Google Real Time Search Results – A Game Changer

Now more than ever the field of Pittsburgh Online Marketing has become hypercompetitive. With Google putting out a new product every month, life in the Internet Marketing field gets more dynamic daily; and more fun. The scope of the upcoming 2010 changes is vast. There are many new products and changes. One change is the way Google plans to implement real time search results in its search engine algorithm.

In addition to PPC (sponsored results on the top and sides of the search results pages) and Google Maps for some keyphrase searches, Google has added real time search results. This position, appearing on page 1 for trending topics, leaves even less room for the organic results that Google users are used to seeing.

Never has social media been more important to ranking high for search terms in Google. Position is everything on a search results page and when it comes to edging out your competition for business, the highest rank usually prevails. Our advice is to implement a social media marketing strategy now if you haven’t already. If you have a social media campaign in place, now is the time to revisit it and re-evaluate your business needs and your comprehensive brand message.

When in doubt hire professionals to do a complete analysis of your needs and targets. You could be leaving valuable dollars at your competitor’s doorstep. If you have little or no idea what this means but realize its importance and would like to establish a social media campaign to benefit your company, visit our contact page for a free Blackball Online Marketing – Pittsburgh Social Media Marketing Experts consultation.

This is a guest post from Marc Poirier, the founder of Acquisio SEARCH, a search engine marketing software company that develops advanced bid management tools for PPC advertisers.

When most people think of auction-based, online ad networks, they think of Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter -- with Google dominating. But there are a lot of other, often niche-based, ad networks that combine contextual and keyword based advertising on an a cost per click (CPC), cost per thousand (CPM), or cost per action (CPA) bidding model. These other networks are known as the second-tier networks, and depending on your advertising goals, these second-tier networks can represent a great source of targeted traffic.

First, a lot of these networks can help you reach new, targeted audiences. After all, many alternative networks will strike deals with publishers that the Tier One networks have limited or no access to -- think newspapers, magazines, and blogs. And most of these publishers have a niche (i.e. pre-targeted) audience.

Second, about only 5% of page views come from search. So if you want to reach the other 95% with your message, you have to spread your ads around.

Third, these second-tier ad networks often offer more competitive CPCs and CPMs, letting you pay much less per conversion.

Finally, you can get a better return on individual campaigns through second-tier networks because they let you tailor your message on a niche-by-niche basis. This lets you determine which messages performs best with what audience, and you can then optimize your campaign on a network-by-network basis.

All this being said, the question remains: So what second-tier networks are worth my while? Well, you'd be surprised just how many of the second-tier networks are associated with trusted, recognizable brand names.

Second-Tier Ad Networks

Now, this is far from an exhaustive list of second-tier networks, but it features some of the more reputable ones. Many of them are also auction-based, and they are all targeted primarily at English language markets.

Ask Sponsored Listings
This search engine's contextual ad network uses a CPC bidding model like its larger counterparts. It is focused on specific verticals, and features publishers such as Excite, Mamma, and Dogpile, as well as other lifestyle and technology portals (e.g. CNET.com). Ask Sponsored Listings also boasts a reach of over 70 million unique users.

AOL Advertising
Formerly known as Quigo AdSonar, AOL acquired this network over two years ago. This network offers contextual advertising via its AdSonar and FeedPoint products. Advertising is sold on a CPC basis, and advertisers can bid for each sponsored placement. AOL's sponsored listings are also available on sites such as The Washington Post, AOL Money and Finance, ABC.com, CNN Money, and FOX News. The network even offers rich media placements.

Facebook Ads
The Facebook Advertising platform lets you target audiences according to a variety of demographic and psychographic criteria. Advertisers can reach users by age, sex, location, education, and other targeted keywords. The ads are primarily text-based, with maximum of 135 characters, and can include a small image. Advertisers can also choose between CPM and CPC bidding options.

