The focus of this blog is to provide education for search marketing. That said, you can’t discuss search marketing without discussing the goals of your site. There are plenty of sites that get page 1 placement on Google and are not making money. There are plenty of sites that can’t be found at all through natural search and are quite profitable. It’s our job to provide our customers with natural search placement and to help create a user experience that achieves your business goals. That said, one of the biggest mistakes I see small companies make when creating or re-designing a site is not being clear on the goal or objective of the site. Why do we have a site? To sell stuff. Okay, fair enough, but how does that happen? For many online transactions, visitors don’t do what you want them to do, buy stuff, on their very first visit. They want to get to know you, how long have you been in business, what have you done for your customer, do you have a product guarantee, what can you offer me that I can’t get somewhere else? When you’re planning to build your site, remember your customer needs first, not yours. Tell them what you do better than anyone else. One of the best statements I’ve seen from a customer is this “Copper West isn’t about Hood River Real Estate sales as much as it’s about being a trusted negotiator, and local ‘expert-advisor’ to the process.” So simple, yet it’s a very strong value proposition. You need to sell stuff, but what do your customers need before they make that decision? For some sites that’s education, product information, product reviews, testimonials, for others that can be a technical white paper or even a sample of the product. So next time you’re ready to create a new site or re-design the one you have, put yourself in the place of your customer what do they need from you? Once you’ve answered that question you’re on your way to getting them to do what you want them to do. The best way to learn about creating on online user experience that helps you achieve your online goals, is by asking your customers. Sit down with customers and potential customers and ask them what they need, a mini focus group if you will, this is a great way to begin understanding your customers needs so you can start achieving your online goals. Ask us for consultation if you’d like help with this process.

Paid Search (PPC-Pay Per Click) is a great way to stick your toe into search marketing. If planned correctly, it’s cost effective, it’s simple to implement and very trackable. Whether you use Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing or MSN AdCenter, your first step is doing some keyword research. Go to Wordtracker and download the free trial, test the words you think your customers are using to find you and also get some other recommendations. Then create ad group campaigns based on your business objectives. Do you want people to purchase a product? Create an ad group using keywords for that product, take them to a page that best explains the product (the closer to the end of the sales cycle the better). You’ll need to plan which keywords to attach to which ad groups, utilizing not just broad matching, but exact matching and negative matching as well. Make sure that your ad group has a call to action. If your visitors don’t traditionally purchase or take the action you want them to take on the first visit, take them to a page that allows you to acquire an email address to begin communicating with your potential new customer (sign up for email, download a white paper, etc.) Since you’re paying dearly for that click, make sure that you’re creating a process within your Paid Search Campaign to support your business objectives. Tip: If you create an ad group that is initiated with a keyword regarding a particular product, take the click to a page that gets them the closest to that product (not your home page!) Also, remember that a paid search visit starts with a search query using the words “buy yellow widgets” take them to a landing page with the words “buy yellow widgets”, you’ll want to carry the “scent” of the originating search query throughout the process so you don’t lose your potential new customer. Look for our post June 15th when we’ll discuss creating landing pages for your paid search campaigns and improving ROI by testing creative on landing pages. Check out this great tool in beta for testing creative at Google Web Optimizer. (Next time: Defining online business goals). Hope you’ll join me!