Pimp My Keywords

Advanced Pay Per Click Techniques Webinar Set For July 2

Purple Trout, LLC a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Company located in Cincinnati, Ohio, is offering a free, online webinar focusing on advanced pay per click techniques.

The webinar will be held on Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 10 a.m.

Steve Phillips, principal of Purple Trout will be joined by Project Director Ilona Vijnik in helping you take your PPC campaigns to the next level. Seminar topics include: how to improve the quality score of your campaigns; writing ad copy; PPC budgets; integrating keywords into your campaigns and landing pages and more.

The webinar will take place from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Admission is free. To register, visit www.purpletrout.com/seminar.html. For questions, please contact Purple Trout at (513) 885-5000 or steve@purpletrout.com

SEO Webinar: Understanding Search Engine Optimization

Purple Trout, LLC, a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm located in Cincinnati, Ohio, is offering a free, online webinar focusing the basics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). "Understanding Search Engine Optimization" is set for Tuesday, April 28 at 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.

In this webinar, we'll help you understand what SEO is all about; why it's important to your company's website and how you can apply some simple - yet powerful - SEO strategies for higher rankings and more traffic.

You'll learn about keyword research, including how to find the best keywords for your website; writing meta tag codes and content; link building and social media efforts.

This webinar will be presented in a simple, easy-to-understand, non-geek format (with no sales pitch).

The webinar will take place from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Admission is free, but space is limited to sign up now.  To register, visit www.purpletrout.com/seminar.html.

Webinar: Understanding Search Engine Optimization

Purple Trout, LLC, a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm located in Cincinnati, Ohio, is offering a free, online webinar focusing the basics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

"Understanding Search Engine Optimization" is set for Tuesday, April 28 at 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.

In this webinar, we'll help you understand what SEO is all about; why it's important to your company's website and how you can apply some simple - yet powerful - SEO strategies for higher rankings and more traffic.

You'll learn about keyword research, including how to find the best keywords for your website; writing meta tag codes and content; link building and social media efforts.

This webinar will be presented in a simple, easy-to-understand, non-geek format (with no sales pitch).

Admission is free, but space is limited to sign up now.  To register, visit www.purpletrout.com.

Facebook For Businesses

Our "Facebook for Businesses" webinar is set for tomorrow, Thursday, March 19 at 10 a.m. We will be accepting registrations until 9:30 a.m.

Hope to see you there!

Facebook For Businesses

Are you on Facebook?

How about your business? No?

How about 175 million reasons - all active users of Facebook - to start using Facebook for your business?

Face it, Facebook is no longer about college students, toga parties and silly pictures of you wearing a Dr. Seuss hat.

In face, the largest growing demographic of Facebook users has been 35-54 year-olds with a 276.4% growth rate.

But how can your business effectively use Facebook as a tool to put your products and services in front of those 175 million active users?

Join us for an informative and strategic webinar on "Facebook For Businesses". Here, you will quickly learn the Facebook basics and then we'll get to the "meat" of Facebook and show you real examples of how businesses are taking it to the next level with the fastest growing social networking application.

The free webinar is set for Thursday, March 19 at 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (no sales pitch guaranteed).

Attendance is limited.

Web-Based Prospects Webinar Set For Jan. 20

LEXINGTON, KY, January 12, 2009 — WealthBridge Connect is hosting a free WebEx training seminar titled “Web-Based Prospects: Are You Missing Them” presented by Steve Phillips, principal and founder of Purple Trout, LLC, a search engine optimization consulting firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mr. Phillips will provide an overview and explain the importance of search engine optimization.  He will share ideas and give you simple and affordable techniques to enhance your web presence and improve your sales performance.

The live webinar is set for Tuesday, January 20^th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.  All materials, access to PowerPoint slides and other tools used during the session will be included. Visit WealthBridge Connect for registration information.