LinkedIn Direct Ads
For advertisers looking to target business professionals, there's LinkedIn’s DirectAds. This network boasts a worldwide user base of over 50 million professionals, and lets advertisers target users according to job title, industry, company size, and location. Advertisers also have a choice between CPC and CPM. Even though the LinkedIn network can be a very valuable for reaching certain businesses audiences, however, it’s not always the most affordable. For example, some ad categories feature CPMs of $50 or higher. LinkedIn Direct ads also offer rich media placements, but these are restricted to advertisers whose budgets exceed $25,000.

MySpace MyAds
Advertisers can also "hyper-target" MySpace user through their MyAds system. This network lets advertisers target banners according to users' gender, age, interests, hobbies, education, parental status, and location. Advertisers can choose between CPC and CPM bidding options, and since MySpace MyAds is also part of the FOX Audience Network advertising platform, advertisers can also target users beyond MySpace.

Alternative Ad Styles

The great advantage of online advertising is that it can be both better targeted and measured than other forms of advertising, and second-tier ad networks offer an opportunity to further refine the reach of your campaigns. In addition to targeting your message at niche audiences, you can often find CPCs, CPAs, and CPMs much lower (often due to less competition) than first-tier networks.

All that being said, before investing heavily in a second-tier network campaign, you should first test their traffic with a smaller budget. Doing so will help you both evaluate the quality of the traffic and whether it's appropriate for your offers. And if the traffic is suited for your ad offers, testing out a smaller budget beforehand will also give you an opportunity to optimize your campaigns around that traffic and how you're paying for it – whether it's on a CPC, CPM, or CPA basis.

Pittsburgh Online Marketing – Solid Strategies

Develop a Clear Pittsburgh Online Marketing Message:

Spend the time to plan your campaign. Determine your goals and what your campaign should be achieving. Allow for budget, scope, and duration. Decide beforehand what your message plans to achieve and focus your marketing message towards that goal. Although a clear Online Marketing Message is a strong start, it’s not enough. Now we must deliver that message.

Consistently Reinforce your Pittsburgh Online Marketing Message:

In the course of developing your Online Marketing message and planning your Internet campaign, it should become apparent who your target audience is. Now is the time to do further research what forms of Internet advertising your audience responds to. Go where your customers are and deliver your message. Experience through trials and testing is the best barometer for your success. Deliver your message consistently and at all times of the day. We have found that standard business hours do not apply because of the nature of today’s’ business climate. Tweak your message and delivery to achieve best results.

Give your campaign a chance. Very few campaigns achieve maximum goals right away. Stick to your plan and adjust it as necessary. Most Online Marketing messages succeed through persistence, trust, and authority generated by a sustained campaign.

Measure the Success of Your Pittsburgh Online Marketing message frequently:

Analytics can show a lot about your visitors. They are a fine measure of how Web traffic arrives to your site, what geographical locations visitors are viewing from, what their patterns are for finding your site, how they behave when navigating your site, and where they leave from. Social Media Campaigns, Print Advertising, other Online Marketing listings, word of mouth, and customer Brand recognition awareness also play a part in reinforcing your message. Reevaluate your plan and goals and adjust as needed.

Blackball Online Marketing specializes in all forms of Internet Marketing and Website Promotion. We handle Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns, Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Google Maps listings for Local Search Marketing, Social Media Marketing Campaigns as well as managing many traditional media delivery methods. Click this link - Pittsburgh Online Marketing or call us at (412) 377-7280 to discuss your needs.

Pittsburgh Online Marketing –Improving Methods of Measuring ROI

Develop a Clear Pittsburgh Online Marketing Message

When it comes to measuring your ROI from your website or PPC advertisements most businesses rely on analytics, however these are only one form of measurement.

If your goal is to convert sales via incoming phone calls directly generated through a website or PPC ad and you get 10,000 clicks per day to your site and no calls, how good is this metric as a measure of ROI? It’s almost worthless, but it’s a starting point. Everybody has heard of the phrase “statistics can be misleading”, this is a case in point when it comes to using analytics solely in regards to ROI.

Analytics can show a lot about your visitors.  They are a fine measure of how web traffic arrives to your site, what geographical locations visitors are viewing from, what their patterns are for finding your site, how they behave when navigating your site, and where they leave from. Analytics can also measure other metrics, but for final sale rates generated from your site or ads they are only half the measure.

