I know a guy who knows a guy who got his website ranking number one in Yahoo for “Sheep Shears Georgia”! – and it only took him a week!

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And that guy is more than willing to take your money to do the same for you.  These guys are everywhere.  Some of them aren’t even guys.  Man or woman, they’ll happily promise you the world for a low flat fee – usually a couple hundred bucks.  And that’s far less than the rates Leverage Marketing charges for search engine optimization services.  And you’re free to pay them your money and test out their “guaranteed first page rankings.”  But before you do, here are some things to be very wary of (they’re scary!):

Look out for:

Reciprocal link building

This was extremely popular 5+ years ago and is one of the main reasons that sites used to have whole pages dedicated to outgoing links.  Just because it was popular (and somewhat effective) 5 years ago doesn’t mean you should do it now.  In fact, link schemes like this can throw up major red flags in the search engines and can have your site booted from the search results.

Paid directory link building

Many companies still base their “SEO” programs around this type of link building.  The basic premise here is handing over varying amounts of cash in return for a link back to your site.  In one way, this sounds like basic advertising and sounds relatively reasonable.  But dig a little deeper and evaluate the value of a link from the majority of sites that offer this deal, and you’ll find it’s rarely even close to worth it.  Many companies recommend that you give them $300 so they can submit you to Yahoo’s directory.  And you’re a yahoo if you fork it over!  This link will rarely generate traffic and won’t give your site any noticeable link value.  Add this to the fact that paid links are easily identified and devalued by search engines and you have an optimization tactic sure to disappoint.

Submission to search engines

Besides the fact that this can easily be done yourself by entering your URL in Google’s or Bing’s form, it is completely unnecessary for all but brand new sites.  Google and Yahoo are very good at finding your URLs on their own.  Ensuring that the important pages of your site can be found from a sitemap, however, is still a good idea.

Concentration on optimizing Meta keywords element

It used to be very common, and somewhat beneficial, to target specific keywords in the meta keywords element of your site as search engines used to look here to get an idea of what your site was about.  Of course this was and still is used by many people in hopes of improving their rankings.  If only it were that simple.  The value of working on this Meta Element is extremely low if at all.  Creating unique descriptions in the meta description element of your pages, however, is important – but for a completely different reason which will be a topic of another blog post.

Guaranteed rankings or guaranteed amounts of traffic

It’s hard not to be warmed over by a great sounding guarantee.  Let me guess, you want number one rankings for the highest search volume keywords that even remotely represent your offering and you want traffic by the thousands to come to your site, correct?  Well shoot, we can get that for you if you’ll just sign this twelve month contract.  Truth be told, great guarantees are hard to come by. And I have yet to see any SEO companies guarantee anything but wasted time, a lighter pocket book, and a grudge against SEO companies.  This need not be the case.  A quality SEO company will show exactly what they are working on and how it will impact your website.  Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.  I guarantee it!

The number of companies offering the above ‘services’ is not as high as it once was.  Many consumers have wised up to many of the above mentioned careless tactics but there still are many phony companies out there.  In fact, this post was prompted by a phony SEO company whose proposal was sent on to me – it included each of the above tactics as main offerings.  I’ll leave you with one important recommendation:  When considering an SEO company to establish a relationship with, grab your outlined goals for your business and with your B.S. cap firmly on, review the offerings.  Is there anything that seems too good to be true?  Have the company you are considering explain anything that doesn’t seem possible.  And by all means, choose with your head and not based on fantasy.  Lastly, how many people are searching for sheep shears Georgia, anyways?

Blogging for SEO: How to Speak to your Target Audience

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As we spend the week discussing blogging and the power of demonstrating your brand’s voice, it’s important to give yourself a starting point. The real magic of creating a blog that is impactful is not starting with what you would like to share, but rather speaking to what your target market is looking for…

What I mean by this statement is that many blogs fail to speak to their audience because they do not answer the interests of their visitors/target market. While the blog posts may be very insightful, it fails to establish the credibility of the brand because nobody is “searching” for this information. How do you fix this problem? Simple keyword research will get your blog content going and allow your posts to speak to what your target audience is literally searching for. The easiest way to get this information is the Google Keyword Tool.

