In my last post on SEM misconceptions, I delved into one of the most common errors made by search engine marketing novices (myself included), which is that anyone can create successful pay-per-click (ppc) ads without previous skills or expertise.

Today’s misconception builds on my last post and shows just how quickly one mistaken belief can snowball into poor results. Once someone assumes that anyone can navigate a system like AdWords, they naturally assume that all the components associated with ppc ads, like choosing keywords, is just as simple.

Misconception#2: Keyword selection is based on general terms related to your business.

As we discussed in my last post, there are lots of tools within services, like Google AdWords, that provide the illusion that it only takes a few simple steps to successfully implement your own campaign. The common misconception is that your keyword list takes minimal effort to compile. Just pick words and phrases that relate to your business, so the system serves your ads when someone searches for those phrases, and move on.
 
What I’ve learned: Keywords should be chosen based on how people search and what they are really looking for when they type a query into the search bar.
 
The empty search bar that appears when Google is opened is known as the query bar. Each time a user enters a search term into that bar, they are essentially asking Google a question. Google’s job is to provide the most relevant answer.

In order to work favorably with Google’s system (and yes, we want to make nice with Google), your keyword list should support how users search for your business. That means choosing words that are actively searched for and words that drive genuinely interested consumers (qualified traffic) to your site. A general rule of thumb is that they should not be too broad or too narrow.
 
For example, if you own a boutique hotel in Sarasota, Florida that accommodates honeymooners you might want to avoid using the term “Florida vacations”(unless you have a giant budget). This term is an example of something that is way too broad for your business and will attract unqualified traffic to your site and could blow your budget in a matter of hours. “Florida vacations” can refer to family vacations, Disney vacations and other getaways that are not relevant to a romantic vacation for two in Florida.
 
Conversely, avoid keywords that are too narrow. Using the phrase “Siesta Key Honeymoon Retreat” may accurately describe your business but is way too narrow to attract a substantial amount of eyeballs to your website.
 
Ads should qualify users, using keywords that are not overly searched for, and ones that speak your customer’s language. A fitting term for this hotel might be “Sarasota Honeymoon” or if that is still narrow, expand to “Gulf Coast honeymoon hotels.” Google’s Keyword Tool is an invaluable resource when beginning to compile your list. It lists search volume (which shows you how many people search for this term on the internet) and keyword ideas. But remember, it is only a tool and you are ultimately the best judge of which terms are perfect for your business.

As we proceed through this series, it is important to note that each component in pay-per-click advertising matters equally. When one component is overlooked or done poorly, it affects the results of the entire campaign.

Next up is our post all about budget blunders. Did you know that a mistake you make in the keyword selection phase could be the downfall of your budget? Stay tuned.

Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization AdWords, Google AdWords, how to choose keywords, keyword selection, keywords, keywords and phrases, pay-per-click ads, Search Engine Marketing, text ad

In my last blog, I defined search engine marketing as the tools that are used to increase the visibility of a website in search engine result pages (SERPs). It includes search engine optimization, contextual advertising and paid placement to name a few.

This blog discusses search engine marketing and the most common misconceptions associated with creating paid search ads (pay-per-click ads).

When I first became acquainted with search marketing, I naturally assumed that anything that was “free and open to the public,” like Google AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing was easy and could be done by practically anyone. And, so my first misconception about SEM was born.

Misconception #1: SEM is something anyone can do, previous skills and search marketing expertise not required.
 
It seems so simple. Pay-per-click advertising has so many tools that are free, and the giant of them all, Google AdWords offers plenty of “how-to” guidance on the site. If you need more help, there are books for that, right?

The illusion of these tools is their simplicity. The instructions for Google AdWords basically tell you to just create an account, pick keywords, write an ad and go!

What I’ve learned: Creating effective pay-per-click ads that affect your bottom line is a discipline and must be managed with an experienced and diligent eye, just like search engine optimization.

In my last blog series,  I made the same mistake with SEO, assuming it was easy to learn. Though services like Google AdWords are free and come with basic instructions, it takes time, dedication and experience to effectively execute pay-per-click ads.

My own experience with AdWords was, dare I say, a failed attempt (and I’m not picking on Google, it’s just the first place most people start). In addition to my own missteps, I often see businesses become frustrated with search marketing because they think it doesn’t work.

The truth of the matter is, a large portion of the people who use Google AdWords operate under this exact misconception, that search marketing is something everyone can do. They are not experienced enough to amass successful results from AdWords and, unfortunately don’t understand that SEM is a professional discipline.

So, if people misinterpret the actual complexity of Google AdWords, is it possible that there may be a few other misconceptions associated with SEM? I’m thinking of a word. A keyword, that is.

For the many people trying out the search engine marketing arena, a keyword may be a simple choice of words related to their business. My next blog will tell you why that just won’t do.

Digital Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization Google AdWords, keywords, pay-per-click ads, Search Engine Marketing, search marketing, Yahoo Search Marketing

A couple of weeks ago, I began a blog series discussing elements of digital marketing and common misconceptions associated with each. My recent work at a digital marketing firm shed light on these misconceptions which led me to believe that others may share similar false notions.

This blog series is all about Search Engine Marketing

The purpose of this series on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is to reveal the truths behind the misconceptions and to clear up some of the confusion regarding digital marketing and its practices.
 
So let’s define search engine marketing…

Search engine marketing, or SEM, is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising, search engine optimization and paid inclusion.

It is important to know that SEM is the larger umbrella under which many elements of digital marketing are placed, but is also the term most commonly used when referring to the pay-per-click ads found at the top and right hand side of SERPs.

For the sake of this blog series, SEM will refer to pay-per-click ads or paid search listings.

