Turn Your Website Around and Make it Work. We are an Austin, TX Internet Marketing Firm that Specializes in Driving Low Cost Quality Traffic, Increasing Conversions and Testing Every Aspect of Your Site.
Lets face it, I could throw around a lot of terms like Search Engine Optimization, seo, Pay-Per-Click, or even search engine ranking company; but what you really want to know about is your ROI - your return on your investment. I know that you want to know how to get a return on the money, energy and time that you invested, or are about to invest, in a web site. Here are four rules you should always keep in mind when marketing your site to help you increase your profits.
Rule # 1 : If you build it ... make sure they can find it!
I don't need to convince you that you need a presence on the internet. You already know it in your gut or you don’t. Rule # 1 may seem a bit obvious as well, but it is the single most important thing to know about internet marketing. It is the key to making more money. So, how do people find your site?
55% of ecommerce transactions come from people who say they reached a site by clicking on a search listing link, such as those on Google, Yahoo, or MSN.
Over 90% of all traffic on the internet starts with a search engine. Your search engine ranking is the key to increasing your traffic. Its just like in real estate: “Location, location, location!”.
Think about it for a second. How often do you search past the first 3 pages of a search result? 80% of the time no one does. But if you have competition, we need to get you on the first or second page. Web surfers view companies that rank high on the search listings much more favorably than those lower down. Besides, people are in a hurry, they’ll usually stop at the first place that suits them - don't let it be your competitor's site.
Why does a search engine want you to have the top position?
I want you to also think about why a search engine would ever want to list your site above anyone elses. There are really only two reasons. The first reason is that you help its customers find the information they are looking for - the better a search engine can provide links to relevant information, the more people will use it. The second reason, of course, is that you pay it to list you up top.
Rule # 2: Search engines will put you ahead of your competitors because you help its customers (searchers) find the information they need.
This is called Organic Search Engine Optimization and is accomplished by:
- Proper Keyword selection
- Search Engine Optimization
- Linking Strategies Optimization
- Search Directory Submission
Keyword Selection
It is very important to choose your keywords carefully. Keywords are the words or phrases that people enter when the want information or a product. The more you know what your customers are searching for, the more likely you can be the one providing the information. Keep in mind that some keywords are so competitive that it would take an enormous amount of time and money to be one of the top sites for that keyword. Often you can generate more traffic at much lower cost by focusing on “niche” or more specific keywords where you can get a higher ranking (i.e. shoes vs. non-slip shoes). We help you determine the best keywords for your product or service.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making sure people can find your site in the first few pages of a search listing.
It includes telling the engines that the keywords being searched for are found on your web site You can do this by using what are called the Meta-tags on your web page. These are your Title, Keyword and Description tags. These need to be carefully and professionally written to make sure you target the right people, and avoid getting banned forever from a search engine for “spamming” or unethical search optimization practices. Also important nowadays, your web copy should be optimized to contain the keywords your clients are searching for, and making sure that your site is “Search Engine friendly”. We provide a full range of Search Engine Optimization services.
Link Placement
Link placement involves finding sites that are a) visited often and b) relevant to your site and asking them to put a link from their site to your site. This accomplishes two things. First it provides a high quality stream of traffic to your site from other sites. Second, it tells the search engines (especially Google) that your site is very relevant for keywords that are being searched. If done incorrectly, linking to other sites could actually hurt your search engine ranking. Finding appropriate Link Partners is a large part of our internet marketing services.
Search Directory Submission
Search Directories are search listings managed by human editors vs. a computer formula. Your listing is manually placed in a specific category. Some are free (DMOZ) and some are fairly expensive (Yahoo - $299/year). As part of our services we provide free submission of your web site to the major search directories and help make sure they are placed in the appropriate category. Any cost for placement in specific directories will be a separate charge paid directly to that directory.
Rule # 3: Some search engines will rank you higher because you pay them.
You can either submit to a paid directory like Yahoo ($299 – See above) or start a Pay–Per-Click campaign.
Pay-Per-Click
Many search engines now allow you to bid on keyword searches that you would like a link and description of your site to appear on. In its basic sense, the more you bid vs. your competitors, the higher you will appear on a special Sponsored Listing section of the search page. You pay only when someone clicks on a link that brings them to your site. The cost can range from $.05 / click to several dollars. The advantage of this is that you can get results and traffic faster than search engine optimization, even in a very competitive field. The disadvantage is that it can get expensive if managed incorrectly. Since you are paying for traffic now, it is extremely important that your site be able to convert new customers or prospects. The two most popular search engines for pay-per-click advertising are google and overture. We manage pay-per-click campaigns from keyword selection, ad writing, and determining your maximum bid to monitoring your traffic to ensure the highest click through rate at the lowest cost.
Rule # 4: Search engine optimization and internet marketing are so critical to your business that either you do it yourself or you outsource it to a professional.
Either you are the type of person who loves doing your own plumbing and spending the time and taking the risk to do it right, or you are the type of person who believes in specialization of labor and hiring a professional to get the job done quickly and correctly the first time, so you can do what you do best. If you want to hire a professional search engine and internet marketing company, we would love to work with you.