Google Keyword Tool

Google’s free keyword tool is a great place to start your research and find what people are looking for in your field of expertise. For the sake of our post, let’s use “blogging” as our focus. Here are some of the searches being run on Google per the keyword tool for the term blogging:

Google Keywords Tool(Click to enlarge)

In reviewing the results above, I can then populate the content or subject matter that I would like to tackle for my blog. These items would be:

  • Blogging Tips
  • How to Start A Blog
  • Business / Corporate Blog Set-Ups

Now that you have this list, you can start to build out your blog posts that focus on these areas. The importance of multiple posts per search query is that it will assist you in getting lift on these terms organically if done often enough. Think of Google’s algorithm as the human metabolism: the more blogs you feed it and update, the more often it gets hungry and comes back for more.

Why Company Blogs are a Must

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Why Company Blogs are a Must
It isn’t a secret that Social Media is here to stay. Skeptics may say some forms of networking are fads, but
the truth is, people are craving for an outlet to voice their opinions and observations, and connect with
their favorite brands. It seems almost archaic for companies to resist Social Media trends. While delving
into multiple networks like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and the like, may seem overwhelming to smaller
companies, there is an easier way to develop an on-line voice; through a blog. A company blog can break
the communication barrier often formed between your company and its customers. People want to
connect, interact and engage their favorite brands. A blog creates a forum so your company’s publics can
be in-the-know and have an opportunity to react to what you have to say. It will be beneficial to your online
reputation for you to join the conversation.
To Increase Brand Visibility
Blogs exclusively about companies and products are what produce low-trust ratings by Internet readers.
The best corporate blogs speak to relevant issues, often clarifying untrue rumors, addressing industry
trends or competitors’ actions, and creating an authority in their particular niche. By doing this your
company will be enhancing its brand visibility and credibility on the web. A great blog can position your
company and key employees as thought leaders within the industry, which puts you in a position of
greater power on the web. Companies that are successfully blogging are giving their own unique spin to a
traditional blog model. At the risk of sounding cliché, thinking outside-of-the-box positions your company
or brand as fresh, on trend, and believable.
To Drive Traffic to Your Home Page
Unlike a static Web site, blogs are constantly updated and become more searchable. Keywords in
headlines will allow your blog to be found, and have traffic driven to your company’s home page. Within
the blog there are endless opportunities to link. Linking to industry articles, internal press releases, new
client bios etc, creates an interaction with your company or brand and unknowingly forces the reader to
keep exploring. Integrating your blog with other Social Media is optimal. Every update to the blog can
easily be broadcasted on all other networks and viewed by friends from each. This connection can take a
subject viral and engage current and potential customers with your product or service.
To Inform Your Customers
Think of an internal blog as a business strategy, part of the bigger Public Relations plan. Blogging is the
single best way of generating sustained and quality buzz for your company. Nowadays, Social Media
efforts should be integrated with traditional media to achieve a company’s goal.
However, it is important to note that a blog should not be written by the PR department as there should
be no hidden agendas lying within. Blogs should get down to the nitty-gritty and truly tell your company’s
story on a daily to weekly basis. A fictional-sounding blog won’t be worth reading by your customers and
be a waste of your time to write.
To Generate a Voice Online
Blogs shouldn’t be a hassle– they should be viewed as an outlet, something fun to do every week to take
away from the daily grind. Some blogs have very stream-of-consciousness-like qualities. While it is not
recommended to write something quite that informal for a company blog, the same idea applies. There
should be a conversational feel portraying honest and open content. Blogging takes you off your
corporate high-horse and brings you down to the level of your customers. Establishing your blog within
the same tone as your company and still seem human is hard, but achievable. If done well, humanizing a
more formal company can make it seem approachable, even likeable.
There are endless opportunities within the blogosphere. In order to give your company more exposure, it
is important to understand how critical developing a Social Media voice is, as people are moving towards
a society with more connection and interaction. If your company is interested in starting a blog, there are
a few easy options using WordPress, Blogspot, or similar platforms. Also, Leverage Marketing’s Social
Media department is ready to help your company start its internal blog, inevitably connecting your
company to customers and potentially growing your business.

