This is just a quick post in response to Rand Fishkin’s post about the difference in SEO and PPC spending by companies which can be found here: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-disconnect-in-ppc-vs-seo-spending

Basically, Rand finds that companies spend only a fraction of the amount on SEO as they do on PPC.  Specifically:

SEO: $1.3 billion (11%)
- Source: SEMPO data via Massimo Burgio, SMX Madrid 2008

Not surprisingly, search advertising should continue to be the largest category, growing from $9.1 billion in 2007 to $20.9 billion in 2013.
- Source: C|Net News, June 30, 2008

Now, there are a lot of good comments on this post talking about how the major reason companies spend this inordinate amount of money on PPC is because it is immediate, measurable, and controllable.  These are all things that HiPPOs like.  One of the inherent problems with SEO is that it requires companies to have patience in seeing the results.  All SEO projects take at least three months of commitment, with the majority requiring six months or longer.

While this is all well and good, I think one of the bigger issues with PPC vs SEO spending is the fact that they are targeting two different types of searchers.  I know that when I am in consumer mode, I will specifically look at the PPC ads, because I know they are offering me something I might want to buy.  More often than not, I consider organic listings to be information oriented, which isn’t a bad thing!  It just means that targeting PPC means you are targeting people who are in ‘buy mode’.  SEO is more of a presence oriented machine that will ultimately increase sales through credibility and relevance.  This is proven by a recent study that showed PPC converts 50% more than organic.

A major problem in the future, I think, will be that SEO will become the base standard of good operating companies and that their relevancy in the organic listings will force purely commercial companies out of the top rankings.  Instead of “God made man, but Samuel Colt made them equal”, you might say “Tim Berners-Lee made websites, but PPC made them equal”.

Now, more than ever it is vitally important to have professional ppc search management company in place for your paid search and ppc campaigns.

A new report by JupiterResearch (commissioned by Marin Software) found that:

• 85 percent of marketers surveyed by JupiterResearch complained that the complexity of paid search management is growing.
• Large scale companies are finding it difficult to resource talent and appropriate ROI tracking mechanisms to scale their campaigns for growth.

If you’re not a company spending $500k/month, you should still have your campaigns managed by a professional.  Here are a few reasons why it’s important to have the right PPC Search Engine Management company in place:

1. Search engine advertising rules change continuously
2. Campaigns must be monitored continuously to maximize performance
3. Testing of ads and landing pages must be done continuously or you are leaving money on the table
4. Competition enters the market daily and increases costs, most noteably unsophisticated competition increases costs
5. Ad writing is an art; creativity is limited
6. Budget needs to be managed wisely; every dollar needs to be tracked

Consider this - Google made $16.4 billion dollars in 2007 off their Adwords platform. If you’re setting up an account simply because it takes 5 minutes and a credit card and Google provides you with recommended keyterms - you should be worried.  This is the same reason why you should not have the IRS do your taxes - they aren’t looking out for your best interest and they aren’t looking for ways to save or make you money.  They get paid per click so if all components (keywords+as+landing pages) are not tracked, measured, optimized, and refined you might as well be throwing money out the window.

Here’s a more in depth article on this topic.

Contact us to dicuss PPC Advice and our capabilities for PPC Search Engine Management. Learn more about our Internet Marketing services.

I’m not the first to say it, and I won’t be the last to tell advertisers that in a down economy advertising online looks like a pretty great opportunity. Not to mention it is even better in a stable economy.  You can track every dollar spent and measure the results.  However, it is even more imperative now to have a strategic online marketing firm manage your online advertising.

I’m referring specifically to Pay-Per-Click campaigns.  How well are your PPC campaigns being managed? If your current PPC search engine management firm is simply sending you a list of keywords every month - this is not enough.  What are they doing to refine the campaign and optimize it to make sure you are maximizing on every dollar and cent spent?

Now more than ever, people are moving their dollars online and that means more competition. The old supply and demand rule.  If there are only a certain number of searches for what you are offering you’ve got to be there at the right time and say the right thing to convert that searcher into a lead or sale for you.

We’ve noticed in the past 60 days that ad impressions have significantly dropped, across all campaigns within various industries and markets,  which means there are less people searching for your product or service.

We have also noticed that clicks and leads have increased or remained steady across all campaigns, an indication of efficient campaign management. Additionally, it’s a huge indication that there are still highly qualified consumers out there ready to spend their money on your product or service.

So what does this mean to you? Because no click is created equal you must make sure every aspect of your campaign is highly targeted to your ideal customer. If you are simply writing a check to Google, Yahoo!, and the like each month without knowing what those dollars are returning then you should re-evaluate your current PPC management.

Call us today at 602.275.3935 - ask for Liberty or Mike, we’ll be happy to audit and evaluate your existing PPC campaigns.