Pay Per Click advertising is an interactive marketing medium, This means you must actively participate! Running PPC Advertising in Competitive Industries is hard work and ultimately you get out, what you put in. Just like everything else in life, results oriented activity is very important. No sports team ever won the super bowl or the World Series without doing some work. And you are not going to “smoke” your competition without some investment. Those that are successful are typically using a PPC Management Company. But lets get into the details how it works and how you can do it on your own.

1. You'll need to use tools to help manage, update, research, track, and interpret results. Some of these tools we use for Search Engine Marketing includes wordstream , ispionage, semrush, and adwords editor.

2. Successful advertisers are active in their account performing and working towards specific goals. Such goals include things as increase conversions by x% or removing account waste by adding negative keywords, or increasing the Click through Rate (CTR) by x %, or landing page creation.

3. Success is about being relevant. Your ads must match your keywords, and the respective landing pages. The more relevant your advertising, the better the CTR, the higher your quality score, the lower your ad spend, and finally the higher your Return on Investment (ROI).

4. Success comes from being action oriented, not endless interpretation of data. The PPC winners look at the data, and reports and quickly move on what they think that it means. Sometimes they’re right, and sometime not. The mistakes are discovered and then corrected. It is important that you keep moving forward.

5. Success comes from continue keyword discovery, finding new keywords that convert and killing keywords that are poor converters, eat up your ad spend, or damage your click through rate (CTR).

6. The winners make a plan and work it, little by little. Their accounts and advertising rise to the top in the PPC rankings for less money than the competitors, and convert more sales. Less than 10% of PPC advertisers achieve this kind of success and the irony is that it is available to all advertisers and at every spend level.

NO… not everyone can win the Superbowl, you need a lot of God given talent, some luck and a ton of hard work. However, the playing field is level for PPC, every account starts at the same place and anyone can master the tools, the research, and the follow up. All you need is some hard work. SO how to you start winning PPC campaign? Well the starting isn’t that hard, but the first thing we would do is look at your current business and break it down into all the individual services you provide and then identify your best customer. Now all of these thoughts are important because they give you clues to the keywords you need to use.

The best way to start is to use Google’s keyword tool and software like Ispionage .The really neat thing about the spy tools is that they will give you many of your competitor’s keywords and corresponding ads! Now a good portion of your work is done, but don’t copy any one competitor’s setup. You see most advertisers, over 90% in fact have some serious flaws in the advertising.( why do you think Google makes so much money?) Most PPC accounts have at least 30% to 50% waste in the setup! No we’re not exaggerating! Ok so now you have your services and your competitor’s ads, so what is next?

Well, Google PPC is broken down into Campaigns and Sub Campaigns (called adgroups) Next you write your add, set your bid price and lastly your negative keyword list. We haven’t spoken about this before but negative keywords are just as important as regular keywords. You see Google uses various matching types for its keywords. The default setting, Broad Match, will trigger your ad for search terms that are barely similar to your keywords. One of the most important rules for PPC advertising is to only show your ad to people that are most likely to need your services. Otherwise it wastes your money. Even if your ad doesn’t get clicked, this scenario will cause problems. If you ads aren’t relevant to the search term don’t get clicks, then that costs Google money (opportunity cost of showing your ad verses some else’s ad that is more relevant). So if you ad doesn’t get clicked enough times in Google’s eyes, then they will hit your account with a penalty in the form of a poor quality score. This score drives up the cost of your related advertising.

So after the campaign is setup, go back in and put in some obvious terns that you don’t want such as “do it yourself” or how to guide, or tips. They easiest (but not the fastest way to find good negative terms is to use Google’s predictive text feature on their home page. Now what you need to do is repeat this process for every service you offer. When this is all done we recommend some conversion tracking. The built in tools that come with adwords are a great start, we personally swear by the search query reports. But you can also setup conversion tracking for when someone completes a task on your website, like submitting a contact form, or even calling the phone number. Conversion tracking helps you find out what keywords are performing and what’s just costing you money. For Conversion tracking we personally use marchex call analytics, If By Phone (www.ifbyphone.com), and Google Analytics. There are many other 3rd party solutions on the market and many are just fine. The important thing is that your track your results and use the info to update the account. Finally repeat the steps above consistently and your on our way to succeeding!

