • Your Ad Groups need to change: • With the season • With the trends • Be sure to add in your goal tracking & analytics code for tracking Connecting & Reviewing Analytics Be sure you connect your adwords to your analytics Connecting & Reviewing Analytics Connecting & Reviewing Analytics Marketing On Your Website Focusing on your site: • Your visitors don’t spend time analyzing your site – if they don’t see it, they leave • Items & messages must be focused – called out • What do you do? Tell me simply - direct • Don’t be afraid to be forward – make your copy and call outs bold • Ask for the sale – tell the person the action to take – don’t assume they know what to do Marketing On Your Website Design elements that effect sales: • Colors of buttons • Placement & color of navigation bars • Is it an ad or a call to action – banner ads are ignored Marketing On Your Website • Create different ways " to close your sale: • Service businesses: • Video • Booklets • Whitepapers • Audio • Social • Product businesses: • Video • Call to order • Downloadable fact sheets Thank You for Attending." Websites: TechnologyTherapy.com TechTherapy.tv Connect: Twitter.com/techtherapist" linkedin.com/in/technologytherapist" Facebook.com/TechnologyTherapy .