RomaGeber Blog

As anyone who does a lot of Pay Per Click advertising knows all too well - the marketplace doesn’t’ lack for tools designed to make your life easier, maximize your ROI, save you time or just simply make working with keywords more enjoyable. Look, let’s be honest - we’d all rather be golfing than hunting for good mis-spelled keywords to drive traffic our competition is missing, and I don’t’ golf. I really don’t understand the game either. It just feels like a big waste of an afternoon unless there is heavy drinking and maybe a little bit of gambling mixed in. I am a good tennis player though. Anyway - the point I’m trying to make is - you don’t need to go out and spend a fortune on some of those expensive, highly promoted PPC tools to really enhance your advertising efforts. I use the following 3 tools regularly. I don’t’ do nearly as much advertising as I once did ( as I now prefer and feel much more comfortable using a more diverse set of promotional practices) but still get incredible value each time I put them to use. And - they are all free. ( although the 1st tool has a paid version which I do pay for - for most, the free version is sufficient).

1)SpyFu

I LOVE spyfu. Spy fu isn’t a real person, but if he was, I’d give him a big fat man hug. Spyfu should be illegal. But it isn’t, which is very good for us snoopy type A personalities. And I mean illegal in a good way. Like against the Internet marketing law kind of thing. Because what it will do for you is essentially:

a) Show you your Competition

b) Show you all of your Competition’s stuff - domains, related domains, sub domains, categories, etc, etc, ETC….

And - This is a very big And by the way…

c)Scrapes all of the Keywords and Ads your competition is running for all of their keyword campaigns and allows you to download those keywords and ads into an excel spreadsheet ( or really any other type of file once you have the data). What does that mean for you? Well - how about knowing EXACTLY what ads your competition is running for EACH one of their keywords on a per keyword basis. And what about having a fully populated keyword list on your PC, ready to upload to your favorite Pay Per Click engine at the mere click of a single button? How About knowing the clicks each one of those keywords is getting, the approximate cost of each keyword on a per day basis, the mis-spellings, the ranking that advertiser places for that keyword and much more? It is all there folks - Spyfu is my number 1 competitive intelligence tool when going after a new market - and the basic version is free! ( Note - as of Summer of 2007 Spyfu does limit some of the above to a paid membership - ie - they now require you to sign up before you can download or export your list to excel) You do not need to pay for it to give your keyword campaigns a big kick in the ass though - and while I’m not a big ass kicker myself, I do recommend strongly that you take yours over there and check it out now.

2) Mikes Ad words Wrapper I know, I know, there are other tools out there that do this, but old habits and loyalties die hard in my book. If you are just getting started in pay per click marketing, you NEED to be making good use of exact and phrase matching in your ad campaigns. Specificity is the key, and never more than right now, summer of 2007 and beyond. Being relevant is always hard work, weather you are Ralph Nader trying to jump back into the 08 elections, or whether you are running a PPC ad campaign for the latest dog training e book to hit the market. The ad words wrapper ain’t going to make YOU more relevant per se, (Sorry Ralph )but it will expedite the process of making your keywords look nice and pretty when you upload them into your campaigns. Essentially, you brainstorm your keywords, dump them into the main text box, and then * wrap* them according to how you want them to appear in your ad campaigns. I do a lot of exact matching when I advertise, ( and so should you if you want higher CTR and lower costs) and this nifty free tool saves me tons of time by wrapping my exact match keywords in brackets, phrase match words in quotation marks, and leaving the good ole’ broad match words alone. Once finished - I can put each set into it’s own group for more ( or less) refined ads, depending on my goals for that particular campaign. And again - there are other things that will do the same thing - but some of us remember the good old days when wrapping brackets around your keywords all afternoon was almost enough to make you reconsider going back to telemarketing death and dismemberment insurance on the graveyard shift for another 2 years. No pun intended.