Mobile Web is changing the SEO landscape. Are you prepared for what lies ahead? Yeah, in 2012, Mobile SEO will be important!

Friday evening while I was out Christmas shopping, I picked up on a conversation about mobile SEO. Co-owners of a family business were shopping at Best Buy for a new mobile phone.  The daughter explained to her father how people are using mobile phones to shop online, look up reviews, redeem coupons, etc. She tried to convince her father that his website sales will plummet because he’s out of touch with today’s modern way of marketing. The father couldn’t wrap the idea around his mind how someone would use a mobile phone to search online.  Why not search from their desktop computer (or laptop) from the comfort of their home or office? He rebuffed the daughter’s advice and decided to stick with his traditional marketing methods.

The father is not alone; there are many businesses who feel the same way. What these entrepreneurs fail to realize is that mobile Web usage is no longer the wave of the future – ready or not, the future is here.  Everywhere you go, whether you’re traveling on business or enjoying your favorite beverage at a coffee house, it seems like everyone has an iPhone, Blackberry, or other smartphone. They’re not just making phone calls, downloading music, and watching the latest YouTube videos. Mobile phone users are getting discounts from QR codes at restaurants, searching for products, and conducting business transactions. Who has time to wait until they get home to book a flight or to redeem a coupon? Why wait when you can use your mobile phone as your personal computer?

According to experts, mobile Web usage is going to overtake desktop Web usage by 2014.  The upsurge in mobile phone usage will be an Internet marketer's dream and a threat to those who refuse to embrace change.

Are you convinced that mobile phone usage is overrated or just a fad?  Here are three ways Internet usage is going to change the SEO landscape.
 

Mobile Search By Image

Web tools like Google Goggles allows you to instantly search online by using images on your phone or photos taken on the spur of the moment. This sort of technology allows a consumer to take a picture of a product in a store to compare prices. You can also use a photo of a restaurant to find reviews online. In order for this to work for your business, your imagery and content must be optimized for this type of search.
 

Voice Search

Voice search on mobile phones through the Apple iPhone’s Siri or Google is becoming very popular. Although this is making searching online a lot faster, it is important to note that people often search a lot differently when they speak. For instance, your customer may type-search “bakeries nyc” and voice search “where are the bakeries in NYC.” This will have a great impact on a website’s keyword targeting.

Using Mobile Phones to Type-Search

There is no question that using a desktop or laptop keyboard is much easier and faster than using a mobile phone. This means that users will search online for shorter keyword strings on their phones. They will also use tools like Google Suggest or predictive text. This will influence the way people optimize their website and how they conduct their link-building strategy.

Although mobile Web is still at its beginning stages, it will have a great impact on every website owner regardless of their industry. The bottom line is, mobile Web is changing the SEO landscape whether we’re prepared for it or not.

Ipads and Prison

So, I bet you are still wondering about the 3 iPads (bought as Christmas gifts). Well actually they're "tablets": one for my wife (an ASUS Slider – she will not do anything without a keyboard), one for my mother (a Kindle Fire – more like an iPad with training wheels), and one ASUS Transformer for my brother (he loves anything cool). Just think how many people are getting tablets for the holidays?

I was there at 8:30a.m. so the store just opened. So here's the rub: the guy at Best Buy, who has to hand out the tablets from the locked cage box, said it was much akin to a prison sentence for his job; in 3 hours, the level of demand for the tablets had grown to Warzone proportions in the store. And he behind the cage, just like a prisoner, must face the Mobile Tablet fury – and that's what's happening very quickly. We are going through a sweeping change of mobile beyond the phone.

Now, pardon me as I video Skype my brother on his tablet.

