Search Marketing InsiderPay Per Click, Social Media and SEO Strategies – An Internet Marketing Institute Publication

How much time have you lost on prospects who never converted? How much of your traffic is a waste of bandwidth? Would you improve your conversion rates if you could?

You need to invest some time in creating a customer profile. These are so powerful, I use one every time I create a piece of content or work on my marketing strategy.  It determines how I sell my services and how I approach clients.  Otherwise, I find myself serving someone I don’t know, and this rarely works.

Here’s what you need to know:

The “Who”

Who should you work with? Not a general description like ‘small businesses’, but actual names. Make a list of companies or individuals you would call your ‘ideal clients’. Go through your client list and pull out your favorites. If you’re an ecommerce store, pull out a list of the most loyal and profitable customers, and don’t forget your analytics.

• How educated are they?
• How much of an income do they have to dedicate to the things you provide or could provide?
• What are their goals and how do they do business?
• When their clients, competitors, and complementary businesses/industries describe them, what kinds of words do they use?
• Who makes the buying decisions
• How many employees do they have?

• What they like to do, what they dream of, and what are their biggest fears?

By the time you’re done with the ‘who’ section, you should know them much like you do an old friend.

The “What”

Take time to discover what your target audience is looking for, what they need, and what they like and dislike. Here are some questions to ask:

• What kinds of worries, concerns, and problems do my ideal clients have?
• What do my ideal clients look for? *Hint* This likely won’t be a product or service, but rather a solution to a problem.
• What does my ideal client do well?
• What are their weaknesses?
• What do they get from my competitors?
• What issues do they have with my competitors? How could that product or service be improved?
• What does my ideal client need or have issues with that aren’t being met in a convenient, easy, and satisfying way?

The “Where”
This is where you look at your ideal client’s habits and methods. This tells you what strategies they use, defines their targets audience, reveals effective marketing. Again, this is going to take some research, but it’s worth it.

• Where do your ideal customers go?
• What sorts of events do ideal clients attend?
• Where do they market their products/services and what do they avoid?
• Where do conversations about your ideal client’s products or services happen?
• Where do these clients get information?
• Where do they meet other suppliers?

The “Why”

This can be the most difficult, but it can make a huge difference in the choices you make, what you offer, and how you offer it.

• Why do potential clients buy from your competitors?
• Why does your client buy the things you offer in the first place?
• What complaints do they have about your competitors?
• What sort of compliments have potential clients given your competitors?
• What features do they place emphasis one?
• Why do current services or products fail to meet their needs?

The “When”

This is something to keep in mind, rather than include in your research: Client profiles need to be constantly updated to reflect the growth of your company, new insights you’ve gained, and changes in technology and industry views. You might even take this one step further by creating a client profile on your competitors to gather some great ideas.

When should you make use of your client profile? Any time you create or do something for clients! This includes social media, keyword research, pricing, content, and choosing your marketing and networking opportunities.

If you provide services or products in a business-to-business situation, have clients do client profiles for you. You’ll find your offerings will greatly improve and so with the results you are able generate.

Angie Nikoleychuk is the Senior Copywriter, Strategist, and Consultant for Angie’s Copywriting Service. She’s passionate about SEO, marketing, and behaviour. She loves a good marketing mystery, a great cup of coffee, and is an avid Twitter user.

Most of you probably know how to use the VLOOKUP formula for PPC, but chances are that you probably haven’t heard of the more powerful INDEX-MATCH lookup method.

Lookup formulas are an essential tool for every PPCer and are used primarily to add context and comparison metrics to your PPC analysis.  Here are a few of my favorite uses of lookup formulas:

• Date range comparisons
• What’s changed analysis
• Calculating Peer Comparisons in PPC Data
• PPC search query mining

Using lookup formulas to add context to PPC data analysis can really speed the discovery of insights.  The VLOOKUP is great for comparisons, but it does have its weaknesses.

One weakness is that, by default, the VLOOKUP returns an approximate match and not an exact match.  This can cause problems for inexperienced VLOOKUP users by returning false values.  If you are using the approximate match, then the sort order becomes very important.

Another weakness is that the VLOOKUP can only lookup values in the first column of a table array, and can only return values from columns to the right of the first columns—this can be annoying.

Of course, most of us have been using the VLOOKUP successfully for years now, and if it was the only option available we would still considered ourselves blessed.  However, there happens to be another lookup up method that doesn’t have these weakness and promises to be more powerful and flexible—INDEX-MATCH.