It isn’t a secret that Social Media is here to stay. Skeptics may say some forms of networking are fads, but

the truth is, people are craving for an outlet to voice their opinions and observations, and connect with

their favorite brands. It seems almost archaic for companies to resist Social Media trends. While delving

into multiple networks like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and the like, may seem overwhelming to smaller

companies, there is an easier way to develop an on-line voice; through a blog. A company blog can break

the communication barrier often formed between your company and its customers. People want to

connect, interact and engage their favorite brands. A blog creates a forum so your company’s publics can

be in-the-know and have an opportunity to react to what you have to say. It will be beneficial to your online

reputation for you to join the conversation.

To Increase Brand Visibility

Blogs exclusively about companies and products are what produce low-trust ratings by Internet readers.

The best corporate blogs speak to relevant issues, often clarifying untrue rumors, addressing industry

trends or competitors’ actions, and creating an authority in their particular niche. By doing this your

company will be enhancing its brand visibility and credibility on the web. A great blog can position your

company and key employees as thought leaders within the industry, which puts you in a position of

greater power on the web. Companies that are successfully blogging are giving their own unique spin to a

traditional blog model. At the risk of sounding cliché, thinking outside-of-the-box positions your company

or brand as fresh, on trend, and believable.

To Drive Traffic to Your Home Page

Unlike a static Web site, blogs are constantly updated and become more searchable. Keywords in

headlines will allow your blog to be found, and have traffic driven to your company’s home page. Within

the blog there are endless opportunities to link. Linking to industry articles, internal press releases, new

client bios etc, creates an interaction with your company or brand and unknowingly forces the reader to

keep exploring. Integrating your blog with other Social Media is optimal. Every update to the blog can

easily be broadcasted on all other networks and viewed by friends from each. This connection can take a

subject viral and engage current and potential customers with your product or service.

To Inform Your Customers

Think of an internal blog as a business strategy, part of the bigger Public Relations plan. Blogging is the

single best way of generating sustained and quality buzz for your company. Nowadays, Social Media

efforts should be integrated with traditional media to achieve a company’s goal.

However, it is important to note that a blog should not be written by the PR department as there should

be no hidden agendas lying within. Blogs should get down to the nitty-gritty and truly tell your company’s

story on a daily to weekly basis. A fictional-sounding blog won’t be worth reading by your customers and

be a waste of your time to write.

To Generate a Voice Online

Blogs shouldn’t be a hassle– they should be viewed as an outlet, something fun to do every week to take

away from the daily grind. Some blogs have very stream-of-consciousness-like qualities. While it is not

recommended to write something quite that informal for a company blog, the same idea applies. There

should be a conversational feel portraying honest and open content. Blogging takes you off your

corporate high-horse and brings you down to the level of your customers. Establishing your blog within

the same tone as your company and still seem human is hard, but achievable. If done well, humanizing a

more formal company can make it seem approachable, even likeable.

There are endless opportunities within the blogosphere. In order to give your company more exposure, it

is important to understand how critical developing a Social Media voice is, as people are moving towards

a society with more connection and interaction. If your company is interested in starting a blog, there are

a few easy options using WordPress, Blogspot, or similar platforms. Also, Leverage Marketing’s Social

Media department is ready to help your company start its internal blog, inevitably connecting your

company to customers and potentially growing your business.

