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	<title>StayOnSearch</title>
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	<description>Search &amp; Social Media Marketing Tips, Resources, and Discussions</description>
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	<itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><copyright>Copyright (c) 2010, StayOnSearch.com</copyright><itunes:image href="http://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/SOS-logo.jpg"/><itunes:keywords>seo,search,engine,marketing,search,engine,optimization,blogging,email,marketing,pay,per,click,making,money,online,social,media</itunes:keywords><itunes:summary>The StayOnSearch podcast are interviews and discussions about various topics related to Internet Marketing including SEO, Social Media, Blogging, Making Money Online, Email Marketing, and Web Strategies.</itunes:summary><itunes:subtitle>The Sounds of Search &amp; Social Media Marketing | StayOnSearch Podcast</itunes:subtitle><itunes:category text="Business"><itunes:category text="Management &amp; Marketing"/></itunes:category><itunes:category text="Technology"><itunes:category text="Tech News"/></itunes:category><itunes:category text="Technology"><itunes:category text="Podcasting"/></itunes:category><itunes:author>Mark Thompson</itunes:author><itunes:owner><itunes:email>mark@stayonsearch.com</itunes:email><itunes:name>Mark Thompson</itunes:name></itunes:owner><item>
		<title>How To Use Photo Books For Business In 2013</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-use-photo-books-for-business-in-2013</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Jan 2013 17:55:09 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[SEM]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=15359</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>What comes to your mind when you see, hear or read about photo books? The truth is we all tend to picture some personal mementos like books for weddings, birthday and other personal events. These are, of course, among the major matches for a photo book, but they are not all. In reality, we can [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-use-photo-books-for-business-in-2013">How To Use Photo Books For Business In 2013</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What comes to your mind when you see, hear or read about photo books? The truth is we all tend to picture some personal mementos like books for weddings, birthday and other personal events. These are, of course, among the major matches for a photo book, but they are not all. In reality, we can also use photo books as an effective medium for business campaigns; especially to promote brand and products along with other <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/4-unconventional-ways-to-promote-your-e-commerce-store">unconventional marketing methods</a> – when it comes to attracting and retaining the attention of potential customers, yes photo books work great. They can help to highlight your products, services and to improve the public image of your business while gaining it even more exposure.</p>
<p>So how can you pull this off and take advantage of these benefits? You will agree with me that among other factors that have the ability to attract and hold the attention of potential customers, anything that appeals to their sense of sight has been recorded with great success. That said; think of those areas of your business where you need just this one quality to reach more people.<br />
Now what comes to mind; you’re usually stuffed business office, monthly newsletter that goes out to thousands of subscribers, annual business seminars that attract hundreds of thousands of participants, or your huge employee database? Believe me, you can find a way to make photo books work in all these events.</p>
<p>How? Okay, here are a few of the ways you can start using photo books for business campaigns. But first you should know there was no guess works here. All these methods have been tested and proven, and you will only need to try each out to see how much value it will add to your business.</p>
<h2><strong>A Sales Tool</strong></h2>
<p>Do you feel you are often been held off reaching some potential clients? It often seems they don’t have time for calls and never bother to get engaged in meetings? It is time to change your strategy. Common sense should tell you there can be more success with a method that is less intrusive. And one of the best methods that qualify here is the use of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.verybestsoftware.net/2012/blurb-discount-coupons-gift-deals/">photo books</a>. Want to discuss a new product or service? Send the client a well designed and printed photo book that will get their attention, feed them all the information that is required and even serve as a reminder that they would hold unto to catch up with you at their own pace.</p>
<h2><strong>Display a Photo Book in Your Business Office</strong></h2>
<p>It’s time to put your office waiting room to some good use. A business photo book can give your guests ample insight on what products or services your offer and how it can benefit them. This will help you accomplish a couple of things:</p>
<p>• Teach clients a bit more about your company before meeting you in person<br />
• Provide them basic information about your business and peak their interest towards doing business with you<br />
• Make your time more productive by taking the introductory parts of the discussion aside while allowing you focus on what matters with the client</p>
<h2><strong>Highlight Special Products</strong></h2>
<p>If your business just launched a new product or services, a photo book is a good way to introduce it to the world. With a high resolution image accompanied with well written descriptions, will help you show the product in an enticing and sophisticated pattern. This will allow you to create a positive first impression about the product with your clients while giving potential customers a detailed account of what the product is all about. If your products are also listed online, make sure your <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/seo-for-online-retailers">products are found in Google</a>.</p>
