Need Advice on Using Pay Per Clicks (Google, Yahoo) And Search Engine Optimization

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Permalink Reply by Jason Brown on January 29, 2009 at 11:23am

Vince, if you have the time, do it yourself, then you are more likely to keep a close eye on where your $$$ are being spend, and how well the ads are performing on both Google and Overture. Remember to keep testing keywords so you can better target your audience, constant refinement is my advice - perhaps start with a small, test budget as you get familiar with the results and data, then increase the amount you are willing to spend. There are a number of helpful blogs out there - here's some links:

http://blog.frogbody.com/frogblog/google_adwords/
http://ppcblog.com/
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/

Hope that helps!

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Permalink Reply by Vince Wolff on January 29, 2009 at 12:20pm

thanks Jason, I'll check out those links

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Permalink Reply by AJ Jaiman on January 29, 2009 at 12:41pm

The answer may depend on the size of your budget. If you have a large budget, then consider hiring a good organization with proven track-record. If you can not find a credible/reputable third-party in your budget, it may be better to do it in-house.

If you do choose to do it in-house there are a couple of things you should be aware of:
- It takes time – you will need to commit people to the project. For best results you need to constantly re-jig, re-work, re-organize…
- It takes time – results will not show for weeks, even if you discount the learning time.

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Permalink Reply by Vince Wolff on January 29, 2009 at 12:46pm

Yeah, I know......I appreciate the reply. I may need to do it in house, and just learn as I go. Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Mitch Speers on February 6, 2009 at 5:19pm

Vince, your long-term effort should be focused on SEO. That discipline should be the air your editors breathe. Efforts expended against SEO will pay benefits in traffic, engagement and loyalty that last for years. Return on PPC ends pretty much when you shut down the campaign.

As for PPC, first have a very clear idea of how you're going to calculate ROI. Can you estimate the value of a person clicking through to your site? Is that value simply registering some ad impressions, registering for a newsletter or signing up for a webinar? What will this mean in revenue? If you know this, then you can test PPC with a clear idea of how much you can spend and still be profitable. You need to do this before even considering a 3rd party SEM (search engine marketing) provider.

Google and Yahoo both have great training resources for their PPC platforms, but since most of the action is at Google, I'd advise starting there: http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/

I believe outsourcing SEM is risky when you're just starting out, because it allows the 3rd party to own the mysterious black box. If you've been there, done that, even on small scale, you're much better prepared to get value from a 3rd party. The very best SEM agency in the world doesn't know your audience and the ideas (keywords) they respond to as well as you do. Get some field experience, then decide whether you want to invest in a 3rd party. In the meantime, focus more effort on building an SEO-focused edit team.

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Permalink Reply by Vince Wolff on February 9, 2009 at 12:50pm

thanks Mitch. I also think that SEO in-house is a better way to go, but when you work for owners/founders who built the business through direct mail......well, we have to shift some paradigms!

I've been with Google for a few years, and its been okay. Just that magazines in general is very competitive, and since we are hand to mouth with our advertising, it gets way to expensive. That's why organic search improvement is necessary.

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Permalink Reply by Glenn Laudenslager on February 9, 2009 at 4:17pm

I agree w/ Mitch's insightful post. For one of my websites a committment to SEO over the past 12 months has shown tangible results in terms of page rankings and organic traffic -- although some of that work has included dedication to things beyond just typical SEO stuff like tags (backlink strategy, posting on industry blogs, etc.). And doing SEM in-house is a must. Not only do you have the market knowledge to start the program right, but when you get familiar with AdWords and start testing offers and ads and seeing where results come from, that just opens the door to more ideas, offers, etc. It's helped me find niches where prospects lived I didn't know about, just through some test keyword buys. It's made me smarter about what to say to generate interest in an offer or an ad. It's worth the time.

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Permalink Reply by Vince Wolff on February 9, 2009 at 4:51pm

whic is all very helpful, if I knew what the hell I was doing! lol I need someone to help educate me---I understand the basics, but I frankly struggle with some of the details of SEO. Too right brained, I guess.

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by dockane on February 18, 2009 at 11:28am

Vince,

In Tim Ferriss' book "The four hour work week" he lays out a pretty simple process that will help you understand a bit about how this works. It's a quick read in one chapter as well.

Also, check out Aaron Wall's SEO Book site. He has free tools for you there as well.

Cheers,
Doc

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Permalink Reply by Vince Wolff on February 18, 2009 at 12:29pm

thanks Doc, I'll check this out.

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Permalink Reply by dockane on February 20, 2009 at 6:47pm

you got it, Vince. . .

Cheers,

Doc

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