PPC is like a personal relationship because?

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THIS ISSUE:
"PPC is like a personal relationship because…"

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Editor: mharty@SearchEnginePatrol.com

Editor's Note

As an ex-Chicagoan, I'm amazed how a little snow and ice can bring a big city like Dallas to its knees. Well, last week Dallas was a virtual ghost town for two days because of the “dreaded ice storm of '03.

(Of course, it's 72 degrees.) Break out the cut-offs and Frisbees!

Last month, I was in LA for a great Internet marketing seminar, "Survival Tactics for Tough Times". Along with my internet marketing buddy, Bart Baggett, we enjoyed having dinner with two internet marketing gurus: Declan Dunn and Yanik Silver.

What amazed me most about these Internet marketing millionaires? Simply put: the VALUE that even the experts place on learning. As ideas surfaced over dinner, out came the notepads and PDA's to capture them.

My takeaway: yet another reminder that when you stop learning you stop growing. (Like to learn even MORE about Search Engine Optimization?) Here's what the SEO Insider recommends:
Search Engine Optimization resources

Travel update
While in LA, I met Joel Christopher, (of MasterListBuilder.com fame) and I'll be attending his MasterListBuilder 3-day workshop next week. Joel is THE expert in this area, and his programs come HIGHLY recommended. I'll give you a report on the workshop in the April SEO Insider.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please send them to
SEOInsiderinfo@SearchEnginePatrol.com

News

SEO Insider: spreading the gospel to non-profits

Your SEO Insider, will co-lead a half-day Internet Marketing workshop on behalf of the Center for Non Profit Management in Dallas. Often, non-profits have limited marketing budgets and gaining exposure via the web provides far superior ROI.

In fact, some of you may have signed up for this newsletter after seeing me speak at previous seminars at the Center.

The seminar is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26th, from 1-4 p.m. at the Center for Non-Profit management in Dallas. (Although "for-profits" can attend as well!)

Additional resources:
http://www.cnmdallas.org/seminars/seminar_list.aspx#4462

Commentary

SEO does not equal immediate rankings

Some days we're mere SEO service providers, other days we're newfound miracle workers. As in, “get me rankings NOW, my business is down the tubes!” Or, “please help me, I'm dyin' here!!”

First off, we hear 'ya. Second—and this is the voice of sober reality talking here—for immediate help, try Pay-Per-Click. (PPC) Of course, to be effective, it's almost always more expensive than SEO. (More about that in our featured article in this issue.)

Now don't get me wrong: I'm not turning away business. I simply want to put that business, and the related expectations of results, in the proper perspective.

Effective Link Popularity sets the pace
Considering the ever-increasing importance the search engines (especially Google) place on Link Popularity, the timeframe for initial SEO results can extend as long as three to six months.

We routinely deliver results much quicker, naturally. Yet, in some cases, and with some highly competitive keywords, it's going to take time. And it's not just us saying so. Legitimate SEO firms back us up.

SEO Insider tip:
If you need top rankings yesterday, do this today. Try some initial PPC, but REALLY research the keywords.

(This includes researching the number of searches, but even more importantly, the number of competing listings for those same keywords. Wordtracker, has a fr^e demo version that is the best keyword research tool out there.

We reviewed keyword research tools in an earlier SEO Insider issue.

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Featured Article:

PPC is like a personal relationship because…?

As many of you know, PPC stands for “Pay-Per-Click.” With PPC, you can get good rankings by bidding on keywords and phrases using Overture or Google AdWords. (Rather than actually optimizing your site with SEO.)

And every time someone clicks on one of your keywords via a search engine listing that you secured via PPC, you’re charged the amount you bid. PPC can run anywhere from 10 cents to $10 per keyword phrase.

At a recent Internet marketing seminar, speaker Tom Antion, quipped this ditty: “PPC is a lot like a personal relationship—when the money disappears, so do you—unfortunately.” (Rimshot, please… :-)

Tom has a point. I’ve heard it described as the difference between leasing traffic (PPC) and buying traffic (SEO).

SEO: a better ROI than PPC
PPC can be an expensive endeavor and doesn’t offer nearly the ROI that SEO does. Unlike SEO, which often can return good rankings for un-optimized keywords, with PPC, you only get rankings on the words you bid high enough on.

Additionally, with PPC, you’re really at the mercy of the PPC search engine. They set the bid prices, the terms, and what it takes to “pay to play.” At least with SEO, once you have obtained good rankings and are on a maintenance program, your monthly investment is considerably less.

Now let me be clear: I’m not advocating an either/or scenario. In fact there are several reasons to utilize PPC—either as part of your overall SEO strategy—or exclusively under certain circumstances.

SEVEN REASONS TO STRONGLY CONSIDER PPC

You need results NOW. Often, your results will show up in a matter of hours.
Your keywords are VERY competitive. Of course, be prepared to pay handsomely for each clickthrough.
To supplement, not replace your SEO efforts. This can help fill in the gaps or add additional keywords that are difficult for you to optimize.
Your site is difficult to optimize. Sites built dynamically, in Flash, database-driven applications or in frames are difficult for search engines to index.
It’s a better option than learning SEO by yourself. You’ve decided that: a) you don’t want to hire an optimizer and, b) you don’t want to learn SEO.
You discover a keyword bonanza! Keywords are priced by the traffic they generate. Every so often you’ll find good keywords that get great traffic at really good prices. But it does take some research and monitoring time.
You get a major adrenaline rush from bidding on keywords. Keep in mind that for your keywords to be visible to multiple search engines or high on the page, you’ll need to bid more. Sometimes a LOT more.

SEO Insider's take:
First, decide if you want a firm like SearchEnginePatrol to manage your PPC program or you’d rather do-it-yourself.

Next, set yourself a “not to exceed” monthly budget and stick with it. We recommend monitoring your bids with some of the bid tracking tools available to you today—either online or via software that your purchase.

Important: check your web stats so you know where your traffic is coming from and you can prove conclusively that you PPC investment is producing results.

Finally, consider weaning yourself away from PPC as more of your SEO efforts begin bearing fruit. In the long-term, ROI-wise, SEO beats PPC nine times out of ten.

Additional resources/fr^e ebook offer:
For a list of PPC resources, send an email to: mharty@SearchEnginePatrol.com and put “PPC resources please!” in the subject line.

The first 10 requests will receive a fr^e copy of the ebook “Pay-Per-Click Commando” which has a great bid calculation tool that ensures you'll never pay TOO much for a keyword.

Insider tool:
The Alexa Tool Bar: a web intelligence gold mine

One of the best-kept secrets is the Alexa toolbar. What is it, why you should want it and what’s it going to cost you? Ahh, the good news: it’s an easy download, works as a tool bar in your browser window and it’s fr^e!

The Alexa Web Search provides:

Search Results. Google search with added Alexa information helps you to surf smarter.
Site Reviews. Learn what other surfers think of a site, and share your experience by writing your own reviews.
Traffic Rankings. Find out how popular a site is with other users.
Related Links. Where have other surfers gone from here? Follow them to find related sites.
Related Categories. One-click access to a directory of related sites.
Contact Information. Find out who owns the site and see their location and email address.

SEO insider tip:
By far the most insightful feature is the “related links” function. Basically, this shows you what OTHER web sites YOUR web site visitors frequent.

For example, here’s an Alexa snapshot of SearchEnginePatrol.com:

SEO Insider rating:

Overall score: out of 5

Additional resources:
http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/quicktour.html

To download the Alexa Tool Bar:
http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/index.html?p=Corp_W_g_40_L1

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