Where can I find the time?

April 9, 2009

One common question I field from business owners is – “Where do I find the time to do all this stuff?”

That’s a fair question, because, as a business owner, you have a lot of things going on.  First and foremost, you’re likely having to service your customers – you may be cleaning their air ducts, returning a package, or tailoring their suit.  There’s not a lot of time to agonize over search engine rankings while you’re doing this.

Unfortunately, you also don’t have time to ignore online marketing – and especially search engine marketing.   Why?  Because your competitors sure aren’t ignorning it.

You have a couple options when it comes to managing your own online marketing – there are some tools out there that can make it a lot easier:

1. PPC Management Software – There are several good options out here, all running in the $300-$500/month category.  You may need a little help getting started, but you’ll be able to quickly manage your PPC campaign after a few months of getting used to it.
2. SEO “Systems” – I may be being unfair here, but as a resident expert on SEO, I’m telling you there isn’t a system out there worth anything.  Save your money.
3. Off-shore outsourcing – This can be cost effective, as some companies will work with you for less than $300/month.  However, every time I’ve done it, the results have been less than optimal (at best), to ridiculously bad (at worst).
4. 7xo Media – Hey, I wouldn’t be fair to myself or your business if I didn’t plug 7xo here. You can get affordable, expert, top-quality service and results – all put into a no contract, no obligation system that makes sense for your business.  From $150/month to $15,000/month – we’ve done it all!

Email me if you’d like more info on what we can do.  We’ll start with a free analysis of your business, and talk about a plan that is custom built for your business.

Improve your PPC ROI in an Hour

April 8, 2009

Here’s a quick tip to improve the conversion rates for some of your pay per click keywords:

If you’re using broad match – stop.  I don’t mean completely stop – that would be silly.  I mean stop and think for a second.  Pour yourself a cup of coffee and spend an hour with your analytics and see what you can learn.

Here are two things you should be able to find:

1. Longer Keyphrases that aren’t converting. Your keyword bid on “widgets” might be sending lots of folks looking for “free widgets” even though you charge for yours.  This means you should add “free” as a negative keyword in that campaign.  That will save you money.
2. Longer Keyphrases that are converting. Your keyword bid on “widgets” also sends a lot of clicks for “red widgets”, and those people convert like crazy.  So, break “red widgets” out into a different ad group, phrase or exact match it, and save money on click costs and watch your conversions jump even higher.

Those are the two primary tenents of keyword optimization – but you have to have the analytics in place to tell.  If you’re broad matching hundreds or thousands of words, and not doing this on a regular basis (meaning daily if you can) you’re wasting money.