Users can access pay-per-click services, such as Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing and Bing Search to create, manage and distribute paid search campaigns. Armed with the overall definition of SEM and free tools, can’t we simply move on and begin creating paid search ads? Stay tuned for the answer in my next blog.

Digital Marketing, Search Engine Marketing Bing Search, Google AdWords, internet marketing, pay-per-click ads, Search Engine Marketing, sem, Yahoo Search Marketing

Today we’re wrapping up the four-part series on search engine optimization and the common misconceptions associated with SEO efforts. If you have not had a chance to read the previous posts in the series, you can start by going to Tuesday’s post.

Read on to learn one of the most common ways keywords are chosen and how this method can negatively affect search rankings for more important and profitable terms.
 
Misconception #3: Choosing keywords and phrases for which to target your optimization efforts is easy, simply pick some words related to your website and plug them in.

So, if you’re in the hotel business, choosing words like “hotel”, “hotels”, “vacation” and so forth should work, right? Wrong. But, I’ll get to that in a minute.

I once worked with a graphic designer that had me do this exact thing for a client. Just pick some words that describe the business and go with it. I didn’t know any better so I chose a handful of keywords that seemed relative to my client.

Suffice to say, that client is still not ranked.

What I’ve learned: Keywords and phrases that produce results are not chosen simply based on how they describe a business. User behavior and search volume are vital to a successful list of keywords and phrases.

There is an absolute method to establishing the right keyword list and phrases. Remember, though, that this is only part of the SEO equation. Keywords and phrases must be accompanied with proper coding on the back-end of the website, proper usability standards, links and SEO-focused web content.

From a user standpoint, relevant keywords are chosen based on how a user searches for a product or service. Businesses have to set aside their own assumptions and internal search terms and dig into user behavior.

In some arenas, a certain set of keywords and phrases is searched for in high volume (millions per day) which, in turn, creates a highly coveted set of keywords for businesses to use for ranking purposes.  This also means that competition increases and those keywords with a high search volume may not be the right choice for all businesses.

For example, if you own a small boutique hotel in the Bahamas, getting ranked under the word “hotels” is a frivolous waste of time. Extraordinarily large businesses and large numbers of businesses are all fighting to get premium spots on search engine results pages (SERPS).  And quite frankly, your small boutique hotel in the Bahamas won’t be what most people are looking for when searching for “hotels”, so the likelihood of getting ranked is almost nil.

Remember what I said at the very beginning of this series…Google is trying to provide the websites that are most likely what the user is looking for. So, with that in mind, you realize why your small boutique hotel would not likely get on the first page of Google for the term “hotel.” It’s just not the most relevant site for that broad topic.

Getting ranked under more specific terms like, “boutique island hotel” or “Bahama hotel,” both narrows the pool of businesses vying for that term and is also much more relevant to your business and it will ultimately serve your business better. The people who find you under that term will find what they are looking for, which will help improve your rankings and is good for your business.

There’s so much to know about the world of SEO and I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface. Hopefully, telling you about some of my misconceptions has helped dispel similar ideas you may have had. Armed with a better knowledge of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to SEO will help you make better decisions for your business and your clients.

Our next series is on Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Learn what SEM is all about and the top misconceptions that can ultimately hinder a business and waste your money.

Digital Marketing, Search Engine Marketing AdWords, adwords budget, keywords, keywords and phrases, pay-per-click ads, pay-per-click budget, Search Engine Marketing

Digital marketing and its practices are a growing field, making it likely that terms like Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website Usability have crossed your path. It’s possible that you’ve heard these terms in conversation or read about them in a news article or blog post, or that someone has approached your business with solutions that involve digital marketing.

If you’re like me, you may have developed a vague notion of what these terms mean and how it all works. For me, it wasn’t until I began working for a digital marketing firm that I began to realize just how different my idea of digital marketing was to the realities of the business. And, yes, it is one big business.

Although it’s humbling to admit, my misconceptions were so numerous that I have decided to write a series of blogs to tackle the subject of digital marketing.

Each week I’ll discuss a different area of digital marketing including the terms associated with each particular discipline, common misconceptions and the truths that I’ve uncovered through personal experience.

This week, we begin with search engine optimization….

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Before we dive into misconceptions, let’s define SEO as it was outlined in Advertising Age’s supplement, 2008 Search Marketing Fact Pack.

SEO: is the practice of using a range of techniques , including augmenting HTML code, web-page copy editing, site navigation, linking campaigns and more, in order to improve how well a site or page gets listed in search engines for particular search topics.

If the abovementioned definition still means nothing to you, don’t panic. I certainly didn’t understand it when I began.

I learned that SEO refers to the organic or natural search listings (formally known as the Search Engine Results Pages or SERP’s) that you find when you type a keyword or phrase into a search engine like Google, Yahoo or Ask.com.

I would often hear people talk about SEO. They spoke about getting “ranked” and how “being on page one of Google is the best” when it comes to search.

So how do you get ranked in organic search listings or SERP’s and what is it all about? Well, I’m glad you asked.

SEO is the practice that is used to answer this very question. It utilizes a number of techniques that involve behind-the-scenes work with the computer code, up-front work like adding copy that affects your ranking, and use of certain keywords and phrases as it relates to your customer and your website’s relevancy to your customer.

A search engine like Google is trying to provide the most relevant results to a user. When they type a word or phrase into the search bar, Google tries to provide websites that will most likely have the information that user is looking for.

Starting tomorrow, I will begin uncovering the truths about SEO based on my experience (or lack of) and my top three misconceptions about the practice. Something tells me that I’m not the only person with this similar misunderstanding. Stay tuned!

Digital Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization Digital Marketing, organic search listings, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Website Usability