Why Company Blogs are a Must

It isn’t a secret that Social Media is here to stay. Skeptics may say some forms of networking are fads, but
the truth is, people are craving for an outlet to voice their opinions and observations, and connect with
their favorite brands. It seems almost archaic for companies to resist Social Media trends. While delving
into multiple networks like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and the like, may seem overwhelming to smaller
companies, there is an easier way to develop an on-line voice; through a blog. A company blog can break
the communication barrier often formed between your company and its customers. People want to
connect, interact and engage their favorite brands. A blog creates a forum so your company’s publics can
be in-the-know and have an opportunity to react to what you have to say. It will be beneficial to your online
reputation for you to join the conversation.
To Increase Brand Visibility
Blogs exclusively about companies and products are what produce low-trust ratings by Internet readers.
The best corporate blogs speak to relevant issues, often clarifying untrue rumors, addressing industry
trends or competitors’ actions, and creating an authority in their particular niche. By doing this your
company will be enhancing its brand visibility and credibility on the web. A great blog can position your
company and key employees as thought leaders within the industry, which puts you in a position of
greater power on the web. Companies that are successfully blogging are giving their own unique spin to a
traditional blog model. At the risk of sounding cliché, thinking outside-of-the-box positions your company
or brand as fresh, on trend, and believable.
To Drive Traffic to Your Home Page
Unlike a static Web site, blogs are constantly updated and become more searchable. Keywords in
headlines will allow your blog to be found, and have traffic driven to your company’s home page. Within
the blog there are endless opportunities to link. Linking to industry articles, internal press releases, new
client bios etc, creates an interaction with your company or brand and unknowingly forces the reader to
keep exploring. Integrating your blog with other Social Media is optimal. Every update to the blog can
easily be broadcasted on all other networks and viewed by friends from each. This connection can take a
subject viral and engage current and potential customers with your product or service.
To Inform Your Customers
Think of an internal blog as a business strategy, part of the bigger Public Relations plan. Blogging is the
single best way of generating sustained and quality buzz for your company. Nowadays, Social Media
efforts should be integrated with traditional media to achieve a company’s goal.
However, it is important to note that a blog should not be written by the PR department as there should
be no hidden agendas lying within. Blogs should get down to the nitty-gritty and truly tell your company’s
story on a daily to weekly basis. A fictional-sounding blog won’t be worth reading by your customers and
be a waste of your time to write.
To Generate a Voice Online
Blogs shouldn’t be a hassle– they should be viewed as an outlet, something fun to do every week to take
away from the daily grind. Some blogs have very stream-of-consciousness-like qualities. While it is not
recommended to write something quite that informal for a company blog, the same idea applies. There
should be a conversational feel portraying honest and open content. Blogging takes you off your
corporate high-horse and brings you down to the level of your customers. Establishing your blog within
the same tone as your company and still seem human is hard, but achievable. If done well, humanizing a
more formal company can make it seem approachable, even likeable.
There are endless opportunities within the blogosphere. In order to give your company more exposure, it
is important to understand how critical developing a Social Media voice is, as people are moving towards
a society with more connection and interaction. If your company is interested in starting a blog, there are
a few easy options using WordPress, Blogspot, or similar platforms. Also, Leverage Marketing’s Social
Media department is ready to help your company start its internal blog, inevitably connecting your
company to customers and potentially growing your business.

It isn’t a secret that Social Media is here to stay. Skeptics may say some forms of networking are fads, but the truth is, people are craving for an outlet to voice their opinions and observations, and connect with their favorite brands. It seems almost archaic for companies to resist Social Media trends. While delving into multiple networks like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and the like, may seem overwhelming to smaller companies, there is an easier way to develop an on-line voice; through a blog. A company blog can break the communication barrier often formed between your company and its customers. People want to connect, interact and engage their favorite brands. A blog creates a forum so your company’s publics can be in-the-know and have an opportunity to react to what you have to say. It will be beneficial to your online reputation for you to join the conversation.

To Increase Brand Visibility

Blogs exclusively about companies and products are what produce low-trust ratings by Internet readers. The best corporate blogs speak to relevant issues, often clarifying untrue rumors, addressing industry trends or competitors’ actions, and creating an authority in their particular niche. By doing this your company will be enhancing its brand visibility and credibility on the web. A great blog can position your company and key employees as thought leaders within the industry, which puts you in a position of greater power on the web. Companies that are successfully blogging are giving their own unique spin to a traditional blog model. At the risk of sounding cliché, thinking outside-of-the-box positions your company or brand as fresh, on trend, and believable.