WealthBridge Connect provides strategic planning, operational planning, executive coaching and training, and customized interactive eLearning platforms for government, healthcare, education, and small to medium-sized businesses.  WealthBridge Connect is one of the few licensed administrators of the Winslow Dynamics Profile, reputed as the gold standard of behavioral assessments available anywhere. 

WealthBridge Connect uses interactive, multimedia tools and applications in the areas of sales and marketing, leadership and management, new market research and analysis, marketing strength development, financial management and turnaround, operating systems and staff development.

Webinar: Web-Based Prospects - Are You Missing Them?

LEXINGTON, KY — WealthBridge Connect is hosting a free WebEx training seminar titled “Web-Based Prospects: Are You Missing Them” presented by Steve Phillips, principal and founder of Purple Trout, LLC, a search engine optimization consulting firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mr. Phillips will provide an overview and explain the importance of search engine optimization.  He will share ideas and give you simple and affordable techniques to enhance your web presence and improve your sales performance.

The live webinar is set for Wednesday, December 17^th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  All materials, access to PowerPoint slides and other tools used during the session will be included. Visit WealthBridge Connect for registration information.

WealthBridge Connect provides strategic planning, operational planning, executive coaching and training, and customized interactive eLearning platforms for government, healthcare, education, and small to medium-sized businesses.  WealthBridge Connect is one of the few licensed administrators of the Winslow Dynamics Profile, reputed as the gold standard of behavioral assessments available anywhere. 

WealthBridge Connect uses interactive, multimedia tools and applications in the areas of sales and marketing, leadership and management, new market research and analysis, marketing strength development, financial management and turnaround, operating systems and staff development.

Chicago SES Day 4 Highlights

While the fourth and final day at Chicago Search Engine Strategies & Expo was a short day, there was still plenty of great goodies for SEO/SEM geeks:

On search engine auditing:

• When you create a pay-per-click campaign (SEM) make sure you do the proper research and monitor/audit your campaigns.
• The Analytics Ecosystem: Collect, Analyze, Report, Optimize, Monetize
• You must audit your campaigns.
• If you see abnormal behavior in your PPC campaigns, you have to report it back to the ad network (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc.)
• Not everything that goes wrong with your PPC campaign is click fraud.
• When you have a problem or concern, file a claim, it's the only real feedback process.
• A "click farm" is a group of individuals hired or organized by a central party to click on ads. Typically this is done in lower wage nations.
• Click fraud, according to Google, is when someone is engaging in fraudulent intent in clicking your ad.
• When it comes to investigating click fraud, Google uses a three-part system for invalid click detection. Stage 1 and 2 are proactive: filters and offline analysis. Stage 3 is a reactive stage and involves investigation.
• Less than 10 percent of clicks across Google are invalid clicks.

Search marketers on auditing:

• There is brutal competition for search rankings
• CPC (Cost Per Click) costs are rising 20% plus annually.
• Campaign complexity is increasing
• Managing the effectiveness of a campaign is more difficult.
• Click fraud and poor quality traffic are reducing the overall effectiveness of CPC efforts.
• Invalid traffic is more of a problem than click fraud.
• One-third of all click fraud is created by bots and botnets.

White Hat vs. Black Hat Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

• This panel spent well more than 30 minutes discussing paid links (white hat or black hat?)
• Doug Heil: If you are going against the search engine guidelines, then you are black hat. Read them.
• Eric Enge: Smaller businesses buy links because they think they're buying advertising.
• Buying links is acceptable. It's advertising. However, if you are a small site, you want to build up trust with quality links first.
• Everyone who buys links is doing it for the search engines and not for the traffic from the link.
• Consider this: If you pay for a membership to join an organization and they give you a link on their website, is that a paid link? (some on the panel said yes, and some said no).
• If you spend the time to build the site and have good content and follow the rules, then you can get ranked high.
• Definitely black hat: Returning to old blog posts and updating them with new anchor text links. Very dangerous.
• Of course, there are some areas that are a little bit white had and a little bit black hat and now they are gray hat.
• One of the hardest tasks you have is getting links to your website.
• Is trading links bad? It depends on who you are trading links with.
• If all you have are reciprical links, then that's bad.

