[We all do it. In fact, some of us do it many times a day. We go onto Google, Yahoo or the host of other search engines looking for products and services that we need.
What comes back to us is a list of companies that can fulfill our need. Now look at these results from the perspective of your business goals…wouldn’t it be great to have a spot on the first page of people’s search engine results? Since market research shows that 90% of searches do not go beyond the first page of results, being on page one is invaluable.
Well you can. It’s called paid search. For mere pennies, you can get in front of prospects searching the web for your product or service by buying key words. When those key words are typed in, you will appear as a sponsored link or in a higher position in the regular listings.
Sounds great””but if you don’t know how to do it right, it can become an expensive experiment. So here are some of the strategies we use when conducting cost-effective search campaigns for our clients:
1. Be specific. If you choose a very generic word or phrase like “building” or “golf clubs,” you could be paying a lot of extra money for clicks that are completely irrelevant to your business. Instead of “building,” consider “new luxury condos in San Francisco.” Instead of “golf clubs,” try “performance fairway woods.” The more specific the better.
2. Listen. When you talk to your customers, pay attention to how they talk. Do they ask for luxury condos or high-rise living? Do they need a fairway wood or fairway metal? Use their language, because they search the same way they talk.
3. Try some good old-fashioned espionage. Start by researching your own site to see what words and phrases your prospects are currently using to find you. Also do this same exercise on your competitors’ sites. This information will be very helpful and eye-opening.
4. Keep modifying. The best part of search marketing is that it is 100% trackable. This means that you can continually test which words or phrases are generating the best results and modify them accordingly. So experiment with different combinations or synonyms of critical words that generate the best results.
There are very few true marketing techniques that are trackable. Search listings can be a very powerful and cost-effective tool to drive prospects that are looking to buy, right to your door. Paid search can be very tricky, so feel free to call us with any questions.
Until next month…
