http://www.getfoundfirst.com Get Found First : Get Found Blog http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/11/24/the-unexpected-re-evolution-of-the-phone-call/ Brent Turner brings up some great points about online advertising now generating more and more phone calls.  The old thought has always been, when someone is using the internet to research something, why would they turn to the phone to get answers? Read below to get Brent's ideas on how internet users, and not just mobile internet users, are turning to the phone again:"Quick: Are you a digital marketing pro? If so, complete this sentence:In the future, advertisers will combine online media with mobile ads to drive:____________.   What did you put in the blank? Let me guess. Branding, combining rich online experiences with mobile mini-experiences? E-commerce, as more people surf the Web using both devices? Coupons and promotions, taking advantage of the new, mobile media? Let me try a radical idea out on you: In the future, advertisers will combine online media with mobile ads to drive… wait for it… Phone calls!Here’s an admission. As a digital marketing executive for over ten years with both aQuantive and Microsoft, I didn’t consider that the “two screens” would combine to drive calls until recently. And neither did most of my colleagues. Today, however, my view has radically changed. I believe an enormous re-evolution of the phone call is on the horizon. Why did we never consider calls, and what makes me think that a re-evolution is on the way? Let me explain. How did we get here?Historically, we overlooked calls for three main reasons: We didn’t have scalable ways for turning Internet traffic into phone calls through ads. To drive a phone call via digital media, we needed to cause someone to leave their PC and dial a number. And almost nobody was able to do this at scale. Today, people have an increasing number of ways to make calls through the PC so that the experience is seamless. In fact, responding to an online ad via a phone call has the major advantage that users don’t have to click away from the page they’re on. Think about that. We didn’t have a critical mass of mobile ads.Call-based campaigns have also struggled due to the slow emergence of mobile advertising. However, according to the May 2009 Mobile Advertising Forecast from MAGNA, U.S. mobile ad spending is projected to grow from $169 million in 2008 to $409 million in 2011. We over-focused on the opportunity to drive online transactions to self-serve.. The speed with which the internet transformed retail, financial services, travel and other industries into self-service models was breathtaking. So we built online conversion tracking systems, message targeting capabilities and eCRM systems to make media work for these models.Meanwhile industries like insurance, consumer credit, education and telecommunications still relied heavily on the phone for transactions. Focused on the low-hanging fruit of driving online conversions, we left call-based ad products, tools and analytical capabilities out of our mix. Sensing the opportunity, dozens of online lead generation businesses emerged, taking advantage of advertiser demand by selling online forms as call-proxies. These three ingredients: Massive, yet slumbering demand for calls; increasing numbers of ways to place a call via the PC; and an emerging source of supply from mobile ads go together to lay the groundwork for a transformational re-evolution of phone calls. The onset of a re-evolutionI came to Marchex so that I could be at the very front of the re-evolution of phone calls in the digital media mix. In fact, I wanted to create and drive it. And that’s what we’re doing. From my post, here is what I see: Advertisers are beginning to plan media explicitly to drive calls.. Two years ago, we purchased VoiceStar, a call-tracking company, and invested heavily in building analytics capabilities on top. We believed that advertisers would need technology to drive calls, and would want to use call data to improve their entire marketing mix. We were right. Many advertisers begin by implementing the system to discover how many calls their current spends are already driving, so that they can bid accurately in search. Pay-per-call business models are emerging. We founded our pay-for-call business because we saw an opportunity to lead the way in creating best practices around driving calls with both online and mobile devices. Our results thus far speak for themselves: Pay-for-call is the fastest-growing business under the Marchex umbrella, with very low negative customer churn. Ad-supported “free call” models are about to emerge. Imagine for a second that you are an advertiser in the insurance industry. Would you underwrite the cost of a phone call in order to receive calls from potential customers? The answer to this question is obvious, and signals the emergence of ad-supported call models. These models will likely be born on the PC, and will speed adoption of PC call capabilities.How far will it go? The re-evolution of calls is underway, and I’m excited about it. Moreover, when I consider the potential of calls as an advertising product, I am inspired. Consider three thoughts: Online, click-to-call ads could perform significantly better than online direct response ads.Here’s my logic. First, over time, response rates to online click-to-call ads could come close to those of today’s online direct response ads. For example, even if only 30% of Internet users adopt click-to-call as a part of their web surfing behavior, they are likely to respond to ads more frequently because calls do not interrupt surfing. Second, even if response rates are lower, conversion rates of calls will be significantly higher than current click-to-conversion rates. For example, today we know that calls convert at nearly four times the rate of clicks for many businesses. Third, the major buyers of calls—insurance, consumer credit, education—pay more for conversions than any other category. These forces—similar response rates, significantly better conversion rates and higher bounties—could combine to create a huge interruption in the landscape of online performance ads. In short, current direct response ads could literally be replaced in large part by click-to-call ads. Pay-per-call ads could dominate mobile advertising. Consider this assertion: If calls build a meaningful footprint as a part of the online media mix, they will dominate mobile advertising. The logic here is simple, and I find this conclusion inescapable. Ad-supported call models could spring up quickly among wireless carriers. If this model succeeds in driving the adoption of PC-call capabilities, it will almost certainly spread to the phone. "Brent is the V.P. of Marchex and this article was published at SearchEngineLand.com..... Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:25:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/11/11/quality-score-for-google-adwords/ Here are my two cents on quality score:Penny #1: It's like your credit so watch it carefully.  If you let your credit score slip, it is very difficult and it takes a long time to improve.  With your bills, missing payments on one account will have a negative effect on your credit score. Quality score is similar in that it only takes one bad keyword to effect your entire campaign.Penny #2:  Quality score effects the cost per click of your keywords and the position your ads are placed by Google's search engine.  Did you know that someone with a higher quality score can bid less and still show up higher on the page than you?There you have it!  My two cents on quality score.  Just one more reason why you don't have the time, money, or energy to manage your own ad campaigns.  Find an Ad Manager!Ad managers don't just write your ads for you.  We help you make sure that you keep a high quality score on all of your keywords so that you can see a high ROI on your pay-per-click advertising..... Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:04:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/10/30/taking-advantage-of-googles-local-business-listings/ More than half of Get Found First's clients are Local Business Owners.  They need to be optimized incredibly well for local search and we help them out! We always stay abreast of what is new and exciting, and what may be disruptive to the success of our clients online presence.Please read Kevin Lee's article and know that Get Found First can help you when and if Google decides to add more sponsored links to search results: For local searches in particular, paid listings are more relevant than organic ones. After all, marketers only want to pay for relevant clicks, and there's never been a foolproof way for Google or the other search engines to identify the optimal local results for a specific query. Google has launched a new flat fee Local Listings product in San Diego and San Francisco that, when it rolls out nationally (and eventually internationally), will have a profound impact on local search results. The SERPs (define) will become almost fully dominated by non-organic listings even on a high-resolution browser. A 1024 x 768 SERP for a local result has up to 75 percent of the browser screen covered with advertising. However, not just any advertising is displayed. The ads are highly relevant; it's a situation that I can see evolving to the point where a fourth ad starts showing up on non-local ads. Time will tell. Some might see Google's move to monetize page inventory at the expense of organic clicks as ruthless: it's crowding the SERPS with paid listings to improve monetization. However, Google has managed to simultaneously improve relevance and generate more revenue per thousand searches. If you have a local presence and serve people who potentially have a preference to shop locally rather than online, you should consider these ads as part of your paid search strategy. I don't own a business in San Diego or San Francisco, and most of my clients are still deciding whether to run a test, so I reached out to Dave Beltramini, director of paid advertising for G5 Search Marketing. He's running a couple of clients in the new local platform. Some of G5's clients have a very strong retail presence in San Francisco or San Diego, including Self Storage and Senior Housing. They even have more than one client in the same industry, which gave them a unique opportunity to experiment. As you can see from this screenshot, below, if an advertiser has a lot of local presence, their local listings ads can be quite compelling.click to enlarge According to the tests run by G5:"The click-through rate for the storage vertical is running at about one third to one fourth of our pay per click campaign's CTR. They are running at one sixth of our locally-targeted PPC campaigns. For Senior Housing -- the click-through rate is on par with our average PPC campaign. The biggest hurdle is pricing. Based on per-location costs, Senior Housing is a good price per click but the Self Storage vertical remains challenging in a cost-benefit sense." There is clearly some potential in this flat fee ad product, but success may be driven by consumer behavior, costs, and one's industry vertical. Some of the challenges include:When your business name doesn't include keywords, your ad is less noticeable. Figuring out if your ad is working (in other words, profitable) may take some time given the size of your targeted region. As Google takes in more local advertisers, will your rotation and visibility drop, reducing the profitability of ads? Determining if a blockade strategy is appropriate if you have many retail locations or whether selective use of the paid local ads is better. It's too early to know the answers to some of these questions, plus we don't know how Google will treat major retail players that have many locations within a region. Will blockades be accepted or will Google reduce the cost and rotation rates of additional ads? Local Listings ads in Google are not keyword-based, at least not directly. Google maps keywords to categories, much like the local yellow pages. Advertisers can select from one or more categories and, as expected, the more categories, the higher the cost. Measuring profitability and response in Local Listings will require a bit of a change in mindset from what you might currently be doing. The local listings, because they display a telephone number, will be using "free call-tracking, announcing each forwarded customer call. 