Chicago SES Day 3 Highlights

Top observations, tips, tricks, comments and things I heard while eavesdropping during Day 3 of the Chicago Search Engine Strategies and Expo:

• Do not think of yourself as a player on a team. You need to be the quarterback.
• If you don't become the quarterback and take charge you're missing out on some opportunities for your clients.
• Overall, 66% of search engine marketing firms and 84% of agencies say managing keyword price inflation is their biggest challenge.
• If you have 100 people come through the door and in your business and 20 become customers, then it's huge if you can increase that from 20 to 21 or to 22...10 percent increase...huge.
• There are lots of great tools available to make your SEM life easier.
• Monitor your competition.
• Pay Per Click is a process, not a task.
• AdCenter Desktop will be available in a couple of weeks in beta.
• Knowledge is going to be a key in a down economy.
• There are human capital challenges: a short supply of talented and experienced hires, and it's Expensive to add a new hire.
• Upgrade to Excel 2007. It's a great way to manage high volumes of data (Note: this tip was not from Microsoft!).
• Social media is more than Digg and Facebook. Much more.
• 29% in social media are watching videos
• Forums and message boards are not dead. 28% of all people in social media are using them.
• Log files are good for both paid and SEO search
• Share. Be social. Be part of the conversation.
• 5 tips for successful blogging: 1- practical uses; 2-optimize templates & content; 3-plan editorial and source your content; 4-socialize (be social and win!); 5-measure and promote success with blog metrics.
• Social media is the new Inbox. E-mail is old.
• Five primary components of Quality Score Optimization: 1.click through rate; 2. keyword bid; 3. ad group and campaign structure; 4. ad copy; 5.landing page quality
• Click Through Rate is the most important element of Quality Score.
• Keyword bid should be used as a last resort to improve ad position.
• Google AdWords allows you to add multiple advertisements for any given ad group, so take advantage of it. Optimize non-performing ads; do not change performing ads.
• Google is not putting more ads on pages. They actually pride themselves on white space.
• You can not put in every word in dictionary because Google is looking at what is relevant.
• Search is predicted to hold up better than display ads.
• There are only 2 kinds of marketers at the top of PPC search results: brilliant marketers and the idiots. Be the brilliant marketer that can afford a top position.
• You need to use negative keywords in your PPC campaigns to eliminate bad costly clicks; reduce ad impressions to improve Quality Score and to make sure the right ads are getting served.

Chicago SES Day 2 Highlights

The best tips, quotes, quips and insights from Day 2 of the Chicago Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo:

• When conducting keyword research, don't depend on one source.
• Search engines provide some nice keyword research tools and they're free!
• Create a culture in your company where your search marketing will be seen as a team effort and a No. 1 priority.
• Impressions and clicks do not matter. Conversions matter.
• Evaluate under-performing keywords. If everything is right, then lower the PPC bid until the ROI is better or kill the keyword.
• Your domain name is the first online impression of your company.
• Before you buy a domain name, make sure it's not black listed.
• There are so many videos that going to YouTube now and searching isn't working anymore.
• Search is going to continue, but it's going to change.
• Is the information in Twitter effective for marketing? Absolutely.
• With online press release optimization, make sure your keyword is in the headline, in the first paragraph and in the landing page. Be consistent.
• For link building, directory submissions have not gone away.
• Other link building ideas: sponsorship, in-kind donations, internal links, testimonials.
• Do not rely on buying links. This is not a good practice. If you are buying links, do it in moderation.
• Look at specific niche directories for links.
• If you are going to submit to DMOZ, then do it once and forget it.
• If you are starting off, there is so much you should be doing before you even think about buying
  links.
• The SES Expo started today. There was a mad rush for swag.
• ...more to come.