To Drive Traffic to Your Home Page

Unlike a static Web site, blogs are constantly updated and become more searchable. Keywords in headlines will allow your blog to be found, and have traffic driven to your company’s home page. Within the blog there are endless opportunities to link. Linking to industry articles, internal press releases, new client bios etc, creates an interaction with your company or brand and unknowingly forces the reader to keep exploring. Integrating your blog with other Social Media is optimal. Every update to the blog can easily be broadcasted on all other networks and viewed by friends from each. This connection can take a subject viral and engage current and potential customers with your product or service.

To Inform Your Customers

Think of an internal blog as a business strategy, part of the bigger Public Relations plan. Blogging is the single best way of generating sustained and quality buzz for your company. Nowadays, Social Media efforts should be integrated with traditional media to achieve a company’s goal. However, it is important to note that a blog should not be written by the PR department as there should be no hidden agendas lying within. Blogs should get down to the nitty-gritty and truly tell your company’s story on a daily to weekly basis. A fictional-sounding blog won’t be worth reading by your customers and be a waste of your time to write.

To Generate a Voice Online

Blogs shouldn’t be a hassle– they should be viewed as an outlet, something fun to do every week to take away from the daily grind. Some blogs have very stream-of-consciousness-like qualities. While it is not recommended to write something quite that informal for a company blog, the same idea applies. There should be a conversational feel portraying honest and open content. Blogging takes you off your corporate high-horse and brings you down to the level of your customers. Establishing your blog within the same tone as your company and still seem human is hard, but achievable. If done well, humanizing a more formal company can make it seem approachable, even likeable.  There are endless opportunities within the blogosphere. In order to give your company more exposure, it is important to understand how critical developing a Social Media voice is, as people are moving towards a society with more connection and interaction. If your company is interested in starting a blog, there are a few easy options using WordPress, Blogspot, or similar platforms. Also, Leverage Marketing’s Social Media department is ready to help your company start its internal blog, inevitably connecting your company to customers and potentially growing your business.

-Jessica Leyh

5 topics you should consider before starting a company blog

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Seems like everyone and their ‘teacup’ pigs have blogs these days. If you’re not familiar with the term (likely noone reading this post!), a blog is basically a running (web) log of journal like entries – like the one you’re reading now. From personal blogs chronicling daily life to corporate blogs aimed at informing customers and building a brand, online journals or “blogs” can be an integral part of a business. But before you jump on the band wagon and start your own blog for the sake of being able to check “create a blog” off the ol’ list of to-dos, consider the following:

What are your goals and what are your reasons for starting a blog?

There are millions of websites and blogs on the world wide web as it is and we humans only have a limited amount of time to browse through content. Translation: you better have something compelling to say if you want people to read your content. Of course, your goal may not necessarily be to create a following. Perhaps your big goal is to effect natural search rankings by increasing your amount of content. Before you create your blog, deliberate on what types of goals you would like to accomplish. If your goals include some of the following, then perhaps blogging should indeed be in your future.

  • Obtain/improve natural search precense
  • Open up the doors to two way communication with your customers/interested parties
  • Build a community for like-minded people
  • Become a recognized thought leader in your community
  • Increase return visits to your site

Do you have time to maintain and post fresh content?

Successful blogs tend to be updated on a very frequent basis. One of the interesting things about a blog is the fact that many blogging platforms display the date and time that you publish your content meaning that it is easy to tell how fresh content is. I don’t know about you, but I generally have a bias toward fresh content (the search engines do too!). Based on my experience, I would recommend shooting for at least a weekly update but depending on your goals from above, you may want to shoot for more like once a day if you can swing it.

  • Do you have enough topics for creating at least one new post per week
  • Do you have enough time for creating at least one new post per week
  • How do you plan on monitoring comments and discussions
  • Do you have time for responding to comments
  • Will you write everything or do you have writers
  • How good are your writing skills
  • Can you keep to a consistent schedule

Who is your audience?

And are they online. One of your goals may be to form a community centered around your business and your offerings or expertise but if your audience does not want to interact, simply having a blog will not be enough. Knowing your audience and targeting your content to them will help, however.