How Do You Know If Your Search Engine Marketing Agency Sucks? So, you have taken the giant leap of faith and hired a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) agency to promote your website. But, how do you know for sure if you’ve chosen the right NJ SEM agency? Here are five surefire ways to tell if your Search Engine Marketing agency sucks:

1. They promise that their proprietary software and system will manage your account to perfection and then sell 10 of your closest competitors the same setup they gave you.

2. Your ads show outside of your desired territory or for dozens of keyword terms that have poor ROI at best or nothing to do with your business at worst.

3. You don’t have direct access to your Google account to view the actual keywords being searched and money spent (don’t know exactly where your money is going).

4. They don’t offer keyword level tracking (phone number on your site changes with every keyword and tells you exactly how your caller found you). Therefore, you have no idea of your best performing keywords or your return on investment is for each type of service you perform.

5. Your rep doesn’t speak to you at least monthly to review results and fine tune your program and advice you on how you’re paid advertising results can be integrated into an SEO strategy using the call tracking information (this is huge!)

We don't mind giving our secrets away…the big agencies will never execute them like we can. Why? It doesn’t directly increase their shareholders wealth.

Tips on Choosing the Right NJ SEM Agency:

Ask for case studies. Any SEM agency with a proven track record will be eager to show off their previous work and wear it like a badge of honor. If a company fails to offer case studies, it won’t hurt to ask. If they have case studies that rank well, that’s a sign that you’re dealing with the right company. If not, it’s time to move on.

Never base your final decision on price alone. Avoid choosing an SEM agency because they offer you the cheapest price in town. If their price is too good to be true, there is a logical reason why. It usually means their service sucks. Remember, when it comes to pricing, you get what you pay for—every time. Achieving top search engine results requires a humongous amount of effort by an SEM agency.

The cost of achieving impressive results is reflected in an agencies quote. Make sure you compare the cost of the service with the potential long-term return on your investment for your company. An agency that provides dirt cheap prices is more likely to provide ‘0’ return on your investment.

Don’t buy into “guarantees.” When it comes to ranking, never fall for the ‘#1 in Google Rankings’ spiel. A company may be able to guarantee ‘high’ rankings but no one can guarantee #1 in Google rankings. Avoid any company that guarantees #1 ranking in the search engine.

Are you looking for a good NJ SEM agency? Thinking about ditching your current SEM guy? Contact us today and we’ll provide you with everything you need to help improve your website rankings.

The first thing every website owner should think about once his/her website has been built is to find a good SEO NJ consultant.  You can have the best website design ever built but if no one can locate you on the web, there’s really no point in having a website.

One of the major advantages of hiring an SEO NJ consultant is that he/she can help get your website ranked high within Google, Bing and Yahoo.  Although the Internet is filled with SEO kits and DIY eBooks, many people have tried it and failed miserably.

The key to driving traffic to your site is having a skilled SEO consultant who understands the intricacies of web marketing and search engine optimization. 

Tips on Finding the Right SEO NJ Consultant

Finding an SEO consultant. Finding an SEO NJ consultant is not as complicated as it may seem. Simply type in “SEO guru’ or ‘SEO consultant’ in Google and you’ll find a list of SEO companies.   You may also want to search in social media sites like LinkedIn.

Price indicates quality.  If you find an SEO company that quotes extremely low rates, such as $10-$15 per hour, that’s a strong indication that they provide poor quality work.  These ‘want-to-be’ SEO companies will add random backlinks to several irrelevant directly websites instead of the DMOZ directory or Yahoo.

The average price for hiring a professional SEO will run you around $1,000 – $10,000 per month.  Why is SEO seem so expensive?  In reality, this is considered a steal when compared to the potential results you can achieve.  When search engine optimization is done the correct way, it can significantly boost your ranking and the amount of free traffic that’s driven to your website. 

Consider this – SEO is a lot less expensive than investing in offline advertisements, such as magazine ads, newspaper ads, billboard ads and TV commercials.

Proven Track Record. Before choosing an SEO NJ consultant, ask to see rankings from their clients. Check to see if their client is still ranked within the search engine. For example, if your consultant provides you with a client reference from two years ago, the client’s website should still rank well within the search engine.  If they have a high turnover rate with clients, a red flag should immediately go up in your mind.