3)Yahoo Search Marketing Ad tool

Who loves ya, Yahoo? Well - I don’t. I get terrible results with their contextual ads from a Publishers perspective, and their paid search engine marketing yield is often anemic from the standpoint of volume ( and often quality ) of visitors they send to my sites. But they are getting better - and while I don’t do a ton of advertising on Yahoo right now, I do some…….And I love the keyword ad tool that they give you access to when setting up your keywords and campaigns! Similar to Spyfu above - but not quite as involved - and all in one small space, you can click on any of the keywords that are in your ad group and Yahoo will spit out 5 or 6 ads that are currently running for that word or phrase. So if your stuck, are having writers block, or just like to thieve other people’s stuff , this gives you instantaneous inspiration to finish that ad you were writing on your fancy new green widgets. Pragmatically - it also gives you an immediate window into the wonderful world of your competition, as you can immediately check out some of the competing url’s to see how they are marketing THEIR green widgets, and again, you can use that information to expand/grow/improve upon your own offers. I use this tool constantly, and it has helped me leapfrog the brain cramp that often times settles in after staring at my screen for one hour to many. It’s not revolutionary, but it WILL help you write better ads, especially for those of you who are not very bright to begin with.

(Just making sure you are still paying attention…:-)

I hope this was helpful, and you are able to use and benefit from the above as much as I have. And I will add more of these simple and effective free tools over the coming days and weeks, because as I’ve said over and over on here, and otherwise - you do not need to break the bank, or your budget to have great success on line.

I make ugly sites. If you want pretty pages - hire an artist - they have cool tatoos and often times play the guitar. If you want to make more money I am only a phone call - or email away. My brain percolates direct marketing ideas 20 hours a day only resting for 3 hours of deep formless sleep and one hour of Vipassana meditation so that I may afford myself the appropriate level of concentration, wisdom and insight to serve your needs. And if I had another hour in the day - I would spend it basking comfortably in the reflective glow of my own creative genius. Why aren’t you calling..;-)?

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If you use a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm to help increase your sites visibility to search engines you should be aware that one of the simplest ways unscrupulous firms use to manage a meteoric rise to the number one spot is simply through Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising.

Essentially you pay an SEO firm to place advertising in such a way as to allow your site to be ranked in first place (preference being granted to the highest bidder). In the end, the SEO firm honored their commitment to move your ranking to number one, but they often do so using a method you could do yourself (advertising) while doing little in the way of long term results. As soon as you stop paying for SEO services, the advertising goes away and so does your ranking.

The rise of illegitimate SEO firms has grown tremendously making it difficult for quality SEO firms to do business in a trusting environment.

Legitimate firms want you to ask questions. They are happy to provide testimonials and may even go so far as to list the services they provided for each client. Ethical SEO firms will help you understand the relationship between the content of your website and the correlation to improved long-term search rankings.

Quality SEO does not resort to hidden words, keyword stuffing or other black hat marketing techniques. A professional SEO consultant understands their job is to help search engines define the best material on the web and help their client become one of the best providers of content for the web.

This double-edged approach takes into account the genuine needs of both client and the Word Wide Web community at large. By attempting to bolster the desires of both, the ethical SEO firm is seem as a partner in trust for both parties.

Managing SEO techniques is something that can be learned (and many site owners are), but if youâ??re going to search for someone to assist you it is in your long-term best interest to find a firm that really helps you and not one that simply props you up until they get paid.

Itâ??s not wrong to want quick results, which is why you can always develop your own PPC advertising program. However, you should view this scenario as a short-term solution. Ethical SEO development will assist you, but you may need to be patient while it gently, but consistently works to impress the search engines.

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects.

Make A Website in minutes with HighPowerSites or Build A Website with BuildAGreatSite.

Start your own ebook business and Resell Ebooks with BooksWealth.

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Marketing effectively today on the net is a ever changing event. Appealing to the search engine spider of Google is something that every home based business opportunity owner should carefully consider. When approached correctly, this type of system will lead to success on the net.

The Google approach to marketing is based on one thing. Good information. If one gives good credible original information about the particular project, Google will reward them. Conversely, if irrelevant, copied and pasted information, misleading information, spamming tactics and tricks are used, Google will punish them. To be punished on Google simply means showing up on page 5 million. No one will ever see the information. Bottom line in internet marketing is this…NO TRAFFIC=NO SALES!

There are many areas that will need to be explored in gaining top positioning on Google. There is absolutely no need for a thinking individual to spend massive amounts of money to obtain these positions.

What is needed, is a system. A system that can be duplicated by anyone. A system that leads to great results. A system that is inexpensive and yet highly effective.

Online business success is an obtainable goal. With proper tools and training anyone can achieve mastery.

The primary thought here is the ability to open one’s mind to the thought process of how the internet actually works, appealing to the search engine spiders, and simply giving better information than anyone else to gain top positioning.