  • Who are you targeting with your blog content
  • How will you perk the interest of your target audience

How will you promote your content?

Just because you built it doesn’t actually mean they’ll come. You’ll need to promote your content in ways that attract the right kind of audience. This exposure can of course come from a lot of places. Below are some places to start:

  • Display a link or snippets of your content in a prominent region of your main site (assuming you don’t have just a blog)
  • Participate in related blogs, forums, and Q&A sites
  • Participate in blog promotion and blog community sites
  • Create a link to your blog in outgoing email
  • Participate in social networking sites

Are you willing to do a whole bunch of work before you see a return?

It may be a little lonely on the blog in the beginning but nobody said this was going to be a quick and simple process. Depending on how well you promote your content and how big your potential audience is and how much traffic makes it over to your site, it may take a considerable amount of time before you start accomplishing any of your goals. Know that traffic won’t just appear out of nowhere and that you have to earn it. Slow and steady wins the race.

Writing and interacting in a blog can be a rewarding endeavor. But it can also be a huge time investment that doesn’t result in satisfaction. Help yourself out by setting solid goals, deciding on how you’re going to go about accomplishing those goals, be willing to pour in the time and effort, and you just may create success. If you’re not quite ready to move forward with a blog at this moment, there are plenty of other places to spend your time and effort to improve your site.

More Reasons to be on Twitter

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To Build Authority in Your Industry

If your organization is using Twitter to discuss a particular niche, you can build your authority by writing high quality tweets and gaining the respect of your followers, and of the niche community. A few ways to build your authority on Twitter are to send out links to useful resources, provide tips, give insight into relevant topics, answer questions, and engage in discussions with your followers. The last is the key to truly utilizing Twitter and gaining a significant presence. Followers are often easier to find when your company has a focused service, because any specialized area often has a cult-like following online; however, every industry can find its listeners and generate a Twitter authority.

To Be Several Places at Once

It is difficult at times to have a multi-branched company located in several cities, states or even countries. Meetings happen daily that may or may not be summarized in your intranet. Twitter can narrow the communication gap and keep everyone in the office informed of the daily happenings, conferences and client meetings. It is common practice for a company to assign a designated tweeter to communicate valuable information from these conferences. The closer people are in your internal environment, the less room for misunderstandings and inter-office turmoil.

To Meet New Contacts

Small businesses in particular should value any resource that could potentially grow their client base. Twitter can serve as the ultimate networking platform where your company can engage new customers. A fairly common practice of Twitter is to follow someone that you find interesting. In most cases if the chemistry is right, you will be followed back- thus a conversation happens. This process is crucial to businesses that sell a service as well. While Twitter does not provide a face-to-face interaction, there is opportunity to get on a personal level and become involved with new followers. Once a bond is created, there are endless opportunities.

-Jessica Leyh

Reasons Your Company Should Be On Twitter

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To Generate Web site Traffic

Perhaps the most obvious benefit of Twitter is generating traffic to your Web site. When your company is connected with interested followers, they can help spread your content by re-tweeting valuable information your company has provided to their own friends. This creates a chain of discussion, including clicks on your links (either to your organization’s site, corporate blog, a press release, or new employee). This does not mean that Twitter should solely be used for self-promotion; however, if there is a balance between talking about yourself and linking to other relevant things, Twitter could be a successful marketing tool.

To Inform Your Publics

Twitter is fast becoming the network for people to turn to when they seek information about current events. People often tweet about an event before official news coverage has even received the call. While your company won’t necessarily be tweeting about breaking news, the same idea applies. When there are internal issues in your organization, or maybe when you’ve landed a new client, your publics should know first, and will with the use of Twitter. Interaction with your interested parties is the key to gaining their trust and truly understanding how they feel about your product or service. Twitter provides a platform for discussion between you and your publics. If you monitor this discussion, you will be ahead of the game.

