Category Archives : Internet Marketing Basics

Marketing Via Online Communities

This entry was posted in Internet Marketing Basics on by .

Why Online Communities?

Not too long ago, stores survived by selling products to folks in their small town.  These days it seems like everyone wants to go national and sell their merchandise via online shops in every state in the country. Some businesses even wish to go global.  This can be a great idea, but there are some drawbacks.

When a business tries to compete for high valued and competitive keywords, a website can actually lose traffic.  This happens because when they stop focusing on the local or geo targeted traffic to seek out national exposure they become a very small, small shop in a very large market rather than a big shop in a smaller market.

The way I have found to best seek national exposure while still clinging to the lifeblood of the local market is to create online communities.  These communities take advantage of the local market, but open up the gate to a national level.

To create your own online communities, use tools like Facebook, Google Hangouts, Google + Communities, Pintrest, and others. Create a place where like minded people can talk about common interests.  When you create these types of communities, you can then market your products to the people in the communities and gain national exposure while staying withing a niche market.

If you would like help to create online communities for your business, give us a call.

ONLINE MARKETING 101 (SAVE$! TAKE WITH SERIES)

Are you ready to take your business to the next level?

You can get the most out of your marketing budget by targeting your product audience via online methods including ads, email promotions and social media.

In this class you will learn all of these methods and more to get your business the exposure and attention you want to drive you business.

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Feb 4 – Feb 27 M W 1 pm – 2:30 pm $75*
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Optimizing Google Places

This entry was posted in Internet Marketing Basics Social Media News on by .

Google Places Optimization

If you don’t have your business on Google Places, you should.  These are the listing you see when a person types in a type of business into a Google Search. You can see an example of this below for the search “Logan UT Restaurants”.

These listing help in finding your business when people search for a type of business locally.  For example, the above image is a snapshot of the search results for Logan UT Sporting Goods.  If your business doesn’t appear in these types of results, there are some things you can do to enhance the likelihood that they will.

To get started, go to http://places.google.com and login to your account.  If you don’t have an account, then you will want to create an account.

Next you will see your listing’s dashboard.  It will look like the picture below:

On the right hand side, you will see you listing, and above that you will find an “Edit” link.  To edit your Business click on the “Edit Button”

You will then see a screen that shows all of your business information, at least the information you have added to you Google Places Business information.

The part you will want to pay special attention too, is the part showing your website, description, and category information.

What many business owners don’t realize is how important having these fields filled in correctly can help your business show in the Google Places results.

In the description area you will want to make sure you have good keyword placement.  For example, you see in mine that there are the keywords “internet marketing company”, “SEO”, “Video Marketing” and “Social Media Marketing”.  These keywords are there so that when people search for these types of services in Logan Utah, my Google Places profile has a greater chance of showing up for these keyword specific searches.

It is also a common misconception that you have to choose from the available categories listed in the “Category” fields.  As you can see in the last category, I have listed Search Engine Optimization, and under that you will read “You have chosen a custom category”.  You will need to choose one or two of the categories Google has predetermined in the dropdown menu when you click on the category field.  However, you may want to set your own custom categories if those custom categories are common search terms for your business.

You will also do well to add photos and videos to your listing, and last but not least, list your business’ website to make sure when your business is found in Google places, it will link to your company’s online presence.

For more information and to get help with your internet marketing needs, visit: http://marketingai.com

 

Fast and Easy Article for Blog Posts

This entry was posted in Internet Marketing Basics and tagged article writing blog posting internet marketing on by .

Let’s face it, these days you need to use your blog in order to drive traffic to your website.  Most clients I talk to struggle to come up with content for their blogs and articles. This for many webmasters is one of the most difficult tasks, so I have written down a few ideas to help you.

1. Write a review about one of your products or services.  Include details.

This is a great way to promote your services and products and an easy item to write about since you should know a lot about them. When you write about these products and services take the time to really explain the details. This will give you plenty of searchable content for your blog post or article which is great for SEO. This will also give your readers good content.  Make sure the details are there, but that you have the broad stroke covered and easy to find as well.

2. Create lists.

List the top 10 things you love about the industry you are in. List the top 10 things you find the most enjoyable about your company.  People love lists.

3. Write a “How to” article.

People are always looking online for a good set of instructions to help them accomplish a certain goal or task.  If your company or business has the knowledge to help people with specific tasks from cooking and cleaning to dating and sports, write it down for them.  This article could be used as an example of both a “how to” article and a “list”.

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4. Write a post or article about events that are happening in your company.

This could include social events, sales, seminars and more.  Writing about these events is a great way to spread the word about your business, what you do to help others and you may even choose to invite people to attend those events.  If for example your company is renting a theater to watch a newly released movie for your employees and you know you have extra seats, invite others to attend.  This is a great way to keep customers informed on the more social aspects and “lighter side” of your company and spread goodwill.

5. Interview Someone in Your Line of Work

Sometimes you can sit down with an individual, interview them about an area in your industry and use the insights to create an article for your blog, other times you can write down a list of questions, send them to your expert and have them fill in the answers for you.  Either way, you will end up with a great article you can use on your blog or an article you can submit to an eZine.  Of course the fastest way for an interview article is the question answer method.

6. Pay Someone Else to Write Articles For You.

One of the simplest methods for creating content for your website is to pay a company like ours to write the articles for you.  You can also find folks online who will write articles for you.

The most important thing to keep in mind is this, write articles, and post to your blog regularly too keep those visitors coming to your site and to keep them informed.

For more information about Search Engine Optimization, social media marketing or if you have any other internet marketing needs, please let us know.

 

 

PPV or PPC Which is better?

This entry was posted in Internet Marketing Basics and tagged Google Adwords PPC PPV on by .

So you want to know what works better, PPV (pay per view) or PPC (pay per click) when it comes to your ad campaigns. Truth is, it depends. I base my decision on price. Recently I have run several ad campaigns on Facebook. One for ZumbaMusic.net which Facebook suggested a bid of around 6.00 – 11.00 per click. I tested a couple of campaigns to see which one would be the most cost effective and the winner was the PPV campaign. Why? Because the number of clicks I received for the amount of money spent on the campaign was equal to a little less than $1 per click much less than the recommended about a tenth of the suggested 11.00 per click.

This same concept can be tested when using Google Adwords as well if you are running a campaign in which PPV is an option. Some Google Adwords campaigns can only be run using the PPC model.

In the above example I placed my PPV bid at .69 per thousand views. This bid is what is considered to be .69 CPM or .69 (cost per thousand) views. With this bid I was getting around 5 clicks per every $5 spent on the campaign. Once I reached around $400 likes on my Zumba Music Facebook page found here https://www.facebook.com/zumbaworkoutmusic I turned off the campaign and let the rest of the likes grow organically.

In summary, When considering how you want to pay for your campaigns, either PPV or PPM or PPC, run a few ads track the dollars spent to the clicks you’ve received, and turn off the campaigns that aren’t as efficient.