Using the INDEX-MATCH lookup method

I’ve just started to transition to the INDEX-MATCH formula, so I am by no means an expert, but you can use it for all of the analysis types listed above without having to worry about the limitations of the VLOOKUP.  The formula is actually made up of two Excel functions:

=INDEX(reference, row_num, column_num)

• reference—a range of cells
• row_num—the row in reference from which to return data.
• column_num—the column in reference from which to return data.

If reference is one row or column, INDEX can use this syntax: =INDEX(reference, cell_num)

=MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_array, match_type)

• lookup_value—the value to match in lookup_array.
• lookup_array—range of cells with data.
• match_type—specifies how Excel matches the lookup_value with values in the lookup_array. For exact matches, always use 0 for this argument.

Here’s an example of using the INDEX-MATCH formula that returns the sum of impressions for a previous time period:

=INDEX(reference, MATCH(lookup_value,lookup_array,match_type))

As you can see, the INDEX-MATCH formula is returning a value that is located to the left of the lookup array.  This is convenient because a primary key was created for the lookup value to the right of the both sets of data.  This keeps us from having to insert a column into the original report data just to get it on the right side of the reference column.

The INDEX-MATCH formula is quickly becoming part of my everyday PPC analysis.  I hope you also find in useful.

##

This is a guest post by Chad Summerhill, Author of the blog PPC Prospector, provider of free PPC tools & PPC tutorials, and AdWords Specialist at Moving Solutions, Inc. (UPack.com and MoveBuilder.com).

If you have a local business, you surely have checked yourself out on Google, Yahoo & Bing, right? That means you have entered your company name (brand), your keywords and checked out how your competition is doing (if not, do it now).

When you register your website and business listings information on the website on Google for example, make sure you follow the visual local business guide that they provide.

This article is more about how to drive quality local traffic to your site rather than the administration of it. However, it should be clear that if you have not set up a website and organized your listings, the traffic will go to waste, so get your local search ranking steps done first.

From the web traffic generation solutions below, the best traffic is the visitors that lead to a conversion of some sort – a phone call, requesting a special report you have, watching a video with a call to action at the end, or asking more question via your contact form. You should always pursue this type of traffic. For example, 1,000 followers in a month on Twitter mean nothing by itself.

For this list – you can do some of these every week, only spending a couple of hours time. You can get some help too. (The list below is not ordered in priority).

#1 Press release

You should consider this when you have something to say. And, forget the high-priced press release sources. Use webwire.com for less than 20 bucks to start. (However, price is always an aspect to consider. Everything on the cheap, all the time – is not necessarily good either).

#2 Blog

Get a blog set up. If you cannot do it on your site, try for free on wordpress.com. Yes, you must have a blog, even if it’s only once a week post. Make sure it’s easy to share across social networks.

#3 Podcasting

Like to talk, and not big on writing? Try podcasting and push out to podcast directories. And, don’t forget iTunes.com. It’s easier than you think.

#4 Craigslist

Local ads, posts and classifieds can be good source of targeted traffic for you.

#5 Bookmarking

All content should be bookmarked, try socialmarker.com and Onlywire.com. This is easy to outsource to places like elance.com and odesk.com also.

#6 Guest Blogging

Begin with watching / researching your space. Find out who the top 20 bloggers are, add valuable comments. Search for “guest blogging” + your keywords. Don’t spam them. Try to help.

#7 Directories

Local directories will be very useful both for traffic and relevancy. Outside of the Internet yellow pages (Yellowpages, Superpages, Insiderpages, etc) – you can find them by typing your marketplace keywords into Google, combined with city or region. (Consider signing up for the free local webinar below to get them all). Make sure you get reviews for your local business. And, don’t forget to use getlisted.org to check your business listings.

#8 RSS

Submit to RSS directories. Look for directories in Google. Anything you publish, from your blog and across RSS-enabled platforms should be submitted.

#9 Document shares

Make sure you brand (add links and contact information) to your PDFs and Powerpoint slides. Then, upload them to Scribd and Slideshare

#10 Twitter

Twitter is debated on return from efforts at times. Can you get clients and get traffic from Twitter? You may see limited traffic or engagement at first, but it’s a network you should build out. Every market and social media strategy is different, but it will pay off over time. Go sign up now, and use Twitter search functions to see what your competition and market is up to.

#11 LinkedIn

LinkedIn is another ‘default’ social media network. Your company should be listed here. And join groups that are related to your marketplace. When you have content to share, do it within those groups. Great for events as well, and they are professionals just like you.

