The Work Media Internet Marketing Blog

Search Engine Optimization(SEO) - Pay-Per-Click Advertising(PPC) - Website Traffic and Path Analysis - Optimized Press Releases - SEO Copywriting - Blogging - Article Writing - Newsletters - Everything you need to know to be successful in your Internet marketing.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Time to Break Out the Flash? Hell No!

Some news came out recently that Google and Adobe are working together to make Flash-based web sites indexable. So...it's safe to start building sites in Flash now, since Google will be able to index and rank them, right?

Forget about it. Unless you already have high name recognition and receive heavy direct traffic that does not originate from search engines, then you need to stick with the basics.

Google has been able to read the text portion of Flash files for a good while. After reading about the new initiative, nothing really jumped out at me as being any different from what Google already does. They are studying Flash in-depth to better understand how it works and how to index Flash content.

Studying?...

To me, "studying" doesn't mean much. It could still be years before Google can interpret a Flash file the way it can a standard HTML file. Do not rely on advances within Google to raise your search engine rankings. Be proactive, work hard, and stick to the fundamentals.

If you don't know what the fundamentals are, you need to call us. Or spend some time reading through our old blog posts, or any of the free guides on our Resources page. Those are the fundamentals. Content, optimized HTML, and links. Stick with those, and avoid Flash, unless search engine rankings are not important to your business.

If you need some help optimizing your web site, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: Flash, google, internet marketing, search engine optimization, search engine rankings, seo, web site marketing

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Early AdWords Campaign Awareness

Quick Tip: For the first couple of weeks after launching a new AdWords campaign, watch your keywords every day to make sure they are still online.

It's easy to feel like you've accomplished something after setting up an AdWords campaign and beginning the process of driving paid traffic to your site. But you can't take your eyes off of the situation. Even if Google begins sending a stream of traffic to your site, it is highly likely that very soon it will begin shutting off your keywords. What seems to happen is that AFTER your account is up and running, the Google system begins an audit of your campaigns to see how closely your keywords match your ad content (and possibly even your landing pages), the kind of click rates your keywords and ads have, etc. While it's going through this process, it will probably be shutting off many of your keywords and insisting that you bid more (MUCH more in some cases) to turn them back on.

So if you're not paying attention, the traffic you started receiving at the beginning of your Google campaign will dry up to a trickle until you adjust your bids. So being aware of what's going on with your campaigns early on is critical to keeping your ads running.

You can avoid this situation by bidding very high early in your campaign. The problem is you could end up paying more than you should in order to have a profitable account. It is probably best to start low and adjust your bids up as needed, rather than starting high and adjusting down.

Call us if you need some help monitoring your pay per click campaign.

Labels: google, Google Adwords, internet marketing, paid search, pay per click, pay per click management, ppc, search engine marketing, sem

Monday, June 30, 2008

Just Say No to Paid Links

In the past, we have recommended using paid links (not paid search ads, but paid links) to boost a web site's external link count and improve its search engine rankings. Although much has been made the last couple of year's about Google's battle against paid search marketers who use paid links, the technique continued to work.

But that trend may have changed.

We recently noticed that a site for which we had been using paid links received a beatdown at the hands of Google in terms of its rankings. They plummeted. Around that same time, we noticed that Google had launched a new form where anyone can report a web site for using paid links. Then I guess the Google decency patrol will investigate and punish the site accordingly.

So...when it comes to something so important, so precious, as your search engine rankings, you can't take any chances. We think the environment for using paid links may have gotten too dangerous, now that Google has made it so easy and encourages narcing on other sites for using paid links.

If you are paying for links, our advice is to reallocate that money toward press release distribution. You will accomplish the result of generating new links, and you will be safe from punishment at the hands of Google. So protect your rankings and play it safe.

Stay away from paid links.

Call Work Media today at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net if you need some help with your search engine marketing.

Labels: internet marketing, linking, linking campaign, online press releases, paid links, pr, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine rankings, seo, web marketing

Friday, June 27, 2008

A More Accurate Way to Estimate Keyword Traffic

The very best source of keyword data for your search engine optimization campaign may be your own paid search campaign. We use keyword research tools such as NicheBot.com a lot, especially early in the life of an SEO campaign. The problem is the data generated by such tools is only an estimate, and sometimes those estimates are highly inaccurate.

