Pay Per Click StrategiesBetter Search Engine Marketing / Pay-Per-Click Results Start Here – We Guarantee It!

One of the benefits of social media marketing for micropreneurs and small business owners is that they can level the playing field — big time — by investing in this medium. In fact, it’s a perfectly suited medium for the entrepreneur with no budget or a small budget to compete with the big boys. Why/how?

One advantage that small businesses have over larger companies is their ability to really know their customer. When you know, you can engage more readily and effectively. This is a powerful advantage that many forward-thinking entrepreneurs are leveraging.

By putting just a small amount of effort into using social media marketing, your firm can stand head-to-head with larger companies — at least in this realm. And, it works! Proof? According to a post on Emarketer.com, a noted research firm that reports on digital media and marketing:

“. . . a February–March 2010 survey from office services firm Regus, smaller companies see the most success [with social media marketing], with nearly half of small businesses around the world having acquired a customer through social networks. . . . Overall, 40% of businesses studied had acquired a customer through a social [media] site, 35% of US businesses said the same.”

So, not only is social media marketing effective for small business, it appears to be a MORE effective outlet for them.

Is your firm leveraging this powerful outlet? If not, why?

Did You Know? PPC Summit’s next conference will bring the top minds in Social Media and Search Engine Marketing together during two days, three tracks and 27 expert-led classes in Los Angeles (Sept. 21-22, 2010).  The educational sessions cover all aspects surrounding: search marketing, search engine optimization, and social media best practices and strategies. You can’t afford to miss it!

B2B search marketing is mercurial. The rules are constantly changing and you have to adapt to keep getting the results you want for your pay per click marketing efforts. So you’re diligent; keeping abreast of the latest changes and implementing them as soon as possible.

But, in your zeal to keep up with the latest and shiniest, are you overlooking this one search engine optimization (SEO) guideline?

Not Treating Each Page as an “Individual Website”

Each page on your website should be treated as its own, individual website. For example, many B2B search marketers make the mistake of using the same meta tags for every page. This does little but, at the very least confuse search engines; and at worst, leaves a lot of traffic (and sales) on the table.

Meta tags should reflect what a web surfer can expect to find – on that particular page; NOT what they can find on your website as a whole.

So for example, if you operated an online women’s clothing store and sold shoes, handbags, lingerie, sportswear and professional wear, you wouldn’t have the same title, description and keyword tags for every page would you?

On your shoe page you would have meta tags that reflected this line of products, g, womens shoes, womens footwear, ladies shoes, etc.

On your handbags page, you would have meta tags that reflected this merchandise, eg, womens handbags, beaded handbags, evening handbags, etc.

And on and on.

See how not optimizing every page individually can cost you traffic and sales?

While meta tags may not be as sexy as say, keyword research and site analytics when it comes to search engine optimization, in B2B search marketing you need every competitive advantage you can get. Filling in your meta tags is the one thing you can do to get a competitive edge – precisely because so many neglect this area of search engine optimization.

Want to learn more hot tips to improve your B2B marketing efforts? Attend the  brand new B2B Search Strategy Summit where 150 senior marketing professionals will gather to network, share best practices and hone their B2B lead generation and search engine marketing skills coming in June to San Francisco. Get your discounted invitation by sending an email to invitation@B2BSearchStrategy.com  and use the code blog.

A successful pay per click campaign begins and ends with effective copy. After all, it’s the words that drive prospects to click, or not. To get high click thru rates however, you need more than good writing, you need effective search engine optimized (SEO) copy. Following are three SEO copywriting tips that will help to increase your pay per click campaign results.

Headlines: Some internet marketing experts say that headlines are the most important part of your PPC campaign. It’s usually the headline that gets noticed first. Your headline should always, always, always contain keywords. Add to it an effective qualifier, eg, free, discount, cheap, easy, etc., and you are well on your way to increasing your click thru rates.

Landing Page: An effective headline will get your prospect through to your real workhorse; your landing page. Your landing page should also include keyword phrases sprinkled throughout the copy.

The best places to put your keywords on your landing page are in the headings and subheadings. Other SEO copywriting tips for your landing page are to:

• Leave lots of white space on the page
• Use bullet points and numbered lists of points; and
• Use your main keyword phrase in the last paragraph of the page.