'This caller brought to you by Google'." While this may seem great, for some cities, such as New York City, it's doubtful that Google has the 212 area code available, and like it or not, a company's telephone exchange communicates the age of companies in New York. A 646 or 917 area code is considered sub-par compared to 212. I hope Google implements an optional toll-free service at a slight additional cost per call or cost per minute. This should stimulate additional calls, perhaps even more than a regional number (even though these days nearly everyone is on unlimited local and sometimes national calling plans at a residential level, and business people may not care about toll-free). I look forward to testing this for multichannel clients and my wife's local business. ".... Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:08:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/10/30/there-are-a-lot-of-dumb-people-using-google-and-your-website/ Just yesterday I spoke with a man that can't figure out how come he isn't seeing more sales from his website.  As soon as I read this article from Marketing Pilgrim, I thought of him because his website just isn't that easy to use. Enjoy this great read brought to you by Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim:"Google is always testing and tweaking its search interface. More recently, the search engine has tested a minimalist homepage design.Well, apparently that homepage might be a little too simple for the search-challenged, as the latest version adds the rather obvious “Press Enter to Search” text.I know that I’m not representative of the average search user, but I’m shocked that the average user might not know to simply click “enter” in the absence of any “search” button.Let this be a reminder to all web site owners. If the most popular–and easiest to use–web site in the world has to point out the obvious, you shouldn’t take for granted that your visitors will know how to use your site. ".... Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:13:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/10/22/what-is-the-value-of-a-new-dental-patient/ As Get Found First continues to grow, we are looking at offering to customers that qualify, a cost-per-lead pricing model where our clients only pay us when we help them get a new patient. One of the worries that we have is that a lot of our potential clients won't have a clue what a new patient is worth to them. Here is a great article about the value of a new dental patient, written by Jim Du Molin."Three out of four dentists haven't calculated the average new patient value at their practice, this survey found.Overall, dentists estimate the value of a new patient in the first nine months to be about $1,000. But some dentists had calculated it to be as little as $500, while for others it was up to $3,000.   Interestingly, those dentists who actually knew their average new patient value reported a higher value than the dentists who were just estimating – $1,200 versus $900, respectively.So there would seem to be a correlation between tracking patient value and having high value new patients.In a recent comment on this blog, one dentist complained:Increasing the number of dentists… will lead to unethical behavior on the part of docs trying to make a living because insurance companies are now dictating fees and therefore treatment. Dentists in metropolitan areas are having to resort to all sorts of marketing tactics to get patients instead of concentrating on quality care. I see dental consultants touting things like, 'How much is each new patient worth to your bottom line?' If we were all busy why would we care? I never see, 'How to deliver the highest quality most conservative treatment to your patients.'This sentiment was repeated by another dentist who asked, "Who cares?" (That dentist, by the way, estimates the average value of new dental patient at his practice to be $500.)To me, that question answers itself. "Who cares?" Hey, maybe the guy whose new patients are only worth half as much as other dentists average – maybe he should care!The fact is, any dental consultant worth their salt will ask about your new patient value. I know some dentists are nostalgic for the sort of old-fashioned dentistry where word-of-mouth was all the dental marketing a doctor needed — or was legally permitted.But the future keeps right on rolling. Dentists aren't just medical practitioners; they're also business people. If you don't keep track of your bottom line, you don't get to practice dentistry.".... Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:15:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/9/28/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-on-the-first-page-of-google/ With Get Found First Google AdWords Qualified Professional status, we are able to guarantee that all of our clients show up on the first page of Google within 24 hours of when they sign up for our services! Why would it matter how fast you get on the first page Google?  Well, listen to what Thomas Jefferson had to say: "The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time..." The fact is, time isn't stopping, and every hour millions of people search online.  When do you want to Get Found First?.... Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:16:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/9/22/google-and-keywords/ Yes.  I specialize in PPC management.  I help people "Get Found First" on Google through paid advertisements.  But, as you may have already seen on our site, we help website owners get on the first page of Google through natural, organic or free listings as well that show up on the left side of the page. Here is a video from an Software Engineer by the name of Matt Cutts that works for Google giving his explanation as to the value of meta keywords and the role they play in helping you beat the competition for the first spot in Google search results: If you don't understand some of the things he is talking about that is okay. If you don't understand anything he is talking about, you may not speak english. Just kidding. You do speak english, you just don't speak "computer." That is okay! Get Found First can help. We know exactly what he is talking about, and know exactly what it takes to get you on the first page of Google, Yahoo, and MSN/Bing..... Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:18:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/9/9/seo-best-practices-are-bunk/ Recently, I read an article calling "SEO Best Practices" bunk.  Bunk means bogus; not the real deal, if you will.I TOTALLY AGREE (but believe there are exceptions). In his article from www.SearchEngineLand.com, Adam Audette said, "We are reaching a point in SEO where established ideas are no longer good enough (this is magnified at the enterprise level, where the stakes are high). It’s always been moving that way, of course, but today there is such an extreme level of competition that we will soon see the men separated from the boys, as it were, in the search engine result pages (SERPs). (Sorry ladies, you’re awesome too! It’s just a saying.) This is a natural evolution for search marketing: you can get away with being sub-par for awhile, but sooner or later, you’ll fall off the back."The truth is, in order to show up on the first page of search results on keywords that have a lot of other websites competing for a first page rank, you have to do more than the basic "SEO Best Practices" that Adam calls "bunk."TO EVERY RULE THERE IS AN EXCEPTION!However, for local search, it is still very easy to show up on the first page of search results with not much more than just "bunk seo."Here are two sites to prove it:www.StonesFamilyDental.com and www.StarrStudiosSalem.com.  .... Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:21:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/9/7/google-market-share/ Jack Marshall of www.Clickz.com said the following in a post on Sept. 1st, 2009, "Not only does Google continue to dominate the global search market, it's also growing faster than any of its competitors, according to data from comScore. The audience measurement firm estimates that Google sites notched up a total of 76.7 billion searches during the month of July 2009, an increase of 58 percent over July 2008. Google's search product therefore continues to govern the global search landscape, accounting for over 67 percent of all queries worldwide, comScore suggests."I guess the point here that I want to make is that if you are choosing between Google, Yahoo, and MSN to start your advertising, why wouldn't you start with Google?  Google dominates!Get Found First dominates at getting you on the first page of Google.  .... Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:22:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/8/29/internet-users-say-search-is-the-number-one-activity-they-do-onl/ What do people do when they are online?  Pew American Internet Study says that, "91% of all internet users say search is the number one activity they do online."WOW! If that doesn't get you excited as a business owner to start advertising online, I don't know what will.  Even if your business operates 100% offline, there is still a need for some internet marketing.  In previous posts I have noted that there are over 150 Million internet users in the US alone.What is 91% of 150 Million?  That is a lot of consumers, all in one place, and they are looking for the products and services that people like you offer.  .... Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:23:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2009/12/15/what-percentage-of-online-searches-begin-with-google-versus-yaho/ Jack Marshall of Clickz.com answers a question in his recent blog post, Yahoo and Bing Lose U.S. Search Share in November, that I am asked all the time.   The Question: What percentage of online searches begin with Google versus Yahoo and Bing?   My answer, per Jack Marshall: "Google accounted for almost 72 percent of all U.S. searches conducted during the four weeks ending November 28th 2009, according to data from Experian Hitwise. The search giant grew its overall share of searches by one percentage point in that period, while its closest competitors in the space -- Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing -- both experienced a decline, dropping 5 percent and 2 percent respectively."   I love Jack's title because rather than focus on Google's triumph, he focuses on Yahoo and Bings loss..... Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:47:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/1/11/10-commandments-of-modern-marketing/ Being in the internet marketing arena, there are a lot of blogs that I read every day.  I frequently read www.ClickZ.com.  Just today, I read an article from one of their bloggers that I haven't followed very closely, Augustine Fou. Apparently, Augustine considers himself to be the God of internet marketing as he is the one that has put together the 10 commandments that we as marketers should follow.  Here they are, in his words: "Thou shalt not target customers with messages they don't want. Thou shalt be truthful. Thou shalt respect your customers. Thou shalt make it easy for people to find you. Thou shalt be useful. Thou shalt make it easy for people to pass along. Thou shalt measure and optimize. Thou shalt listen to customers. Thou shalt remove any organizational barriers to speedy, collaborative innovation. Thou shalt not do brand-ing. " You can read his reasoning behind each commandment at http://www.clickz.com/3636027. I don't know that I will ever follow rules that some guy comes up with about marketing, but I can obey Augustine on these 10 commandments.  Not only am I already obey for my exisiting clients, but I plan on continuing to do it for myself and future clients.          .... Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:58:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/1/15/google-vs-bing-vs-yahoo-who-gets-more-traffic/ We posted last month about November's search results... Here is the latest: Working closely with the three major search engines, Google, Yahoo, and Bing, we often get asked the question: how much traffic does each of the search sites get? To answer this question we turn to the latest results courtesy of Experian Hitwise:   Percentage of U.S. searches among leading search engine providers Domain Nov-09 Dec-09 Month-over-month percentage change www.google.com 71.57% 72.25% 1% search.yahoo.com 15.39% 14.83% -4% www.bing.com* 9.34% 8.92% -4% www.ask.com 2.65% 2.54% -4% Note: Data is based on four-week rolling periods (ending Nov. 28, 2009, and Jan. 2, 2010) from the Hitwise sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users. Figures are for web searches only.   *This includes executed searches on Bing.com, Live.com and MSN Search but does not include searches on Club.Live.com. Source: Experian Hitwise   So what does this all mean? For one it shows us that Google has found a way to increase its share of searches despite recent intense competition from Bing. It also shows that Bing is going to have figure a way to increase its popularity now that the honeymoon is over for searchers!  Will anyone be able to dethrone Google from its search engine throne? Only time will tell.  .... Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:43:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/1/27/worldwide-searches-grow-and-google-continues-to-dominate/ Is it any suprise that Google continues to attract the majority of searches on the web? According to Jack Marshall of Clickz.com over 2/3 of worldwide searches happened on Google sites(google.com, youtube.com, etc.). What makes this fact even more interesting is that 46% more searches were conducted this December than last! In one year, the number of people searching on the web has increased almost by half. This fact emphasizes the role that online advertising is going to have in the future. Everyone is going online and searching for the things that they need! Even my Grandma is using the web now more and more... she's 80 something! What does this spell for advertising in general? G.O. O.N.L.I.N.E. Marketers follow the people and where they are... and where are they now? On the net. You can read the full article at http://www.clickz.com/3636277..... Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:09:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/1/28/what-does-the-ipad-mean-for-searches/ As I read and watched the news results and videos for the hyped Apple iPad, I couldn't help but wonder what affect this might have on internet searches.  Does this mean that the iPad will increase search volume because it would be more accessible due to the iPad?  Will the larger display of the iPad (basically an enlarged version of an iPod Touch) allow people to see more sponsored links causing more people to click on those links?  Or, will is the iPad not quite what we hoped and will have no affect at all? First, I think the iPad is a pretty neat device for the educational sector.  Universities could use the iPad for textbooks and possible subsidize it.  This might cause searches to increase because instead of using a textbook in the classroom, all the students would be on an iPad and have the ability to surf the web.  This also means that students would be reading and doing homework from an iPad, meaning they would be more tempted to connect to the internet because it would be right at their fingertips.  So, I could foresee the frequency of searches increasing if the education field began using the iPad. I could also see that more people would click on sponsored links if they were using an iPad versus an iPod Touch.  I say this because of the larger screen.  I think this would make the links more visible to the user and as Scott Forstall, the Senior Vice President of iPhone software, said, "If you see something, you just reach out and tap it, you don't even have to think about it."  If you saw a sponsored link, maybe you'll just reach out and tap it without even thinking about it. However, I could only foresee an increase in searches and the clicking of sponsored links if many people buy the iPad.  I do not know how many people will because the iPad won't fit in your pocket, but then again, Apple could not get Amazon's customers that are using the Kindle.  If Kindle users switched to the iPad, along with all the iPod Touch users, I could really see an increase in the amount of searches and the clicks of sponsored links. All in all, these are just really my thoughts and speculations, but I could really see some of these things happening and the iPad adding power to the power of search engines..... Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:38:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/1/28/clickable-phone-numbers-now-available-on-mobile-search/ Today Google formally announced the launch of clickable phone numbers for its mobile ads. "Click to Call", as the phrase will officially be called, will be available only for high-end mobile devices or phones that allow full HTML browsing. It allows users to search on Google as they normally would and rather than have to click through to a webpage and find the number, the number is included in the ad copy. What does this mean for businesses advertising on search? Greg Sterling of Search Engine Land expounds on it in his article. Here are a few of the points he makes: The presence of a phone number in the ad significantly improved ad performance. It gives a greater sense of credibility for the advertiser and then trust for the user. It also makes the ad stand out more. Calls can be tracked and show up  in reporting. Advertisers can make mobile specific campaigns with mobile targeting and ad copy. Very effective! The feature is now basically a pay per call system at bargain pay per click prices. As the feature becomes increasingly popular we can expect to see prices increase as advertisers bid against each other. For now though, it is a steal for what businesses are paying. Just another exciting and innovative way that advertising is evolving. Check back to the Get Found First blog for more news on any internet marketing related news!.... Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:38:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/2/3/technorati-blogging/ Looking for a good way to get your blog found by the hundreds of millions of internet users that are surfing around daily? Well look no further... Technorati.com is your answer. Technorati is a website that allows you to index your blog to make it easier for readers to find. It allows you to add your blog to several categories and put dozens of tags for your blog; making it much easier to find when someone searches for a blog. If you're not a blog owner but want to read blogs, Technorati does that too! It allows you to search blog posts, or entire blogs for the content you are looking for. We are currently adding our blog to Technorati so look for us soon on there. 9CEPGQ58CDBV (That's our Technorati claim token).... Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:18:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/2/4/rumors-of-google-store-view-spreading/ According to Barry Schwartz of clickz.com, Google is planning a "Google Store View". Currently in Google Maps you can see traffic, a normal map, a satelite map, a terrain map, and as you zoom in more you can even do a "street view". This allows you to see what the area looks like if you were actually on the street itself. Google accomplishes street view with a fleet of cars mounted with cameras. They simply drive around the streets with sophisticated camera equipment constantly taking pictures. If you're interested in seeing what it looks like here is an article with some up close pictures of the equipment. So this brings us to the point of this post... Googles "Store View". Apparently now Google is planning on entering stores and taking pictures of everything going on inside. A store in NYC called "Oh Nuts" tipped Clickz to Googles plans and supposedly came in and took pictures. It makes me wonder if this is really plausible. Would the ROI on hundreds or thousands of photographers taking pictures be worth it? It will be interesting to see what Google comes up with... Stay Tuned! -Luke.... Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:20:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/2/8/why-does-it-pay-to-have-a-high-quality-score-on-google-adwords/ About 10 years ago I had a buddy who used Google for his searches... I found it interesting that he wasn't using Yahoo, AltaVista, or MSN. The Google page only had a place to search, no entertainment news, no email services, etc. I just didn't understand what it was that he liked and millions of people like today. What was it that he liked? Relevancy. When he searched for something he found exactly what he wanted in the first results.  Relevant searches have put Google in the position they are in today, with both searches and paid advertisements. However, for paid advertisements Google must now balance the relevant ads and the ads for which people are willing to fork out the big bucks. How they do this is with a quality score. The quality score tells us how relevant your ad is to what people are actually searching for. Are a flower shop advertising on the keyword flower? You will have a HIGH quality score. Are you a multi-level marketing company advertising on the keyword flower? You will have a LOW quality score. Google then rewards those with high quality scores with lower prices to be in the number one spot. Yes, the multi-level marketer can still get the number one spot, they will just have to pay more. It pays to have a High Quality Score on Google Adwords! So courtesy of the Google Help Center, here is the list of what makes up the Quality Score and things you should focus on in your Adwords campaigns:   The historical clickthrough rate (CTR) of the keyword and the matched ad on Google; note that CTR on the Google Network only ever impacts Quality Score on the Google Network — not on Google Your account history, which is measured by the CTR of all the ads and keywords in your account The historical CTR of the display URLs in the ad group The quality of your landing page The relevance of the keyword to the ads in its ad group The relevance of the keyword and the matched ad to the search query Your account’s performance in the geographical region where the ad will be shown Other relevance factors   Best of luck raising those quality scores! -Luke.... Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:45:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/2/10/adwords-pharmaceutical-policy-change/ As Adwords experts it is important for Get Found First to stay on top of changes in Google Adwords policy. A recent change that may affect your advertising pertains to pharmaceutical policy. Straight from the Google Adwords blog we learn: Only VIPPS and CIPA certified pharmacies will be allowed to advertiseWe've made the decision to further restrict the ads we accept for online pharmacy sites in the U.S. and Canada. Starting at the end of this month, Google AdWords will only accept ads from online pharmacies in the U.S. that are accredited by the National Association Boards of Pharmacy VIPPS program, and from online pharmacies in Canada that are accredited by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA.)Pharmacies can only target ads within their countryThese pharmacies may only target ads to users in the country in which they are accredited. This policy change does not affect our online pharmacy policy for countries outside the U.S. and Canada. If you would like to read the full post, vist: http://adwords.blogspot.com/ We'll keep you up to date on any changes relating to Adwords! -Luke.... Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:27:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/2/10/why-should-you-outsource-your-pay-per-click-marketing-to-an-agen/ Tom Bennison wrote a great article on why companies should outsource their pay-per-click campaigns.  He gave eight reasons why and here they are, some direct quotes and some paraphrased using our name and company for the agency (For the full article and references, click here): Get Found First has unique relationships with search engines.  This allows us to get quicker resolutions and answers to questions as well as upload data quicker. We have advanced tools and methods that allow us to fully optimize your campaign and achieve a better return on investment. Pay-Per-Click is what we live and breath each and every day.  We also experiement with all the new tools and we are always up-to-date on the latest software. Get Found First's Pay-Per-Click specialists use the latest bid-management software to ensure all keyphrases are performing well at a low cost-per-click. On average agencies achieve better click-through-rates than marketers, with agencies at 3.4% and marketers at 2.8%. We provide comprehensive reporting and ROI analysis. Pay-Per-Click achieves higher conversion rates, for both Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click in particular, with agencies achieving an average of 6.8% and marketers achieving 5.4%. "Good Pay-Per-Click companies are well worth the cost as they will always make you more money than you would otherwise make."    -Jill Whalen, Search Marketing Columnist The above reasons are spot-on as to why companies should outsource their Pay-Per-Click marketing campaigns.  However, this not only applies to businesses looking to advertise through PPC, but also for businesses that offer PPC as a complement to their main service.  This could include website developers, business consultants, Search Engine Optimization companies, etc. Outsourcing to an experienced Pay-Per-Click management company not only saves you time, but will save you money and most likely make you money.  I really like how Tom points out the fact that we are here to get you a low cost-per-click.  This is the part that save you money, then you will make money by letting us get you better conversion rates and click-through rates, after all, this is what we do each and every day. -Mitchell.... Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:44:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/2/11/one-of-the-8-pillars-of-success-with-paid-search-success-ppc/ The most important pillar for PPC is the one I am going to discuss today. "The 8 Pillars of Success with Paid Search," by Josh Dreller, talks about 8 of them, and we all know that no roof can be held up by one pillar, but I am here to discuss the strongest pillar. With all due respect to Josh, he kind of just threw this pillar somewhere in the middle of his post, and it deserves more attention than that.  First, here is what Josh said: "Test. Optimize. Then test again. This is the absolute mantra of the industry. What we do is find trends and act on them. We don’t know if the new creative will work or the bidding experiment will be a big waste of money. However, it’s the only way we can fine-tune paid search accounts. Just make the best analysis as possible and test your hypothesis for long enough to know if it’s working but not so long to disrupt the entire project. Over time, you’ll have enough insights to keep your account humming." Okay, he did use the word, MANTRA.   That does give it some much needed emphasis.  Here are a few thoughts on testing, optimizing, and testing again: ONLINE ADVERTISING IS SUBJECTIVE.  There is no one "right way" for all online ads.  This isn't calculus.  This is Google Adwords.  This is Yahoo! Sponsored Search.  This is Bing Ads (or whatever they call theirs).  TEST - Even when you don't need to.  So you have a killer CTR.  That is great, but is that the best you can do?  Are there more keywords that will have a higher conversion? Is there another landing page to try out? DON'T BE A WUSSY!  Take risks with broad match and try different bidding techniques.  If you don't try, you'll never know. DON'T FORGET YOUR EXPERIMENT. It is okay to try new things.  You need to all of the time, but don't forget the changes you make so that you know what to look for.   In my younger days as a PPC manager, I would make changes and then forget what I wanted to learn from my experiment. KEEP GOING. The game isn't over till the fat lady sings.  If you still are running online ad campaigns, you should never stop testing and optimizing. To help you remember, repeat after me: Test - Test.  Optimize - Optimize. Test Again. Test Again. If that wasn't enough to help you remember, maybe an example will help.  Have you ever read the instructions on a shampoo bottle?  I always thought it was fairly obvious what to do with shampoo, but the shampoo companies feel a need to tell you just in case you don't remember what to do with shampoo.  Have you thought what the instructions were yet? Rinse. Lather. Repeat.  To help you remember your best PPC management practices, think shampoo instructions.  Rinse.  Lather. Repeat.  Test. Optimize. Then test again.  WARNING: You should never try to apply shampoo to computers!  And avoid getting shampoo in your eyes!     .... Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:01:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/2/18/effective-use-of-negative-keywords-in-ppc-campaigns/ This morning I was in a Google Adwords webinar and the question was asked, "Why would I ever want to use anything but broad matched keywords in my campaign? Don't I want lots of traffic to my site?" The answer to his question is YES you want traffic, but NO you don't want non-relevant traffic. For example, let's look at the keyword "dentist". At Get Found First we manage several dental PPC campaigns, and this is always a word we include with a broad match. Many people will use the search term "dentist" when they want to see a dentist. However, many people are looking for free dental work so they search "free dentist" or "pro bono dentist". Our ads show up for both terms but our clients aren't really the dentists giving out the pro bono work... I've only heard of that for people living in poverty in 3rd world countries.   She's happy... but not because of free dental work.   So what do we do? Use Negative Keywords! I found a good article from http://ppcblog.com/ with some great suggestions. Many of these we do already here, but some are new and very helpful: Generally you should avoid these keywords: Diagram Meaning of Map of What is Free Bargain Sales Low Price All these words are either information inclined or have a "want something for nothing" feel. These types of searchers do not convert. Although this list GENERALLY should be avoided, that is not always the case. For example if you have an offer for something free, you may want to advertise for that free offer. Negative keyword lists should always be included in accounts, especially when using broad match keywords. This type of campaign takes time and close monitoring. Frequent checking of search terms will be neccesary to be effective. In conclusion a campaign with many broad terms will drive traffic to your site, but if you are looking for relevant traffic you will need to toss some negative keywords in there. Happy PPC'ing! -Luke.... Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:45:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/2/22/why-is-important-to-be-on-top-in-google/ On any given day someone will use Google search 14.6 times, that according to myself, my best guesstimate, and the number of times I actually use Google each day! Really, the number might be competely off but the fact is we use search engines often in the day. What happens when we use those search engines though? Do we analyze the results that come up? Do we read the abstracts of each result and then pick out which result we like best? The answer, not suprisingly is no! We trust the first results of what comes up more than anything else the search engine gives us. A fairly old study from the University of Indiana tells us that we trust rank more than relevance. The abstract of the study states: An eye tracking experiment revealed that college student users have substantial trust in Google's ability to rank results by their true relevance to the query. When the participants selected a link to follow from Google's result pages, their decisions were strongly biased towards links higher in position even if the abstracts themselves were less relevant. While the participants reacted to artificially reduced retrieval quality by greater scrutiny, they failed to achieve the same success rate.   Further, one search shows us the difficulty in getting to the second page of Google. Let's look at the word "Olympics", go ahead and Google and see if you see the same thing. Here are some facts we can draw from this one search: There are 14,100,00 results. I look at the first 3 or 4 when deciding what I want to click on. The first things I see are the "natural" and "sponsored" search results.  There are a total of 9 different websites that I could visit. Halfway through the page are "news" results. Then before I even get to the link to the second page, MORE "related searches" are given to me implying that I wasn't able to find what I wanted on the page so I should try another search! We can conclude from all this how important it is to be on the FIRST PAGE of Google! Even if you have the best website, with the greatest offers, and services the world needs... if you're not showing up first no one will ever know. So if you are on the second page of Google or even further back it looks like it's time to invest in some SEO or some PPC! Contact me if you want to know the name of a great company ;) -Luke         .... Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:07:00 CST http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/3/15/top-10-ways-to-use-a-facebook-fan-page/ You've heard of them, you've probably joined a few of them, now you can learn the top 10 ways to use a Facebook fan page! The tips that we are suggesting are focused towards dentists and the healthcare industry but they can be used universally! 1.       Getting People to Join your Group a.       Invite Your Friends. b.      Add links to your fan page on your website, or a widget. c.       E-mail existing customers and invite them. d.      In the office make people aware of the fact that you have fan page. Invite them to share their experience on the fan page. e.      Possibly pay to advertise your fan page. f.        Search for customers using Facebook search. 2.       Post on the Wall a.       Write about anything your fans want to know about. Make it relevant! b.      Make sure these are relevant to the Fan page you are promoting. c.       Respond when possible to comments on your posts. d.      Consider doing a “Spotlight Post” once a week that is more robust than anything else you post in any given week. Make the post the same time every week so fans can expect it. e.      http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-better-engage-facebook-fan-page-fans/ 3.       Post Videos/Photos a.       These help make great content. 4.       Giveaways a.       An occasional giveaway for a free service, i.e. free massage, or free checkup. 5.       Exclusive Discounts for Fans a.       Offer something that only a fan can get. 6.       Breaking News a.       Make your Fan page an exclusive outlet for news about your company. 7.       Make Effective Use of Events a.       Organize some type of event that fits your business. b.      http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/10-tips-for-creating-buzz-with-facebook-events/ 8.       Encourage Your Fans to Act and Interact a.       http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/13-ways-to-move-your-facebook-fans-to-action/ 9.       Invite Your Fans to Invite Their Friends a.       Phrase it something like this, “If you’ve liked our (service/product) tell your friends about us by inviting them to become a fan.”  Sometimes all people need is a little nudge. 10.   New Content Over and Over Again a.       Start from step one and do everything again!   We at GetFoundFirst.com hope that these top 10 tips on how to use a Facebook fan page help. Let us know if you have used other methods that have worked! -Luke.... Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:27:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/3/25/internet-marketing-vocab-learn-a-new-language/   <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> Have you ever walked into a conversation where the two speaking you could tell were speaking your native tongue, but because they were speaking about their niche industry, nobody else in the conversation had a clue what they were talking about?  I remember as a young boy listening into conversations my dad was having about politics and/or business and hearing lots of words I had never heard before, and none of them were swear words.  And as I am known for never cussing in my circle of friends, I promise to not do so in the following short paragraph, but take a second to read it, and pay close attention to see if you feel like I did as a kid, or as you may have felt in the past hearing :   After focusing on SEO for a few years now, we have decided to launch our first PPC campaign to see what kind of conversion rate we can get from paid search in comparison with the organic traffic we are already getting. Once we have done that for a little while and seen some ROI, we are going to code some new landing pages that we have created to do some multivariate testing.  Obviously that is down the road and based on seeing good click-through rates and figuring out which keywords, products, and ad copies are causing the traffic to convert.  But as I was saying about the multivariate testing, we want to do that and watch our analytics and learn from the market research that...   In a room full of Internet marketing experts, hearing this would be just another day at the office (home office in a lot of cases), but for the average businessman, this is a whole new language.  Unfortunately for the average businessman, the above average businessman has already become well-versed in this online lingo.  They may not be doing their own online advertising, but they have at least enough knowlege that they were able feel confident hiring outside help.  If you are like most american businessmen, it is time to get caught up!  To help here is a quick vocab lesson:   SEO is search engine optimization.  Optimizing a website so that it can easily be found on the first page of search engines. PPC is pay per click advertising on search engines. It is free to show up in the sponsored links of search engine results, unless someone clicks on your ad, then you have to pay per click. A conversion is when a website visitor does what you wanted them to do on your site. Paid search are the "sponsored links" or the results on search engines that don't come naturally.  These are usually the ads seen on the right side of search results. Organic refers to a website naturally showing up on the left side of search results because the search engine deemed the site to be the most relevant search result. "Organic" clicks to your site are free. Organic traffic means those visitors to your site that get there by finding you on the left/free/natural side of search results. Landing pages are new pages designed for a site to either see how they perform in comparison with the old site, or for a specific product/service that doesn't have it's own page yet.  Landing pages are also used for testing different offers and web layouts. Multivariate testing is when you use pay per click advertising to test different landing pages and/or different ads to with multiple variables to see which ones provide the best results. Click-through-rate (CTR) helps an advertiser determine which ad is the best.  The ad that gets the most clicks for the least amount of times showing up wins. Ad copy are the words within the ad.  Great online advertisers will tell you that just changing one word can make the difference between whether you get clicks or not. Analytics is a software that gives you info about how your website and ads are performing.  Google offers a free software called Google Analytics.   A new language, right?  Bookmark this post so you can refer back to this small set of internet marketing vocab the next time you feel like your web developer or IT guy, or marketing guru is speaking a different language!.... Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:09:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/4/2/not-just-the-good-word-about-seo-and-ppc-happy-easter/ Inspired by Andy Beal of MarketingPilgrim.com, I wanted to take a break from my normal "Good Word" about SEO and PPC this Easter season, and talk about the most important "Good Word" for the whole world to know about, whether you care about internet marketing or not. Take 3 minutes and enjoy this video about our Savior and Easter:   .... Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:24:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/4/23/stand-out-on-google-maps/ If you're a small business then undoubtedly you have Googled your own name and probably even setup a Google Local Business Center account. You may have even looked at the map listings and wondered how you might show up higher or stand out more on the Google map. Well, if my last sentence describes you then today is your lucky day! Google recently announced new changes that will take place in Google Maps that allows you to make your listing stand out more with tags. For example, if you are a local dentist showing up on Google maps along with 6 other dentists you can make your ad stand out by adding a video of your office. The new feature costs $25 a month and for the time being is available only in 10 cities with plans to roll it out to the rest of the U.S. Here's an example from an optometrist in San Jose. Stay tuned and soon you will start seeing this feature in YOUR city! -Luke  .... Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:10:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/4/26/google-rolls-out-remarketing/ Have you ever thought about reaching those people who have visited your website, browsed around, but ended up not buying or signing up? You know they were at least a little interested in what you had to offer but after they leave they may never come back. Goodbye, adios, ciao! Now you don't have to say goodbye to them forever with Google's new Adwords feature called Remarketing. These feature allows you to target people who have visited certain parts of your website and display your ads to them on other parts of the internet. You might be asking yourself, how could I use this? Well let's look at some examples: If you're a dentist you can target people who have visited your "Services" page and tell them to signup again if they still haven't been to a dentist. If your a loan company create urgency in your ads by emphasizing the low rates that are available now only. If you are selling a product offer a lower discount than was originally offered in their first visit. The possibilities are endless but according to Google early tests have seen great results. What could you use remarketing for? Rather than saying goodbye to customers, you can now say hello, hola, and bonjour, again! -Luke.... Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:53:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/5/6/the-yahoo-and-microsoft-search-alliance/ In Star Wars Anakin and Luke Skywalker brought balance to the force. In Lord of the Rings it was Frodo. Now for search and display markets balance is being brought back with the formation of the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance(sorry their probably won't be any movies made about this one.) Yahoo! and Microsoft finalized the agreement on December 4, 2009 in which they would leverage their strengths to give a better search experience. On the Search Alliance homepage it says: "When the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is implemented, both companies will continue to have differentiated consumer search experiences. However, Microsoft will manage the technology platforms that deliver the algorithmic (powered by Bing) and paid (powered by adCenter) search results."  In an email sent out to currect Bing and Yahoo advertisers they outlined a few details: The program will start in Fall and you will be able to reach over 15 million searchers. All accounts will be transfered beginning in late summer and will be ready by the time the holiday season rolls around. If any account has the possibility of missing the holiday season, their transfer will be put off until after the holidays. Big budget clients will have customer service by Yahoo and small budget clients by Microsoft. Regular communication and tools will be provided to aid in the transition. What will this mean for advertisers? It means that Google is now going to have some more competition. According to the most recent statistics on search market share, Bing controls 11.7%, Yahoo 16.9%, and Google 65.1%. After the alliance it will be 65.1% VS 28.6% for the big two search engines. The competition will be GREAT for us advertisers. Competition spurs growth, right? What are your thoughts on the search alliance? Will YaBing! outperform Google? Will marketshare decrease for the alliance? Keep checking back to the Get Found First blog and we will keep you posted! -Luke.... Thu, 06 May 2010 15:39:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/5/24/can-a-google-maps-listing-beat-out-paid-and-organic-listings/ Who wins in a Google fight? A paid listing or a map listing? A first page natural listing or a #1 paid listing? You might be suprised what we found... We have been advertising for a dental client over the last year on Adwords, and Google Maps. We have also done his SEO. This client has what we like to call the Google TRI-FECTA (they rank high with all 3 listings). With one website performing well in all 3 spaces, we were curious how each medium performed against each other. We took results from the last 4 months, and dug up some info in Analytics. Here’s what we found: This dentist's campaign is focused on lead generation. Customers come to the website and sign up on a form that offers web only discounts on dental services. Overall there were 59 goal conversions. We broke down these conversions even further: Total Conversions: Organic- 28 Paid- 12 Direct Traffic- 10 Facebook- 3 Other- 5 Not coming as too much of a suprise, organic traffic and conversions easily beat out paid traffic. What is most suprising though, is how the map listing performed: From a simple business listing with Google Places, there was a 3.54% action rate, with a 2.38% click through rate for visits to the website. That compared to .84% click through rate with Adwords. Obviously, a limitation in this reporting is that we don't have conversion tracking for the map listing; however, the amount of traffic to the webiste ads up to just 80 out of the 491 total organic clicks! What conclusions can we draw from this? Let's break it down: Organic Listing- The main source of conversions for this dentist. Limited in the cost and time it would take to optimize for multiple keywords. Appeals to majority of internet users. Paid Listing- Minimal conversions, but covered many more variations of long tailed keywords than organic. Appeals to clients wanting to cover hundreds of keyword variations. Maps- Great cost efficiency (depending on what local seo company you use). Not as trusted as the organic listings. Appeals to searches that want a map to see where a dentist is located/how close they are. So can a Google maps listing beat out a paid and natural listing? Not in this case. But the traffic generated from the combination of these three mediums together may be unbeatable. We will post in a month or two on the results without any paid listings. -Luke  .... Mon, 24 May 2010 11:59:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/6/11/what-should-a-dentists-annual-marketing-budget-be/ While I was logging in some web browsing miles the other day I came across Wayne A. Kurzen, a dental practice consultant out of Georgia.  He had written a blog post that immediately caught my attention titled, “How Much Should Your Practice Invest in Marketing?” Great question I thought, one that many Dentists find themselves asking on a regular basis.   Wayne suggests, “Basing your marketing budget off of a range between lasts years collections, and this years projections at an estimated 5%. Therefore, if you are projecting to bring in $700k this year, then your marketing budget should be $35k.”   Now to make things interesting, two of our dental practice clients have been working with a $4k a year budget in online advertising and getting 14 – 18 new patients a month from it. At $4k a year, that’s only 11.3% of their originally projected budget of $35k. If a dentist really has that kind of a marketing budget, they need to go and get more advertising space online, and probably spend some money in the yellow pages where return on investment will be minimal, but probably still significant enough to go and get it.   - Trevor  .... Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:35:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/6/18/lies-and-googles-cost-per-click-estimates/ <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.homequotebyline, li.homequotebyline, div.homequotebyline {mso-style-name:home_quote_byline; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> Have you ever set up a campaign for a client and got the question, “How much will I be paying each click?” How do you respond? Many times you might turn to Google’s Keyword Tool and look at CPC’s. But how accurate is Google’s Keyword Tool CPC estimator?  We’ve taken a look at actual CPC’s from our clients and matched them up with what Google’s estimates. Before we look at the stats it’s important to note a few things about Google’s CPC Estimator. In Google’s words: “If you don't supply a Max CPC and Daily Budget for these estimates, AdWords will estimate your performance using a CPC that is predicted to always place your ad in positions 1-3 with an unlimited budget to capture all available impressions.” Based off of that, we made sure that the words that we looked at were all in the 1-3 spot. Here are the stats for just 6 of our words: <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} p.homequotebyline, li.homequotebyline, div.homequotebyline {mso-style-name:home_quote_byline; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.quotebox, li.quotebox, div.quotebox {mso-style-name:quotebox; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> Between them all there was a 44% difference between actual CPC and Google's estimated CPC! It's obvious that there are other factors in the difference in numbers. The AdWordsPro(a Google employee) clarified this on the Adwords help forum: "Please know that it is simply an estimate - and in no way intended to be a guarantee. Your actual cost per click will literally vary from one click to the next, and depend on many factors that the tool can not know - such as how well targeted your ads are to the keyword, how well written the ads are, how many competitors you have in the moment the ad appears, etc." We can conclude from this that YOU CAN'T TRUST GOOGLE'S NUMBERS! Next time you're looking for estimates on average CPC you might be out of luck. Although this can be a good place to start, you can only really know once you start your PPC campaign. -Luke   .... Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:19:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/6/17/get-found-first-is-a-google-adwords-certified-partner/ Yes! This logo was officially provided to us after we officially passed the tests, met the other criteria regarding amount of spend managed and amount of time managing accounts, and now Get Found First is a Google Adwords Certified Partner! Google used to have a Google Adwords Qualified Individual Status, and a Google Adwords Qualified Company, and for a few more months companies can rest on those laurels.  Rather than wait around, and to be a leader in the industry, we went ahead and became one of the first Google Adwords Certified Partners.  Here are the criteria to become a Google Certified Partner: "Google AdWords Certified Partners are not Google employees, but rather are online marketing professionals, agencies, and other individuals such as search engine marketers (SEMs), search engine optimizers (SEOs), and marketing consultants. They have been certified by Google to manage AdWords accounts. To become qualified, professionals must demonstrate an in-depth understanding of AdWords by passing exams, and they must meet all our qualification guidelines, Different professionals have different areas of expertise, so you should talk to them or look at their profile page to get a better understanding of their service levels and specializations." To elaborate, the Google exams are timed for 120 minutes and there are 120 multiple choice questions.   The first is a Fundamentals exam, and the second is an Advanced exam.  Each company must have 2 individuals connected to the account that pass with an 85% or higher score on each test.  