If the SEO consultant has clients that have been with them a year, two years or more, that’s a consultant you’ll want to put on your A-list.

Another important thing that indicates quality is the amount of clients they have. An SEO NJ consultant that works with a small number of clients is more likely to give you their best work as opposed to a consultant that has thousands of clients.

Avoid any company that gives you a timeline.  In other words, avoid any company that promises you #1 ranking within 1-3 months.It’s impossible for anyone to give you an exact time-frame because there are way too many factors that are beyond a consultant's control that come into play. 

A professional SEO NJ consultant will at least conduct a keyword analysis and get back to you within a couple of days with an estimated time-frame.

Check client references. Make sure you verify client references before choosing a consultant. With any business it’s important to know if a company is capable of delivering on time and on budget.  When you call up client references, they will let you know whether they are satisfied with their current SEO services.  This is how you determine if your prospective consultant is worth your time and money.

Do they offer a free analysis? Some SEO companies will charge a fee to conduct a client’s website analysis.  In their eyes, it can be a waste of time analyzing a website for a client who is clearly just window shopping. It is totally at your discretion if you want to pay a fee for a website analysis. However, there are SEO companies that do not charge for this service. Many consultants are secure with their business and offer a free SEO analysis.

Get more traffic!

Want to boost your search engine ranking and drive more traffic to your website?  One of the most effective ways of getting people to visit your website is with the help of an SEO NJ consultant.  Click here to find out more information about SEO NJ.

A couple of years ago, many small to mid-sized business owners assumed that social media marketing was a complete waste of time. Today, more and more business owners are finally realizing the significant value of including social media with their marketing campaign.  Social media marketing has proven to be a cost-effective marketing solution that can attract droves of targeted traffic to a website — when it’s handled the proper way. 

Here are 7 powerful social media marketing tips that will give your business a boost:

1. Distinguish your business from your competition.

If you want to get people excited about your business through social media, you have to separate yourself from the rest.  You have to give people a reason to drop what they’re doing to connect with you. Social media provides an excellent opportunity for your company to stand out from the competition. You stand out from the crowd by providing valuable content and by having a custom designed social media page that enhances your brand image.

2. Identify and connect with a specific target audience.

If you want to gain more followers and potential customers, you must identify and connect with people who will be interested in your business. There is no point in trying to market to any and everybody under the sun.  Social media allows you to market to a ‘specific’ audience. This is a great way to achieve your bottom-line.

3. Be a specialist.

Instead of being a generalist, become a specialist.  The Internet marketplace has become more specialized than ever before.  The social media world allows you to become more specialized compared to offline marketing mediums. 

4. Create appeal.

Unlike traditional forms of marketing (newspaper ads, magazine ads, billboard ads), social media marketing gives you instant feedback from your target audience.  You can test the waters and see how your audience responds to your message.  It also gives you the opportunity to improve your message and provide people with something of value.

5. Develop rapport.

The purpose of social media is to communicate with people.  People love doing business with people they know, like and trust. At Coffy.com, we have established many long-term relationships with clients by simply practicing the art of building rapport. Social media offers an excellent opportunity for businesses to build long-term relationships with potential clients.

6. Choose your area of focus.

With social media, you must choose your area of focus and stick to it.  For example, let’s say that you want to use social media to drum up sales for your political t-shirt and memorabilia business.  If the theme of your social media site is focused on the pitfalls of used auto parts, your message will get lost.

7. Focus on ‘Them’ and not ‘You’.

If you want to attract more clients or subscribers with social media, here’s what NOT to do:  Don’t be self-indulging.  To be successful with social media, you must focus on your prospective audience and be a benefit to them. If your focus is on ‘I’ and ‘Me’, you will lose their interests. Your audience could care less about how many accolades you’ve accumulated down through the years. Leave that information for your About Us page.  Remember, it is all about your audience and not you.