Absolutely billions of articles have been written on the subject of successful internet marketing. Experts will tell about what to do…and what not to do to reach top positions. That is all well and good, but the bottom line is…simply go to work…put out the information…do the work consistently (because there are NO quick fixes on the internet, and follow up with excellent sales copy on the website.

Sales copy…good or bad…will make or break a program. Having the best information on the best product will lead to sales.

Butch Hamilton is an SEO|SEM Specialist. He also is a WebTrafficConnection and a Veretekk trainer. Living on the internet has become a way of life…a succesful way of life. His talents for obtaining top positions on the search engines have led him to the point in his life where he has always wanted to be.

Says Mr. Hamilton, “Writing has always been my passion. Gone are the days when I placed blatant ads on the internet for exposure. I have found my life’s work in writing articles.

Reliable and credible information is what the internet is all about to Butch Hamilton. His experience as a self employed building contractor…steel fabrication…has led him on an incredible journey.

He now resides in his beautiful home in Texas with his wife. Writing is the passion behind his successful promoting ability on the net.

Butch Hamilton’s Quote: “What we think-is what we become.”

Mr. Hamilton is a Spiritualist as well. Knowing the answers to life has been an incredible journey. His plans to write his first book are quickly approaching.

“Life-What a Ride!”

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Marketing can be expensive, exhausting and exasperating. It requires time, money and effort to market a business effectively. But not all business owners have those kinds of resources at their disposal. That’s where search engine optimization / SEO can help!

I’ve never been one to profess that SEO is an all-powerful approach to marketing. With that being said, search engine visibility can certainly wonders for any type of business. It also has several distinct advantages over traditional “in your face” marketing tactics.

The Trouble With “Push” Marketing

Let’s look at a hypothetical (but very realistic) example, using the fictitious company of ABC Widget Solutions. Let’s say that ABC Widgets has a website that does not come up in search engines for their key phrases. In other words, their target audience is unable to find them online by researching the kinds of products and services that ABC provides.

With poor search engine visibility, ABC will have to do a lot of outbound or “push” marketing. There is very little chance that people will stumble across their website online, because their search engine visibility is severely lacking.

Thus, they will have to pour their time and money into such things as:

• Direct mail marketing
• Newspaper or magazine ads
• TV and radio ads

What do all of these things have in common? Several things, actually. First of all, the marketing channels listed above can be expensive. The costs for a direct mail campaign, for example, can really add up over time. And a single TV ad can blow a small business owner’s marketing budget for the entire year.

Here’s what else the marketing techniques above have in common. They are all intrusive. When you put a direct mail letter in front of somebody (or any other type of push marketing) you are forcing your message upon your audience. This kind of strategy does not work nearly as well as it used to.

The “Pull” of Search Engine Optimization

By contrast, let’s consider the effects of an SEO campaign. When you focus some of your marketing time and energy on increasing your search engine visibility, the benefits are significant. Unlike direct marketing and advertising, an SEO campaign can be very affordable even for the small business owner. Search engine optimization is also a long-lasting approach that outlives the effort you put into it.

But the strongest advantage SEO has over traditional advertising is that you are reversing the psychology. With push marketing such as direct mail and newspaper ads, you are putting your message in front of somebody who is not necessary looking for it (and thus hoping to change the person’s mindset). That’s a tall order!

But with a search engine optimization campaign, you are putting yourself in front of people who are actively looking for the kinds of products and/or services you provide. This is a significant difference because you are no longer trying to change somebody’s way of thinking … you are simply “merging” with their current way of thinking. You are giving them the exact information they are looking for! As a result, it’s much easier to “pull” inquiries from web traffic than it is to “push” your message on somebody who did not ask to receive it.

So let’s sum up the advantages of SEO we have talked about:

• Search engine optimization is a long-lasting approach to marketing.
• It’s also forward-thinking because it embraces an evolving medium (Internet).
• It is typically more affordable than traditional advertising techniques.
• It seeks to connect with people who are already looking for what you offer.
• It allows you to “pull” qualified prospects toward your products / services.

I am not saying that search engine visibility is the best marketing strategy for all businesses all of the time. On the contrary, other marketing techniques certainly have their place in the grand scheme of things. But what I am saying (and what I’ve clearly outlined above) is that SEO has distinct advantages for the small business owner, and thus it is certainly worth your consideration and pursuit.

Brandon Cornett publishes a loan officer marketing website that caters to mortgage professionals. For more marketing tips and article, visit the author online at http://www.smartmortgagemarketing.com

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