#12 Videos

Start with YouTube. Make a short video series of “thing you should know about X” (X is your market, profession or product). Make sure to add an attention-grabbing, keyword-focused title. Add your website address first in the description. To expand your videos across other networks, use Tubemogul to distribute. They also have paid option. Don’t make these videos too long (1-3 minutes), and provide good, useful information. Don’t try to sell too hard here. Consider buying a video channel that already receives traffic, and place your website address at the top.

#13 Facebook

Make to sign up with Facebook places and configure it for your local business. But don’t stop there.  Use Facebook to set up a profile and brand (fan) pages too. Consider Facebook local ad targeting and test traffic between your actual website and Facebook pages. And find out how big mobile is in your market, and make your website and pages mobile friendly.

So – as you’ve learned, it will take some work to get your network and online presence handled. However, it’s not hard. It just takes some dedicated time to complete. But, you must feed your baby every week, and it will grow. Final Tips: use Google.com/alerts to track activity for your marketplace, and check out cool 5-dollar job fiverr.com for simple tasks to complete.

***********************************

Jon Rognerud is an online marketing expert and published author with focus on helping small business entrepreneurs to grow and getting found online. This includes business consulting and planning for web success using PPC, SEO, Social Media and online/offline marketing tactics. Register for a free local webinar to learn more.

Last fall I made the big career move from in-house to agency, and last week I attended my first search conference, SEMpdx’s SearchFest, since crossing over to the other side.  Even if the subject matter is the same, the perspective is very different.  So, during the day’s sessions, I found myself thinking about how I might have done things differently at my last company.

I won’t lie – when I joined Anvil Media last fall, after a long tenure as an in-house online marketing manager, I was burnt out on working on the same website for four years, and frustrated that, after so much hard work, we hadn’t conquered the online world.

In particular, Marshall Simmonds and Dustin Woodward’s session, Implementing Your Search Marketing Strategy, gave me a lot of food for thought and helped me flesh out my top 5 things, if given the chance, I would have done differently:

1. Quit trying to reconcile data. We always had three sets of numbers: in-house tracking, Analytics and engine (AdWords, adCenter, affiliate program) data.  When I arrived, they were way off, and over time, they got a lot closer.  But I also spent an inordinate amount of time figuring out why they were off, and almost as much explaining to management how each number could be part right and part wrong.  Talking about implementing solid Analytics, Marshall referred to Omniture over-reporting, Webtrends under-reporting, and Analytics splitting the difference, and I realized: most of my clients now have conflicting numbers, depending on multiple reporting mechanisms and fine-tuning their Analytics over time.  Instead of trying to massage all those numbers to match up, pick the ones you trust, stick to them, and make them the ones that go in the reports.
2. Institute unified reporting. Along similar lines, different people in my organization requested different numbers.   Some were curious about traffic, some product performance, and some campaign metrics.  So, in an effort to give each exactly what he/she needed, and not overwhelm anyone with too much search engine geekery, I found myself providing one set of regular reports to the Director of Marketing, other one-off reports to the General Manager, and so on.  What would have saved me time, and more importantly, provided a much clearer picture of our online presence, would be to “present digestible, simplified, unified metrics across the organization.”
3. Don’t be afraid to engage an agency. Dustin Woodward’s presentation focused on the differing tactics, ammunition and roadblocks specific to each size of small business – different sized teams and budgets dictate different approaches to online marketing.  It struck me that almost every tier, from the one-man show to the well-funded, established business, included some kind of outside involvement.  My former company was never big enough to build a team under me to distribute the load of SEO, SEM, email, site content, and so on, but I’ll admit I bristled initially at the suggestion of bringing on an agency.  Engaging an agency, whether it’s shoestring help getting AdWords up & running, a one-time audit of existing efforts, or fully outsourced PPC management, allows you to leverage an entire team of search experts and frees you up to focus on the big picture needs of your business.
4. Avoid design by committee. As Woodward moved to bigger businesses with healthier budgets, he spoke of “paralysis by analysis” and the danger of “design by committee.”  Once you have the luxury of taking time to evaluate your website, suddenly everybody wants to be part of the redesign!   We went through usability testing, assembled an interdepartmental committee, had all sorts of executive discussions, and ended up with a new website that, well, looked and acted like it was designed in a conference room, far from the developers or marketers most qualified to drive the process!  Soliciting and incorporating input from around the company is extremely important, but you also need to make sure you don’t end up with too many cooks in the kitchen.
5. Pay closer attention to specific competitor tactics. My former company was in an extremely competitive space, so I spent a lot of time keeping an eye on the other guys – I knew who had a great website, who was spending tons on AdWords, and who had what reputation among our customers.  But, it was another SearchFest session, John Andrews and Todd Malicoat’s on Competitive Intelligence that got me thinking on a whole other level.  Andrews dug deep into ways to build competitive intelligence – analyzing habits on Twitter, chasing down AdSense placements, poring over source code.   SEM is very much a game of “keeping up with the Joneses,” where fortunately, the Joneses leave all sorts of clues.  Putting on my BizDev hat, I focused most of my competitive intelligence at a strategic level.  But, I would have been better off leaving on that schwaggy Google hat I got at the last search conference and analyzing our competitors on a more tactical level in order to “emulate their successes and exploit their weaknesses.”

