As I go around the country teaching workshops on pay per click (PPC) I get asked many varied questions on search engine marketing (SEM), depending on which city I happen to be in. Larger marketers seem to have more sophisticated questions; smaller marketers tend to focus on subsistence tactics. However, one theme seems to reoccur frequently: the myth that SEM is some kind of … [Read more...]
Denied
On a cold Minnesota afternoon, affiliate marketer Connie Berg checks her email fearing the worst: a message from a dream merchant saying her affiliate application for either iShopDaily.com or FlamingoWorld.com has been denied. You see, Berg's sites post coupon information - a once-hot commodity now shadowed by merchant belt-tightening and recent incidences of customers … [Read more...]
Defend Yourself Against Click Fraud
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" That's what the Chicken Littles of the world would have you believe when they discuss how click fraud will doom the world of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Of course, some Chicken Littles have a vested interest in raising awareness of this supposedly rampant problem, considering many of them are the purveyors of products that help … [Read more...]
Don’t Give in to Click Fraud Fears
Click fraud is a potentially serious problem faced by any affiliate marketer who uses pay-per-click (PPC) search engine advertising to market their sites.One study estimated that between 10 and 20 percent of a PPC advertiser's budget is lost to fraud. That estimate increased to 50 percent for high-priced, highly competitive keywords.Unfortunately, there is no guaranteed way to … [Read more...]
Off the Mark
Affiliates and Web publishers who sell goods from the most popular brand name merchants are losing traffic and revenue to Web sites that lure consumers by deceiving them with unauthorized use of trademarked products. This happens when a Web publisher embeds the most popular brand names into their site in order to attract consumers who are using a search engine to find specific … [Read more...]
Three Great Search Engine Marketing Myths
As search engine marketing has become ubiquitous and, in most marketers' minds, synonymous with generating profits from their Web sites, lore has sprung up around the process. Those who have an axe to grind or a product to sell mainly propagate these myths.When the success or failure of your Web site can be determined by a creature as capricious as the Google spider, then it's … [Read more...]
Search For Tomorrow
It was the summer of 1998 when GoTo.com launched its pay-per-click (PPC) program in a fairly straightforward way. Back then, there were few competitors and the bids were low. Often a top slot could be had for a penny a click, and the reporting was bare bones.It was morning in paid search country.Six years later, the paid search landscape has gotten a lot more crowded. According … [Read more...]
Four Ways to Make More Money
Have you ever wondered why big Web sites like AOL, Yahoo and MSN don't run many cost-per-action (CPA) deals in their ad spaces?It's simple: They don't have to. They make much more money selling ads based on impressions rather than the number of customers or leads generated. Who wouldn't prefer to get paid for just showing the ad instead of having to rely on it really … [Read more...]
Land Rush
Suddenly, Joe Speiser's phone rings more often than it used to.The calls are coming from venture investors and executives at some "very familiar companies" who've taken a sudden interest in buying all or part of AzoogleAds.com, the performance marketing company that Speiser co-founded four years ago."It just kind of started," he says, somewhat stunned by all the attention. "A … [Read more...]
What Clicks At Performics
To the surprise (and delight) of many, 2004 has put the spotlight back onto e-commerce for the first time since the dot-bomb exploded in the spring of 2000. Web stocks rose over the first three quarters, while mainstream stocks were weighed down by geopolitics.Google went public with the kind of swagger that conjured up memories of the late '90s. Online spending continued its … [Read more...]
Killer Content Brings in Money
There are three main factors that determine the success of your Web site: Effective site optimization; Site popularity; and Great content.Site optimization is the process of placing your keywords in the right places and making sure your Web site is accessible to search engine spiders so that they can find you and index your content more easily.Site popularity can be achieved … [Read more...]
Beyond Search Engines
Paid search may be driving the rebound in online advertisers, but it's also driving away the promoters with shallow pockets.Demand for paid spots on Yahoo, Google and their ilk is pushing prices sky high. Within the most popular categories, it's hard to stand out from the crowd of merchants without spending a fortune. In fact, some aggressive marketers play "keyword smackdown," … [Read more...]
The Write Stuff
Imagine you're in a store. You're browsing and minding your own business. Then, all of a sudden, a pushy salesperson ruins your shopping trip. What could be worse? On the other hand, a helpful, honest, knowledgeable clerk can turn an otherwise annoying shopping errand into a pleasure.The same applies online. Blaring banners are like obnoxious sales clerks; shoppers want to … [Read more...]
The Best Paid Places
If you currently have a Web site, then I'm sure you are inundated with spam offering "guaranteed placement on more than 5,000 search engines."Before we go any further, let me just make something very clear. Yes, there may be 5,000 search engines out there - heck, at this point there may be as many as 50,000 - but there are only four that really matter. If you have your Web site … [Read more...]
Searching for Your Site
Unfortunately, many folks create a Web site and then sit back and wait for the orders to start pouring in. That strategy doesn't work in the field of Internet marketing any more than it does in the offline world. With millions of new Web sites being added to the Internet every month, the old days of hanging out your shingle and waiting for customers to beat a path to your door … [Read more...]