In my colleague Matt Lester's recent Search Engine Land column, he discussed ten tips for a more effective paid search campaign. For this article, I'll follow up Matt's advice with ten tips to help you develop a more effective search engine optimization (SEO) campaign. But before we dive into the tips, let's briefly look at what SEO is and its key concepts. SEO, quite simply, involves designing your website to improve its ranking in organic search results on search engine results pages (SERPs). And by optimizing for terms that your target audience will use to search, you will drive [...]

Related Topics: Back To Basics | SEO: General

Chances are, if you're reading this you're either running a cost-per-click (CPC) advertising campaign or are considering it. You probably know that CPC advertising involves selecting a set of keywords and writing an ad to appear when someone searches for that keyword in the major search engines. And you're aware that CPC advertising requires you to set a cost that you are prepared to pay for a click. And you are probably familiar with the benefits of CPC advertising; namely, generating leads, driving sales, and creating brand awareness. But what you may not know yet are these ten tips [...]

Related Topics: Back To Basics | Search Ads: General

In September 2007, I was offered the role of 'Social Media Manager' at a company in Cape Town, South Africa, which I took without much hesitation. I knew my job would focus on the 'general' projects such as proposals, running campaigns, and devising social strategies for clients who had something they wanted to generate a buzz about online. Little did I know I would be training up the other team members completely from scratch on the subject, but I can confidently say it was the most enjoyable part of the job. Here are 15 of the most important things about social media marketing I taught t [...]

Related Topics: Back To Basics | Social Media Marketing

My December article, Think Beyond The Click: How To Build Landing Pages That Convert, received some great feedback, and raised some questions, so I've decided to address a few more important topics about landing pages. Readers commented that the success of a landing page depends on its audience and how many different landing pages are used to educate possible conversions. Many also brought up the issue of tracking the results of a landing page and any promotional campaign you're running to drive traffic to that page. I've decided to dig a little deeper into these issues. By sharing some [...]

Related Topics: Back To Basics | Search Marketing: Landing Pages

The Nielsen Company recently completed a survey asking consumers their opinions on advertising, including offline and online. When asked “To What Extent Do You Trust the Following Forms of Advertising?”, paid search ads were ranked near the bottom compared to other forms of advertising. This should not come to a surprise to any paid search marketer, but it’s also not bad news, either. Paid search marketing, when done correctly, fills consumer needs. And if your ads aren't attracting clicks and conversions, you're simply not recognizing or filling those needs. Here are a few things [...]

Related Topics: Back To Basics | Search Ads: General