**************************************

Andy Lohr joined Anvil Media as an Account Executive in November 2010, bringing with him almost a decade of in-house SEM, SEO and Web content experience.  Andy began his career in search at LookSmart.com, where he helped build one of the 1st generation Web directories and one of the first paid search inclusion programs.  He is thrilled to be a part of the Anvil Media team, and the opportunity to stay on the cutting edge of online marketing and to help great companies like gDiapers, Icebreaker, and Moonstruck.

This is a prime example of what can happen when you take a sub-par approach to search engine optimization and create a less than stellar strategy for a large global brand. The slightest mistake could easily thrust you into a negative spotlight causing you to spend years repairing the issue and not to mention the costs involved for online brand repair. If you are a large organization like JC Penny you should keep a much closer eye on how you generate links online because you could find yourself in the dog house if you cut corners and take a spammy approach.

Here is a list of things we can all learn from the JC Penny SEO nightmare:

Always Understand What Your SEO Firm Is Doing
Sure it is difficult to keep an eye on every single little thing that happens online but JC Penny should have had a slightly better grasp on what their search marketing firm SearchDex was doing behind their back. If you have an employee in charge of being the contact point or liaison between your brand and the search marketing company it is your duty to be inquisitive about the efforts and strategy in place. In this case SearchDex has been their firm of choice for a number of years and maybe someone got complacent at JC Penny and figured this sort of thing could never happen but it did.

Keep an Eye on Your SEO Link Building Efforts at All Times
You should always be reviewing what sorts of links are being built for your website. Sites like Google are really stepping up their spam department to oust unruly websites looking for loopholes and using them. This is just another example of the Google police stepping in and reprimanding a large global brand for their spammy link building efforts.

Too Big To Fail Doesn’t Apply with SEO
It doesn’t matter how big of a company you are or how much you spend with pay per click advertising if you are cutting corners on your SEO, Google’s algorithm could whack you for it. What many people don’t often realize is that Google does not necessarily have a physical human giving out penalties. Their search algorithm is designed to automatically give out a penalty to websites that could be trying to manipulate the search system and it is up to the website to clean up any bad links or website issues to allow the penalty to release itself. It does not matter if you have 1 employee or 1 million employees the algorithm doesn’t really care and if a red flag pops up you are going to have a rough morning if you rely on all your organic search rankings.

Communication Is Always Important
Communication between you and your firm on a constant basis is always important especially when you start to head into an area where things are extremely advanced. When you start to get into enterprise search engine optimization the efforts and steps can get highly complex. A marketing manager in charge of the account might not want to understand all the steps being taken but they really need to so these things don’t happen in the future.

Understand The Clear Difference Between White Hat and Black Hat SEO
I understand that you can’t recognize all efforts of search engine optimization if you are really not in the thick of it but do some research on your part so you understand what it is that could get you into trouble. Things that were done years ago are not necessarily allowed any longer and if you still apply them to your online marketing approach you could find yourself or your website in the hot seat. There are many resources online where you can educate yourself on the topics of reputation management and brand management.

The moral of this story is get a grasp on what types of search engine optimization efforts are being conducted on your company’s website. Just because everything is safe right now does not mean that it will always stay safe. Things change in the search engines and algorithms update very frequently. It is up to you and your service provider to monitor these changes and roll with the punches otherwise you land in the hot seat like our friends over at JC Penny.

Image via Gentleman Standard
**************************************
Nick Stamoulis is the President and Founder of the SEO services firm, Brick Marketing.  Nick Stamoulis writes daily in his SEO blog, the Search Engine Optimization Journal.