If you want concrete proof about the potential traffic for various keywords, take a look at the search queries people are using that have triggered your ads. In Google, you can run a search query performance which will show you most of the actual search terms that were used when your ads were displayed. One column of data in the report is impression share. If you run a report for a month, then divide the number of queries for any particular keyword by the impression share for that month, you will have a pretty accurate total for the number of times that keyword was used in that month. If you then divide that by 30, you will have an estimate for the number of times that search term is used on a daily basis.

The formulas are as follows:

Monthly Searches = Number of Impressions / Impression Share

Daily Searches = (Number of Impressions / Impression Share) / 30

You can then plug these search queries into NicheBot or another tool to get an idea of how many directly competing sites there are for the keyword. Or you can type the search query into Google surrounded by quotes to get an estimate of the competition.

The final data set created by doing this will give you a more accurate picture of actual search traffic and competition than simply relying on the information provided by keyword research tools. You can't go wrong with hard data.

If you need some help conducting keyword research for your search engine optimization or pay per click marketing campaigns, please call Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: Google Adwords, internet marketing, keyword research, keywords, paid search, pay per click, search engine marketing, search engine optimization

Monday, June 23, 2008

Blog Post Starter Ideas

There are times when it is difficult to think of something to blog about, especially when you blog often. So here is a list of some starter ideas for blog posts.

1. Things you like or don't like.
2. Industry news.
3. Top list of reasons to do or not do something.
4. Results of industry research.
5. How to do something.
6. Sources of information about your industry.
7. Happenings within your business.
8. Sales or other company events.
9. Product or service reviews.
10.Recommendations.

Just take one of the above ideas and run with it. At Work Media, we specialize in the "how to" articles, because we want this blog to be an educational resource. But it is not necessary for your blog to be educational. More important is that it be entertaining and appealing to your target audience.

If you need some help with your blogging or search engine optimization strategy, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Don't be Discouraged by the Google Dance

Man, achieving a very high ranking in Google for desirable keywords can be tough. We have been heavily promoting our site for a few select keywords and are right on the cusp of positioning ourselves the way we want, but Google keeps bouncing us around. Now, I will say that these are very competitive keywords, and we're competing against lots of other companies that all know about search engine optimization...a pretty tough situation.

We actually rocketed up the rankings fairly quickly, then Google started moving us down, down, down. But we just kept working, and eventually we started rising again. The lesson here for you is that if you want high search engine rankings, you just to be patient and keep working. Never stop promoting. Never stop distributing content, writing your blog, seeking links partners, and all the other things you do to promote your web site.

Like we've said before: You can't outspend your competition, but you can outwork them. If you are intelligent in the way you go about your SEO campaign, eventually you will see results.

If you could use some professional help with your own search engine optimization campaign, call Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: google, internet marketing, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, seo, web marketing, web site marketing

Monday, June 16, 2008

Find a Place to Blog

I'm typing this on my laptop on the way to the office (I commute with my brothers most days, which often gives me the opportunity to work in the car), typing as fast as I can because my battery is going dead. This is the place where my type out most of my blogs. Since blogging is a non-revenue generating activity, I don't like to spend too much time in the office doing it.
What's your strategy for getting blog posts written?

You need to find a place, and a regular time if possible, to type out your blog posts. If you can systematize the process, it will make you more efficient at getting blogs posted and make the process less demanding. I recently blogged about the SEO content cycle, in which I suggested that you re-cycle blog material into articles, articles into books, etc. If you can find a regular place and location to type, you can begin this kind of content cycle, which could have a profound impact on your business.

If you are an early riser, maybe you can set aside some to blog early in the morning. If you're a night owl, then late at night might work better for you. If you're like me and often have time in the mornings on the way to work, then that might be the best option. But find somewhere and go to work!

Blogging is a very "soft" marketing activity. You're not actively displaying a marketing message to prospects. It's more like you are placing more and more bait out until cyberspace hoping to attract prospects. It's a long-term business strategy. This is one reason I suggest you do it as much as you can outside the office.

If you could use some help implementing a blogging strategy for your business, call Work Media today at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: ad writing, blog, blog management, blogging, blogging advice, content creation, internet marketing, search engine marketing