The running thread through all of these tips is that keyword placement on the page is as important as the keywords themselves.

Use Google AdWord Keyword Tool: When it comes to keywords, you shouldn’t repeat the exact same keyword phrase or you could get banned by the search engines for spamming. This is why learning to use Google’s AdWord Keyword Tool is important. It will give you alternate phrases you can use in place of your main keyword phrase.

These SEO copywriting tips should be employed in all of your pay per click campaigns; in fact, in all of your internet marketing efforts – to get maximum results.

Seven Do’s and Don’ts For Google Adwords Campaign Success:

#1 Make sure your unique selling proposition distinguishes your product or service from the competition - try to incorporate benefits into your ad.

#2 Conduct market research - understand the search habits of your target audience and analyze your audience demographics.

#3 Set budget limits for your campaign costs (daily, weekly or monthly) - don’t spend more than 10 percent of your average sales amount.

#4 Bid on keywords that your target audience uses - don’t make the mistake of bidding too high for popular terms. 

#5 Build extensive keyword lists – review where/how your target audience searches, analyze your website traffic and study your competition. Use online keyword generation tools to save time.

#6 Give viewers a reason to click on your ad – copy should include a ‘call to action’ and create a sense of urgency to move the viewer. Use your search terms in the headline and/or ad text and make sure to test multiple ad variations. Incorporate product/brand names, discounts and free trials into your ad message when possible.  

#7 Create optimized custom landing pages – make sure your ad copy is relevant to the keywords on the destination page. 

And remember to always monitor and analyze your ad results - check the conversions/click through rates of your ads and keywords often. 

We hope 2009 is off to a great start for you! In 2009 we look forward to bringing PPC Summit, the premier Search Engine Marketing educational conference, to Chicago: April 22-23, New York: June 16-17 and Los Angeles: Sept. 23-24. During two-days of comprehensive training, PPC Summit offers laser-focused educational sessions to help online advertisers increase their ROI and maximize their Pay Per Click marketing dollars.

Experts from Microsoft, Google, and others lead hands-on workshops, panel discussions, training sessions and more. Sessions cover keyword development, customer conversions, bidding strategies, web site analytics and tracking, quality score & site rank, search engine copywriting tactics, B2B & B2C ad techniques, web site & landing page development and deployment and more!

Here’s what past attendees are saying…“My sales are up 350% and cost-per-sale is down 48.3% after applying the PPC Summit expert strategies.” David Wagner, PPC Summit Los Angeles attendee.

PRE-REGISTER NOW and SAVE $400 for PPC Summit:
>Chicago: April 22-23
>New York: June 16-17
>Los Angeles: Sept. 23-24

For more info visit, www.ppcsummit.com or email marketing@ppcsummit.com
Just 160 seats available at each conference!

PPC Summit LA Speaker and Trainer Mary Huffman

Pay Per Click (PPC) Summit Los Angeles brought together 100+ internet marketers at the Omni Hotel on Sept. 25 -26, 2008.

The conference provided many opportunities for internet marketers and online businesses to learn about the latest education, issues, strategies, technologies and network with industry experts. Nearly 150 participants learned how to create and manage profitable PPC campaigns on Google, Microsoft adCenter, Yahoo! Search Marketing and more. The event delivered 20+ interactive sessions, a Meet The Experts networking reception and best selling SEO free book signing and giveaway. Attendees lined up to receive a signed copy of Tim Ash’s best selling Landing Page Optimization book and every attendee walked way with comprehensive manuals, information and tools to help them step up their internet marketing return on investment.

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A FREE PASS TO
PPC SUMMIT LA SEPT. 25-26, 2008
Prize Valued at $1199.00

Pay Per Click Summit is calling all internet marketers to submit the Top 3 Search Engine Marketing techniques that increased your conversions and results!

Only one submission per person and make sure to include your name and email in the spaces provided on the submission form at www.ppcsummit.com/contest

Stand by to see if your Best Strategy submission is chosen as the winner, and you will win a FREE FULL CONFERENCE PASS TO PPC SUMMIT LA (Sept. 25-26)! The PPC Summit experts will review all submissions and choose one overall winner to be notified by email on Sept. 9.

PPC Summit is the leading educational two-day Search Engine Marketing workshop. For more details, go to www.ppcsummit.com

Thank you for participating and good luck!

The PPC Summit Team