Let’s use the same client from above for an example. Let’s say this client sells 100 units during this day. This would lead us to believe that our Conversion Rate is 1 in 100 or 10,000 clicks/ 100 sales. However, how many calls does our client have to take to get those 100 sales? I suspect it’s more than just 100. We need to measure clicks / calls and then calls / sales.

Let’s not forget that business does not exist in a vacuum like the analytics used to measure it. Most businesses have a Marketing Mix which is far more diverse. Social Media Campaigns, Print Advertising, other Online Marketing listings, word of mouth, and customer Brand Recognition awareness also play a part.

The need for business to measure the effectiveness of Social Media Marketing campaigns, Website traffic, and PPC conversion rates to justify continuation of Online Marketing Campaigns is impossible to quantify by analytics alone. If a company is looking to quantify sales we must look beyond analytics.

Conversion Tracking and Return on investment (ROI)

The following statement comes directly from Google Adwords Help, “ROI is the ratio of your costs to your profits. It's typically the most important metric for advertisers because it is based on your specific advertising goals and shows the real effect your advertising efforts have on your business. ROI revolves around conversions: customer actions that you deem valuable such as a purchase, sign-up, webpage visit, or lead.”

This is all well and good and provides further data for an effective lead generation stream but it has to go further if ROI is to be measured from it. We need a conversion rate for our conversion rates generated by the analytics and the Conversion Tracking we now use and a better way to measure them. Sales are the only way to measure return rates in the traditional sense. Without sales there is no ROI.

Blackball Online Marketing specializes in all forms of Internet Marketing and Website Promotion. We handle Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns, Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Google Maps listings for Local Search Marketing, Social Media Marketing Campaigns as well as managing many traditional media delivery methods. Call us at (412) 377-7280 to discuss your Pittsburgh Online Marketing needs.

Pittsburgh Online Marketing for Your Business – Website Promotion and More

Pittsburgh, PA – We get the standard question,”How Do I Promote My Business Online?” all the time. The short answer is there are no magic bullets. As we mentioned in a previous post, consistency and innovation are the keys to marketing your Pittsburgh business online. We are amazed that some small businesses have not come to terms with the fact that a website is as important as a business card.

Pittsburgh Internet Marketing and Website Design

Present yourself to new clients in a positive light, informing them about your products, services, and talents. Our advice is to hire a professional Pittsburgh Website Design company. We also covered this topic in a previous post. Stay involved with the content generation for your new or existing site. Keep the content updated frequently for your online audience. The search engines like this and so do the people who visit your website or blog. If you are feeling adventurous, have a Blogsite developed for your business. Be prepared to write often and check on the site frequently.

Maintain Consistency and Timeliness

Consider your target customer always. When generating new content, running a website promotion or sale, and in general you want to maintain focus. Stick to your core competencies and exploit the strengths of your business. If you haven’t considered these terms and topics now is the time. Get out some paper and write your ideas down. You can revisit them later to check yourself for consistency in your Pittsburgh Online Marketing message. These ideas and observations can also serve to generate new ideas for later use.

Pittsburgh Seasonal and Marketing Trends

Stay in touch with current happenings in your business niche. Are there any new product offerings? Should your business run seasonal promotions? Is your business cyclical? Are you involved in an emerging market? The Internet is full of also ran websites that don’t perform because of various reasons. Don’t let this happen to your Pittsburgh business. This is another reason to hire a professional Pittsburgh Internet Marketing Consultant.

Pittsburgh Website Monitoring and Brand Management

It is always nice to have another set of eyes on your Online Brand to manage the reputation or your business. Replying to customer comments in a timely fashion is always good form. This allows you to recognize your customer and communicate with them directly. Others see this and it becomes another selling point for your services and strengthens your bond which keeps your customer loyalty up. Good customer service is often overlooked in the fast paced world we live in today.

Pittsburgh Website Design and Internet Marketing for your business requires a vast array of skills. Blackball Online possesses all of these and many more. Call us today at 412-377-7280 for a free consultation of your online business needs.