Having taken the tests, I can assure you that they make the test hard enough that not just any Joe Schmoe can sign up, pay the $50 to take the test, and pass.  Questions relate to language targeting, trademark laws, bidding, adrank, quality score, and much more. So what does all this mean to you? Get Found First has all of the tools to be your PPC management outsource solution..... Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:34:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/6/29/how-to-get-free-clicks-from-paid-search-results/ You're probably thinking that the heading is an oxymoron and that it's impossible to get free clicks from the paid search results, but it's not!  Google just introduced seller rating extensions that will allow you to get free clicks.  The ratings will be shown by golden stars and will show up next to your PPC ad on Google (just like the one shown below), and the best part is when somebody clicks on the reviews, it DOES NOT cost you anything. However, there are some caveats that we should all be aware of.  Those catches are that not all merchants qualify.  There are certain criteria that must be met before those beloved golden stars will show up.  Google explains in their post Introducing seller rating extensions on Google.com. "If your online store is rated in Google Product Search, you have 4 or more stars, and you have at least 30 reviews, you’ll automatically get seller ratings with your ads...At this time, seller rating extensions will show to English-language users searching on Google.com." So now you might be asking where these ratings come from and how to improve them.  Google has said that they include Reseller Ratings, Bizrate, ReviewCentre.com and Viewpoints.  However, in their answer to that question, it only said includes, so it would probably be good to assume there are more out there and not to just focus on those ones alone. All in all, the merchant rankings will probably improve click-through-rate for those merchant's with high rankings, but does not mean that all the clicks will be free.  Google has done a great job at making the link rather small and the headline stands out much more than the reviews link. So, still focus on maintaining good customer relationships and delivering exceptional customer service because those ratings will help, but don't count on all the clicks being free!.... Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:42:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/6/30/exciting-day-at-get-found-first/ Today is a special day. Not only is it Social Media Day, but also our fellow comrade Luke is experiencing his first day as a daddy! Luke is one of our Google AdWords Certified Professionals. His newborn son arrived safe and well on June 29, 2010 at 8:30pm. His name is Max, and weighs in at 8lbs 2oz and 22in. long! Feel free to congratulate him via twitter @lukealley. He’ll need all the support he can get for what lies ahead…late, late nights or early, early mornings, and lots of diaper changing!  .... Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:13:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/7/16/get-found-first-welcomes-matt-dyer/ As part of my new hire initiation, I been asked to introduce myself as the newest member of the Get Found First team.  I am a red head and because of that, I have been lovingly given the nickname the "red man". As part of my welcoming in the office, Luke played a clip from Peter Pan where the Indians sing about the red man being red. Here is a little background on me: I grew up in the great state of Colorado close to Denver. I graduated from Brigham Young Univesity - Idaho in 2008 where I studied Business Management with an emphasis in marketing. I was introduced to the internet marketing world by a business professor of mine in 2007, and shortly after graduating I started an internet marketing company called Matchstick SEO. I have learned much since then and I am fortunate to work with the great staff of Get Found first! .... Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:59:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/7/20/dave-snyders-of-blueglassinc-linky-goodness/ Here were my takeaways from Dave's portion of the Link Building portion of the amazing BlueGlass Conference. <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> Links are the key to domination on the web. Get high quality links first that will convert, but also, just go get links! Links are the core concept of the internet, and don't forget that. Here is what Dave thinks (I agree fully. Dave is the man on this stuff!): Don't just go spam everything! Link acquisition boils down to two concepts: 1.) Monetary Response - People love money and will do disgusting things to get it 2.) Emotional Response - Anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, acceptance, and joy. Step 1: Mine Data -What are people linking to in your vertical? (linkscape) -How are they linking? (linkscape) -What topics are people emotional about now? (google and twitter trends) -How have people historically interacted with content? (linkscape) Step 2: Create Your Reason for Linking Step 3: Craft Outreach Strategy from Data -Create an outreach list -Look at social venues that have led to links in the past -Make lasting relationships within your vertical that can be quickly and easily leveraged based on trends Step 4:? Step 5: Outreach -Quantify and inventory the links Step 6: Data Collection and Categorization Step 7: Rinse and Repeat...No...Seriously! Approach link building with this in mind: Will this link increase my traffic and share my content with correct audience? Typing super fast so please accept my apologies for typ-o's.     .... Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:28:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/7/27/five-quality-score-troubleshooting-tips-for-ppc-beginners/ <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> A business owner recently contacted us concerned because his Cost Per Clicks had doubled in the last month! His problem? Quality Score. He knew that it had been dropping, but didn’t know what to do to stop the pain. So what do you do when quality score is sub-par? Here is a list of items to troubleshoot to make sure you’re doing everything right for your pay per click campaign: 1) Improve Click Through Rate In Ad Groups- Write some more ads and always test them. I always have at least two running and sometimes more if keyword popularity and traffic is high. 2)Improve Click Through Rate in The Account- CTR of the entire account will affect the quality score of every keyword in an account. We have made entirely new accounts at times when CTR was so bad for clients. 3) Add Negative Keywords- This is basically improving your CTR, but it also weeds out irrelevant searches. 4) Add Keywords to Your Ads- Matching the keywords from an adgroup to its ads improves the relevancy of the ads. Because Google bolds these words it usually improves CTR too. 5)Add Keywords to a Landing Page- Make sure your landing page is relevant to the keywords you’re advertising. Adding the keywords to a respective landing page will help. BONUS TIP: Improve Your Click Through Rate More! I’ve read that historical CTR could factor up to 60% of a keywords quality score, while the next highest factor only counts for 10%. We took on the client with the bad quality scores. After troubleshooting his account and making some changes we saw quality score improve for almost every keyword. With a little TLC you can improve your quality scores too! .... Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:00:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/7/28/one-lesson-from-google-about-testimonials/ The goal of my website is to generate leads.  To do this, the site teaches people about my company, and explains how we can help them.  In the process, and as you go through the pages (that need some serious seo attention by the way) you will see that the site brags and is very biased because we created the content.  What company would write bad things about themselves anyway...right? I saw this Google Adwords video along time ago:     You will note that rather than brag about themselves and how great Adwords is, they let a client that has had success tell their story and recommend Google to everyone why they should use Google. Well, at Get Found First, we are changing our approach!  We are no longer asking that you take our word for it, or trust that just because we are a Google Adwords Certified Partner company that we are the greatest.  We have followed Google's example, sort of, with a smaller budget, but with real clients, recommending our services:     Let me know what you think!  I'd love advice on what we should do with future testimonial videos!.... Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:41:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/8/6/web-marketing-in-idaho/ What was your first thought/reaction when you read the title, Web Marketing in Idaho? My guess is that it was one of the following: Chuckled under your breath. LOLed. ROFLed. Thought, "they have computers in Idaho?" Thought, "Sweet! I'm going to read this to get tips on how to buy potatoes for cheap online!"  Or, maybe, you were one of the few, who thought, "Cool. There are even dudes in Idaho who are paying the bills with web marketing." I'd love to hear what your *honest* reaction was so don't forget to leave yours in the comments. I just recently attended Blue Glass LA, an amazing internet marketing conference where some of the best SEOs in the country attended.  I personally got to meet and speak with Rand Fishkin.  Yeah, it was that cool.  Anyway, when ever I met someone new at the conference they would ask me where I was from, and I would say, Idaho.  The reaction I got was usually #1 & #2.  No one was so mean they did #3, but #4 & #5 are close to some of the reactions that I got. So, I am here to say, with more pride than ever before: "The web marketing industry exists, and is actually alive and well in southeast Idaho." See for yourself by checking out our Meetup.com page.  James Zolman, @jameszol on Twitter, started our group just a few months ago and we have over 30 internet marketers attending weekly now in an area with a very small  Isn't that the beauty of the internet? If you have a computer, an internet connection, and an understanding of web marketing, you can make money from anywhere in the world.  Yes, even in Idaho! Want to start keeping tabs of what goes on in the Idaho part of the web world? Follow me on Twitter @getfoundfirst. Who knows, you may learn a thing or two from a Google Adwords Certified Partner company in Idaho, but if not, you can at least connect with a guy that can hook you up with anything Idaho outdoors: flyfishing, horseback riding, mountain biking, camping, mountain climbing, hunting, & touring Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. .... Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:48:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/8/13/negative-keywords-every-ppc-campaign-should-have-part-1/ First a confession. I lied. Every PPC campaign should have NOT have all these negative keywords. Most should. Let me remind you why negative keywords are important, courtesy of Google: "A negative keyword is a special kind of keyword matching option that allows you to prevent your ad from appearing when the specific terms are a part of the user’s search." Here at Get Found First we've added very specific negative keywords to our clients accounts. For example, most of our dentists have terms such as "school", "university" and "education". Why? Because those terms often are searched with the word dental and our clients are not selling educational services. What we are experimenting with now are much longer and thorough negative keyword lists. Our clients have many of these terms, but we have been adding more that are not already listed in their campaigns. We want to see how much performance will increase simply by adding these terms. Now if you are going to do the same remember a few things: Some of these terms should not be added to all campaigns. Free should be added to most, but not a client offering free 7 day trials. Traffic should decrease. Irrelevant traffic will decrease, but traffic will become more targeted. This list is not comprehensive and you should have many other negatives. The keywords we are using for MOST campaigns: General- craigslist         directions         ebay       facebook           free       free sample        game       games      lyrics     map        maps       myspace    nude       porn       recipe     samples    sex        sexy       utube      you tube  Job Seekers- openingopeningscareer     careers    direct hire        direct placement           employer           employers          employment         freelance          freelancer         freelancers        freelancing        full-time          head hunter        hiring     independent contractors    intern     interns    internship         internships        job        jobs       part-time          position           positions          positions          recruiter          recruiters         recruiting         resume     resumes    salaries           salary     staffing           temp       temporaryinterviewinterviewssearchmonsterhuman resourcesopportunityopportunitiesgovernmentstaffing      Reference Keywords- aboutdefinitiondiagramexampleexampleshistorymapmapssamplesampleswhat arewhat isarticlearticlesassociationassociationsblogblogsbookbooksbulletinbulletinscase studiescase studydatadefineforumforumsguideguidesimageimagesinfoinformationjournaljournalslearn aboutmagazinemagazinesmeaning ofmetricsnewsnewsletternewslettersnewspapernewspapersphotophotospicturepicturesreportreportsresearchresourceresourcesreviewreviewstermtermsterminologytheoriestheorytutorialtutorialsFAQlogologosstatisticsstatssuccess storiessuccess story Research and Stats- associationassociationsbookbookscase studiescase studyguideguidesjournaljournalsmagazinemagazinesmetricsnewsresearchreviewreviewsstatisticsstatssuccess storiessuccess storytutorialtutorialswhite paperwhite paperswikipediawikiblogblogsbloggernewspressarticlearticles Education- class      classes    college    colleges           conference         conferences        course     courses    education          institute          institutes         program    programs           school     schools    seminar    seminars           training           universities       university         workshop           workshops We'll stop there. If you want more ideas I compiled these from Solomon Rothman, Clix Marketing, and Andy Komack. Stay tuned next week as we look at the results from adding these lists to all of our clients!.... Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:09:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/8/23/never-advertise-on-your-competitors-name-on-google/ So you have been wondering: "Should you advertise on your competitors' names as keyword searches?" "NEVER SAY NEVER!" This post isn't going to answer that question yes or no, because like most everything in internet marketing, it is very subjective and there are lots of variables that must be considered.  We do ppc management for life insurance companies.  One client that just got started is generating leads for their whole life insurance company.  Take a glance at their numbers:     The "insurance companies" campaign (referred to as the "IC" campaign moving forward) advertises only on keywords related to, or exactly, the competition's company names. The "whole life insurance" (referred to as "WLI" from now on) campaign advertises on keywords that relate to the clients actual product/service offering.  Based on these numbers alone, it is easy to see that the WLI campaign is doing much better than the IC campaign.  The CTR is under .4% (for search) and the cost per conversion is a NASTY $237!  Sure, IC has a lower cost per click, it is showing up in a higher average position, with 64 more clicks, and about 34,000 more impressions, but that conversion rate and cost per conversion are horrific. The biggest "tell all" number from above is cost/conversion, and obviously, if one campaign costs 3x as much to generate the same conversion, most likely you don't have to question which one is performing better, and which one you should pause or adjust. So the question still remains: "Should I advertise on my competitors' names as keyword searches?" My answer is: "Do you have enough info to draw any conclusions?" "What don't you know still?"  Here are the other factors still not considered, THAT MUST BE, before you make any rash or hasty decisions: --How is the ad copy? Do the ads really stand out and tell the "smart researcher" why they should not go to the competitor and come to you?  You have to be VERY convincing because online searchers aren't dumb anymore, and don't you forget that!!!  If they searched for your competitor, that is who they were looking for, and you need to be extremely careful that you look for "out of the box" ways to catch their eye.   Sorry, I can't show you the ad copy of the ads related to these campaigns to respect the privacy of my client. --What is the Quality Score looking like?  More often than not, when you advertise "off of your own turf," you get beat up with bad QS. --Are the landing pages convincing?  Okay, so you caught the searchers eye, which tells us that he may not be so loyal to the company he was searching for, now what? Are you going to convince him why you're better and specifically state reasons focused on why he should choose you? Do you have a strong value proposition, and a powerful call to action? --Are these numbers statistically significant?  What kind of a time frame are we looking at? I wish I had paid more attention in Professor Brown's Stats 220 class! With or without being a stats genius, we all know that four conversions on 168 clicks is bad, especially because the CPC is over $5. BUT, what if you get four more conversions before you hit your 200th click?  Now the campaign is headed in the right direction, and not doing as bad as it had originally looked. Make sure that your campaign is given a fair chance before you give up on it! Too often, campaigns are paused, when really all they needed were a few adjustments. --What about budget? In the numbers above, Google tells us that our campaigns are limited by budget. If that is the case, my recommendation is to put all of your money into the best performing campaign.  Just like when people ask me about whether or not they should be advertising on all three search engines, I tell those with small budgets that they should not because they spread themselves thin, and it takes longer to learn from the data. --Who else seems to be having success advertising on their competitors' names?  What are they doing? My partner Luke will do a post that analyzes the ad copy and landing page with screen shots of some of those out there that are doing it the right way. But wait, the question still remains: "Should I advertise on my competitors' names as keyword searches?" My answer, "What do you think? I have given you a lot to consider, and feel that until all things are considered, you shouldn't make up your mind." -Stu   .... Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:24:00 CDT http://www.getfoundfirst.com/blog/2010/9/3/landing-pages-the-good-and-the-bad/ Last night my Ohio State Buckeyes started their season of with a 45-7 romp of Marshall. It was no surprise but I still had to wear my Ohio State shirt to work today to celebrate. As I expect many more wins from my Buckeyes I'll need to get some better gear to represent them! So while I'm shopping and as Stu promised in his last post, I'll sort through the ads and landing pages and show you the good and the bad... From a PPC managers perspective! I decided to go with a jersey, so I Googled "Ohio State Jerseys". If you want to follow along, do the same: The Good: Ad Text- Ohio State Buckeyes Shop   Shop Ohio State Apparel & Gifts - Jerseys, T-Shirts, Caps, Souvenirs.   CollegeFootballStore.com/Ohio_State Good: Ohio State mentioned and bolded 3 times which makes the ad stand out. Jerseys also mentioned and bolded. Google Checkout Option- Makes the ad stand out more, gives an option to buy quick. Bad: No Call to Action. Not focused just on jerseys. Landing Page- http://www.collegefootballstore.com/COLLEGE_Ohio_State_Buckeyes Good: Clean looking, well organized. I can easily find the jerseys I want to shop for. Good selling points/confidence builders on top. Bad: I wasn't taken directly to jerseys, which is what I wanted. The Bad: Ad Text- College Store Gift Shop   Every major Schools Gift Store We sell for less free Shipping too!   www.SportsNutsOnline.com Good: I had to think for a second to find something good here, but their ad stands out because they have 0 keywords in there. However, I am probably the only one that would click on that ad because I think about things like that as a PPC manager! So this might actually be a bad. Bad: Ohio or State or Jerseys not mentioned once! I don't really know what they are selling. No Call to Action. Landing Page- http://www.sportsnutsonline.com/ Good: Again, hard to find... At least you feel some confidence with the "secure" logo on the right. Bad: Homepage as a landing page, usually a no no. Definitely a no no this time. Where is your NCAA stuff? Where are your jerseys? Where is an Ohio State Jersey??? Navigation is hard to look at. The logo looks trashy. In all the whole website looks thrown together and I would not trust these guys with my CC info. In order to sell online you have to have it all! Like a good pass from Terrell Pryor(the Buckeyes quarterback), you have to catch your customers and keep em until you score, or in this case sell! By having all the pieces together starting with your ad and finishing on your webpage you can make Online Marketing work for you. -Luke.... Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:01:00 CDT