<h2><strong>Hand Them Out To Potential Clients</strong></h2>
<p>During meetings, or any other gathering where either you or your marketing team has the chance to meet with potential clients, it is important to have a few copies of photo books to hand out. During such chance encounters where you may not have all the required time to explain what your business does in details, a well printed photo book will help finish the job just after a few introductory message from you.</p>
<h2><strong>Create Photo Books for Your Employees</strong></h2>
<p>Do you often have employee refreshments, birthday celebrations, annual seminars, or seasonal camping? You can capture memories of these moments in a well designed and printed photo book and use it as part of a seasonal gift to your employees.</p>
<p>Now you can see; with top notch design and high print quality, photo books can be applied to both small and large businesses. This is a marketing tool that can set your company, products or services apart from competitors.</p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-use-photo-books-for-business-in-2013">How To Use Photo Books For Business In 2013</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
		<item>
		<title>Improve Your Content Marketing With Infographics</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/improve-your-content-marketing-with-infographics</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2012 14:41:35 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=15312</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Content marketing plays an important role in attracting customers to your product/service. One of the best ways to improve content marketing is to use infographics for driving more visitors to your website. According to the Survey, the fastest growing content format is infographics and its use has increased by 1.5 times since 2011. Marketing using [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/improve-your-content-marketing-with-infographics">Improve Your Content Marketing With Infographics</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="size-full wp-image-15315 alignright" alt="what-is-an-infographic" src="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/what-is-an-infographic.jpg" width="339" height="272" srcset="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/what-is-an-infographic.jpg 547w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/what-is-an-infographic-300x241.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 339px) 100vw, 339px" />Content marketing plays an important role in attracting customers to your product/service. One of the best ways to improve content marketing is to use infographics for driving more visitors to your website. According to the Survey, the fastest growing content format is infographics and its use has increased by 1.5 times since 2011. Marketing using infographics is a great way to present your content as it engages users to a large extent and reinforces your brand.</p>
<h2><strong>What are Infographics?</strong></h2>
<p>Infographics are a combination of both graphics and information. Infographics use the elements of design (like lines, text, boxes and symbols) to visually represent the content. Most often, images portray the content of an article, but an infographic has all the required information within itself. An infographic&#8217;s simple and clear presentation of information attracts viewers and facilitates easy understanding of complex concepts.</p>
<h2><strong>Identify your Audience First</strong></h2>
<p>Your target users are the most important people to be considered before designing an infographic as you need to know whom you are trying to reach. An infographic which aims to deliver a message to teenagers will be completely different from one that is being presented to a board of stakeholders. So identify your target users and their requirements before choosing a topic.</p>
<h2><strong>Choosing a Relevant Topic</strong></h2>
<p>Select topics/events that are current and trendy. You should be able to gather information about the specific topic and make a good design as well. You might have the right topic, but if you don&#8217;t have good ideas to present it well, your infographic may fail. Choose a topic of prime importance and remember that you will be competing with leading thinkers in the industry.</p>
<h2><strong>Research and Design</strong></h2>
<p>After identifying and selecting a topic, it is time to do research and design the infographic. You can find a lot of information scattered all over the Web. Check for the accuracy of statistics and verify any information which you will be using. Gather raw data from excel spreadsheets, PDFs and links to other resources. Arrange materials like charts, graphs and tables in a proper order. Expand your search, do a lot of reading, collect all the relevant data and present it in a manner that shows your proficiency in the subject.</p>
<p>Make sure your infographic isn&#8217;t too short or too long. As people have very short attention spans these days, you only have a few seconds to put your ideas across. Users should be able to gain a quick and firm grasp over ideas and concepts and feel compelled to give your infographic a closer look. Make use of elegant visualization techniques, fresh ideas and attractive colors to create the wow factor.</p>
<h2><strong>Deployment and Marketing</strong></h2>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-15317" alt="infographic_of_infographics" src="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/infographic_of_infographics.png" width="782" height="507" srcset="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/infographic_of_infographics.png 1500w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/infographic_of_infographics-300x194.png 300w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/infographic_of_infographics-768x497.png 768w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/infographic_of_infographics-1024x663.png 1024w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/infographic_of_infographics-1080x699.png 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 782px) 100vw, 782px" /></p>