For Reputation Management

While reaching your target audience is great to develop your followers list, knowing what your publics are saying about your company is crucial.  Reputation management can make or break your company. Twitter allows you to easily monitor who is talking about you and what they are saying. Twitter gives you the option to track your organization and keep tabs on the discussions at any given time. This information can be useful for fixing in-house problems, negative customer attitudes, or it can help you eliminate any untrue rumors that might be spreading around minute by minute. In this digital world, information spreads like wild fire. If you can catch it quick, immediate action can be taken.

Next week we will take a look at other reasons why your business should be on twitter.  Feel free to follow us on twitter and we’ll keep you updated on our latest happenings and blog posts.

Jessica Leyh

Long-term investment:Instant gratification :: SEO:___

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There is no sugar coating this – realizing results from search engine optimization takes time.  Researching and choosing keywords that will drive quality traffic to your site takes time.  Optimizing your content for not only the search engines but also for your potential customers takes time.  Reinforcing what your site is relevant for through quality link building takes time…not to mention luck in many cases.  Obtaining rankings that will drive traffic to your site takes time.  And time is money.

We want results and we want results now!

Paid search can not only be extremely effective but it can be extremely effective extremely quickly.  And we have the paid search department with the data to prove it.  So why should a company invest in a business endeavor that won’t show a return in the first month and possibly won’t show a return in the first six months?

Chances are you’re like the roughly 70% of search engine users who neglect the paid search results in favor of focusing their attention on the natural, or organic, search results.  This is one of the main factors that makes investing in natural search real estate so cost effective in the long term. Obtaining an above the fold natural search position will result in more traffic to your site than bidding to the top position in paid search results.  Not only that, but investing in natural search is an investment that has long term payoff while bidding in paid search is a short term investment that is only effective if you continue advertising.  The greatest benefit of natural search optimization is its potential for longevity.

When I obtain visibility on the first page of natural search listings, can I stop paying per click for my keywords?

You certainly can, however, we generally do not recommend it as there are some great benefits related to showing in both natural and paid search listings.

  • You would be giving up the opportunity to take up more real estate by appearing in both paid and organic search results
  • People who click on paid search ads are, in some cases, more ready to buy
  • There is a certain degree of inherent trustworthiness built when appearing in both paid & organic results

Ultimately, choosing whether to continue to pay per click for a keyword that you rank well for in natural search will come down to the effectiveness of your paid ad.

Search Engine Market Shares

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Today our team took a look at the search engine market shares for the past year.  We came across two articles on the topic:

One that focuses on the re-branding of MSN, Yahoo, and AOL and what they seek to accomplish,

and the other depicts the most recent market shares for all search engines.

The first article takes a look at the new re-branding efforts of MSN, Yahoo, and AOL.  All stemmed from the newest campaign of Yahoo.  Collectively these three search engines are to spend about $200 million plus to revamp their old brands and enter new markets.  These three are not looking into creating something as much as repositioning themselves and re-establishing their search engines within their consideration set. Here is a quick breakdown of what each search engine is known for and what they want to accomplish:

Yahoo:

Known for their display ad service, however; growth is gone.

Goal: defend their brand and expand into emerging markets.  They would like to increase both monthly users and time spent on the service.

MSN:

The new decision maker, and close competitor of Google.  They need to work on convincing the public and build the new brand.

Goal:  break people’s habit of using Google when searching the web.

AOL:

Known for its agency relationship and the biggest Global Ad Network.  Goal:  To redefine themselves as a digital media company and major content producer.  AOL was in our office last week and they are a great group of folks.  We wish them success with their contract renewal and hope they can do away with pesky Insertion Orders.

Ultimately Yahoo has been slipping in terms of market share and all are awaiting the results of the big push in advertising.  For now it may have worked for Bing as Bing increased search volume by 22% in the month over month. In August Bing managed to get 1.1 billion searches or 10% of market share, however; it’s growth was by far the fastest at 22%. Yahoo saw a drop in searches by 4% and holds 16% of the market share.  The new branding looks to come at a good time. Google continues to grow and AOL and Ask see some movement as well.

We will all still have to sit it out and wait until the Yahoo and MSN deal is in place and maybe then we will see a decrease in Google’s search market share.