Category: News & Trends

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Google AdWords Going for the Gold Ring!

Since September 2007, I have been watching the cost per click escalate in Google AdWords. I have seen nearly a 20% increase in this period in the cost per click to achieve the same position on the page. Part of the increase in click cost is due to the number of advertisers moving into Google AdWords and part is due to the philosophy that many business owners have that they want to own the number one spot in sponsored search. Both have created a market where for some white collar business sectors we have seen clicks move from $6.50 to over $10.00.

As the cost per click increases, the budget needs to increase or the number of clicks per day and month shrinks. For many of the accounts we work on, the budget cannot be increased, so what can you do? I have found that by dropping the cost per click and lowering the expectation of ad position on the page we can double or triple the number of impressions and in many, but not all cases, we can increase the number of clicks from 10 to 30%. For many businesses this increase in activity can generate more selling opportunities, micro conversions, and be a very savvy strategy, but it requires owner buy-in and careful account monitoring.

Most people will agree that more clicks are better than less clicks in the top positions. Not always do ads higher on the page in Google convert better than those lower on the page. For some businesses, it is all a numbers game, more clicks means more sales. But I have found from experience that this strategy does not fly on Yahoo and is not valid for every business, every client, and every market sector.

If you are tired of escalating click cost, now is the time to take a careful look and test dropping your CPC to see if you can squeeze out more activity for your program.

 

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Safari Browser on Windows Operating Systems

Surfing the web.Don’t you hate that Apple tries repeatedly to install the Safari Browser bundled with iTunes and QuickTime! I have resisted downloading Safari as I really do not like the intrusiveness of anyone trying to bundle software and install it on my computer, and now Microsoft has released an alert about Safari.

You can read the full alert from Microsoft here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/953818.mspx. It appears that Safari allows executable files to be installed on the desktop and take over your computer once you visit an infected website. Don’t think that could happen to you? The Google AdWords client who had his account hijacked was sending clicks to a poisoned website where malware was installed.

In some cases poisoned sites will install malware that your virus software won’t even detect. You do have to be careful of the neighborhoods you surf in. Using Safari on a Windows system simply keeps you open for problems. It also appears that Safari lets certain types of files be downloaded automatically without asking the user, a very dangerous protocol.

My recommendation is that if you are using Windows, stay away from Safari until Apple gets with the program in regards to security on Windows systems. By the way Apple, stop the bundling with QuickTime and the repeated nag boxes if we want your stuff, we’ll find you and download it, don’t try to shove it at us.

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Building Web Authority with Whitepapers

Helping HandsContent, style, tone, and message are king on the Web. If you have great content and market your website through a variety of channels you will build web authority as well as website traffic over time. Getting one way inbound links is just one great way to build web authority for your website, but this may take an investment of your own personal time.

Whitepapers are typically researched and documented unique content. Typically one that you or one of your employees has done based on the unique trends of your business or marketplace. It is very difficult for a professional writer to write a whitepaper for you. Whitepapers will usually document data that has been accumulated over months of observation and then savvy analysis that pulls it all together proving a conclusion point. A whitepaper is not a derivative work of data that is available on the web; it should be unique and created about a specific topic.

The time that you invest in researching and writing a whitepaper for your business can turn into a marketing goldmine. At my firm, I will typically write one in-depth whitepaper once a year. I tie a subscription to my monthly newsletter to the whitepaper, meaning that you will need to give me your email address in order to download my free whitepaper. In a short time I have added several hundred names to my e-newsletter subscription list effectively extending my reach. Some whitepapers I offer free and other websites and web authorities drive traffic to my own website just for this content. One in particular is a paper that I did on how to stop spoofing of your domain name. Internet service providers routinely link victims to my site for our research and commentary on what to do when you are spoofed.

I have found that not only creating whitepapers on topics that interest me that I would like to learn more about, but by archiving them I am providing very authoritative quality content that not only provides a service to readers, but educates them, is widely discussed on the Web, and adds to my own personal knowledge base. I have never sold access to my whitepapers but do use them as marketing vehicles and promote them on my website, blog, and e-newsletter.

If you don’t have the time to invest in research and writing of a whitepaper, don’t despair feature articles written by professional writers may be the alternative for you. Check out our post tomorrow for more information on how you can build web authority with this technique written by professional writers.

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Building Web Authority with Feature Articles or Linkbait Articles

If whitepapers are not for you as mentioned in our previous post then feature articles or linkbait articles may be the best option for you. With these types of articles, you can easily pay a good web content writer to create a 600 to 800 word article for you on topics that dovetail with the services you provide.

Once created, you can register the articles with a variety of article directories for syndication on other websites, in ezines, or on other blogs. The articles will provide a one-way inbound link back to your website and will appear in Google on the article directory site.

For some clients, we recommend the additional installation of an article directory back on their website as a repository for this created content. If your blogger has written these articles, the research and topics will provide additional content creation opportunities. Additionally these articles can be pointed to by links from within your own website and blog either at the article directory or in your online article repository.

By cross linking all you do with specially created content, you help to point search engines to the content that builds your own authority.

Personally I have found that Google does not really factor in the one way inbound links that you get from article directories to improve your organic position with this technique, but Yahoo and MSN will move you up on the search results page with feature articles registered at the various article directories.

Now the very pointed question, if doing articles, which can be costly, doesn’t help you with Google placement why do them, you should do them to create authority for your website. This is one reason why we recommend an article repository back on your own website; so you build credibility in your readers’ eyes as well as for search engines. We know that articles of this nature do not give you an important immediate organic boost, but much of what builds authority and organic placement is not about immediate results but long-term results for readers PLUS search engines.