<p>Like designing, deploying and marketing also have a vital role to play in making the infographic go viral. Create a blog post and promote it through social media like Facebook and Twitter and other social news and bookmarking sites. You can segment the infographic so that it can be used in blog posts and image hosting sites like Flickr and promote it with the help of a news release/article. You can also highlight the infographic in email promotions, create a video of screenshots and post it on YouTube, share the infographic with the influential users, media and relevant industry bloggers.</p>
<p>Infographics are the perfect way to create awareness about your brand, build links and attract viral social media traffic. As the challenge with infographics lies in creating them, you can take the help of professionals who have years of experience in content marketing.</p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/improve-your-content-marketing-with-infographics">Improve Your Content Marketing With Infographics</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
		<item>
		<title>How to Use Ad Extensions to Improve PPC Campaigns</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-use-ad-extensions-to-improve-ppc-campaigns</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:42:56 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[SEM]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=14906</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>You may believe it or not but the pay per click ads have already captured majority of the properties found in the results pages of search engines. If you are in doubt about this, then spend a minute to do a search in Google for something that you wish to purchase over the weekend. You [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-use-ad-extensions-to-improve-ppc-campaigns">How to Use Ad Extensions to Improve PPC Campaigns</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You may believe it or not but the pay per click ads have already captured majority of the properties found in the results pages of search engines. If you are in doubt about this, then spend a minute to do a search in Google for something that you wish to purchase over the weekend. You will notice that a lot of ads will come out that are related to your search query.</p>
<p>Now take a second to think that if your ads are not showing up when your prospect customers are searching for them, then they are from your competitors. This is why we will be talking about how you can improve your Adwords campaign with the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;answer=2375499">use of ad extensions</a>.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14913" title="Adwords-screenshot-ad-extensions-2" src="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Adwords-screenshot-ad-extensions-2.jpeg" alt="" width="678" height="389" srcset="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Adwords-screenshot-ad-extensions-2.jpeg 770w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Adwords-screenshot-ad-extensions-2-300x172.jpeg 300w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Adwords-screenshot-ad-extensions-2-768x441.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px" /></p>
<p><strong>Adwords Ad Extension Options of Google</strong></p>
<p>A couple of different techniques can be done in order to enhance the ads that you have and make them more attractive towards searchers. One of the first questions that you should be asking yourself is what type of ad extensions are going to work best for you. You will find that the answer to this question will be based on the vision of your campaigns and the kind of business that you operate. Below are the options and some applications that you can choose from.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Call Extension &#8211;</strong> If your campaign’s goal is to collect leads and then you will be closing on these leads through phone, then you will need this extension.</li>
<li><strong>Location Extension &#8211;</strong> If your business if local and the address that it has is important, then this extension will help reinforce prospect clients that they are indeed the company they should be working with.</li>
<li><strong>Product Extension &#8211;</strong> For a PPC manager, this is one of the best tools that they can use when they are running an ecommerce website. This will allow you to put your products on the top list with their own photos.</li>
<li><strong>Sitelinks Extension</strong> &#8211; This is basically for anyone that owns a website. Any kind of campaign can be enhanced by using sitelinks to improve their ads.</li>
<li><strong>Mobile App Extension</strong> &#8211; For those who are promoting a mobile app, they can use this to get downloads directly from their PPC ads.</li>
<li><strong>Social Extension</strong> &#8211; Did your company go social recently? Then using social tools such as Google+ can give you added presence within communities.</li>
</ul>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.google.com/ads/innovations/ctc.html"><strong>Call Extension</strong></a></p>
<p>Whenever you include a call extension, you will be given a few different options that you can personalize. It is possible to use a Google voice tracking number so that the Adwords will provide you with in-depth detail reports on calls for a price. You can also choose to use your normal phone number for business purposes as well. This will also work well for campaigns that serves mobile devices, allowing you to establish advertisements that will connect right away with searches.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;answer=2404182&amp;topic=1713912&amp;path=1713910-1713909&amp;ctx=leftnav"><strong>Location Extension</strong></a></p>
<p>In order to include a location extension within your ad, you can gather the information that you have from your Google+ account’s local page or just input your address manually.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.google.com/ads/innovations/productextensions.html"><strong>Product Extension</strong></a></p>