Google has been recently bombing the collective web “airwaves” with its ZMOT campaign. You will see this ZMOT colorful banner out there with videos and e-books posted to review material of its latest thought leadership strategy in helping the consumer make more informed decisions.  Hum, really?  I think this is a wave of pre-meditated strategy for the fight of Facebook’s dominance in social and eventual monetization of Google Places page.

The average U.S. Internet user spends more time on Facebook than on Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Microsoft, Wikipedia and Amazon combined. Think about that for a moment.

We have entered a new era in which developing strong consumer relationships is pivotal viagra a brand or company's success. The challenge is to create at points of contact with each consumer an emotionally charged interaction because the cultural changes social media have ushered in are already having a big impact on marketing strategies, but eventually, companies that want to compete are going to have to change their approach to everything, from their hiring practices to their customer service to their budgets. Not all at once, mind you. But it will have to happen, because there is no slowing down the torpedo-like speed with which technology is propelling us to "care" more about our customers in all directions.. do you care? 

BTW you don't even have to be time-wise invested in this piece of work if you don't want too… 

Let someone do SM for you who knows how to make it effective and give you measurement of the results based on your objectives. If you don't have any marketing objectives, then you have to start back a little further and decide what VALUE you are to the business community world you serve ( B2b B2c, does not really matter) you have something to give.. so give it! Give and thou shall receive.. I heard that somewhere? 

For example: 

Our clients need only to approve our blog/video content related to their business for us to then divide up into posts and tweets and further distribute into web 2.0 props. We drive tons of followers and likes for them, by adding valuable and informative content about their business. We run sweepstakes on facebook, videos linked in twitter, and a host of other "engaging" material that DRIVES SALES numbers that we measure by matching the incoming emails, phone numbers and other valuable info that we are capturing by using a combined effort of resources from a well engineered digital marketing campaign that is quality material for consumption, not fluff. 

Most of the time we are actually leveraging the delivery components of these Social Media outlets and downstream distribution props to drive fresh keyword cycling within a larger encompassing strategy with PPC and organic SEO results. A well tuned offering strategy blended by both marketing tandems in sync is a recipe for successful marketing leadership and revenue enhancement. 

Bottom Line>> Facebook and Twitter are NOT GOING AWAY. People are communicating today on very different levels that just a few years ago. For most businesses we deal with its not a matter of "if" but "when" they want to join the conversation. 700,000 people join facebook each day, makes you think..

I have met with so many companies who just don’t yet have any social media strategy, its just staggering to comprehend.

Throughout history there have always been people who rebel against progress and want to stick with being conservative and I guess this is a similar situation. But like the people who opposed the car by Ford, we will look back on the people who are against social media and see them as uneducated and backward. As a society, we must always be “moving forward”.

Some who complain about social media cannot see the real positives that it offers.

Firstly, aren’t we always taught that in life it’s often who you know, not what you know? Well social media sites like Facebook and Twitter allow us to make real connections and network with people all over world.

Secondly, social media has allowed us to build meaningful relationships with people we may never had met in real life had it not been for the internet. Literally 100’s of millions of people all over the globe have made new friends and found old ones on Facebook and Twitter. Social media has opened up doors to people that may have previously been locked forever.

Thirdly, social media has become the number one source of instant news. On Twitter we can find out what is happening in our street, our town, our state, our country or anywhere on the globe. We don’t have to wait for tomorrow’s newspaper to know what is happening right now. It helps to make us more educated and isn’t a more knowledgeable society what we really want?

Lastly, and I think most importantly, social media is generally free as long as you can access the internet. It doesn’t cost a cent to register on Facebook and what you receive in return is hour upon hour of enlightenment and connections. Is there another form of media in the world that reaches as many people and is free?

If I said that social media is perfect, it would be a blatant lie. There are obvious problems like privacy and security that need to be addressed and for companies. Social Media reputation will become a huge factor of monitoring compliance factors vs. the advantage of opening up new channels of business.

It’s simple, you can’t stop progress. Social media, technology and the internet will not go away. But you can help shape it. So to all you technology resisters out there, I implore you to stop the inevitable. As the old saying goes, ‘if you can’t beat em, join em’. Go Buy that Ford!