<p>Do you own an ecommerce website? Then you can link your ads with the Google Merchant Center and have full product listings with prices, brands and photos in the high speed Internet.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;answer=2375416"><strong>Sitelinks Extension</strong></a></p>
<p>All websites can benefit from this kind of extension for ads and this is the reason why every campaign should have it included. This is because the extension creates the same display effect in which organic web listings have whenever they are displaying sitelinks. It is possible to customize this and add up to 4 links where it can direct to other areas within the website.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;answer=2453991&amp;topic=1713912&amp;path=1713910-1713909&amp;ctx=leftnav"><strong>Mobile Ad Extension</strong></a></p>
<p>Building exposure on a new mobile application for your company can make this extension very useful. This is because the extension will help drive direct downloads and traffic towards the ad that you are promoting.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.google.com/ads/innovations/socialextensions.html"><strong>Social Extension</strong></a></p>
<p>Growing the people who are following you through social media can give you a lot of benefits and will also let your brand be more exposed. As you setup this extension and have it linked with your Google+ business page, you can then drive your followers there. This will provide you with the opportunity to engage and interact with your customers, share messages with them and even rack up more SEO points with that exposure with Google+.</p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-use-ad-extensions-to-improve-ppc-campaigns">How to Use Ad Extensions to Improve PPC Campaigns</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
		<item>
		<title>5 Top Tips for an International SEO Campaign</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/5-top-tips-for-an-international-seo-campaign</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:48:50 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[international]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=14374</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Putting together a domestic SEO campaign can be an extremely complex affair and one which takes a lot of time and effort to put together. Add to that different languages, cultures and target markets and you can imagine how complicated an international SEO campaign can be. Below are 5 tips which will help you on [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/5-top-tips-for-an-international-seo-campaign">5 Top Tips for an International SEO Campaign</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Putting together a domestic SEO campaign can be an extremely complex affair and one which takes a lot of time and effort to put together. Add to that different languages, cultures and target markets and you can imagine how complicated an <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.ingenuitydigital.co.uk/">international SEO</a> campaign can be.</p>
<p>Below are 5 tips which will help you on the right track to a successful international SEO campaign:</p>
<p><strong>Get Your Domestic Campaign in Order </strong></p>
<p>Before broadening your horizons to an international market, it’s crucial you ensure your domestic SEO campaign is being carried out correctly and is ticking along nicely. There’s no point trying to roll out to different countries and languages if you haven’t mastered your local site. If you try to do so, it’s more than likely you’ll go down the wrong route and have a lot of things to fix further down the line.</p>
<p><strong>Sub Domains or Sub Folders?</strong></p>
<p>This is the big question that many SEOs ask, and Google have confirmed that it doesn’t matter, as long as the approach is clean and there is a clear separation between different countries and languages. Go with whichever you prefer &#8211; yoursite.fr or yoursite.com/fr – just make sure it is done in a streamlined fashion.</p>
<p><strong>Correct Geo Targeting</strong></p>
<p>There are a number of factors required to correctly geo-target your site. These are, in order of importance:</p>
<ul>
<li>ccTLD</li>
<li>webmaster tools</li>
<li>server location</li>
<li>Rel-alternate hreflang</li>
<li>other signals</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Duplication? Don’t Worry</strong></p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duplicate_content">Duplicate content</a> on the different versions of your site which target each country won’t adversely affect your results. Google has a policy for identifying this and, as long as the site is set up correctly, you won’t suffer. This reiterates a point made previously – make sure the site is clean and streamlined and you won’t have any issues. If you want to make extra sure, using some international mark up will illustrate to Google where the duplicate content is present:</p>
<p align="center"><em>&lt;link rel=&#8221;alternate&#8221; hreflang=&#8221;zh-Hant&#8221; href=&#8221;http://www.mysite.com/fr&#8221;&gt;</em></p>
<p><strong>Links Are Still Important </strong></p>
<p>As with a domestic campaign, high quality, relevant links are crucial to competing for rankings in difficult industries. ‘Relevant’ is the key word here: how do you make an international link relevant? Build it in the local language/TLD of course! Links on the same TLDs will illustrate your site’s relevance in that market, as will anchor text in the target language on pages which use that language.</p>
<p>International SEO is certainly a challenging and technical affair, but if you can get it right you open your business up to a worldwide market. Hopefully these tips will set you on the road to international success!</p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/5-top-tips-for-an-international-seo-campaign">5 Top Tips for an International SEO Campaign</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
		<item>
		<title>7 Ways to Get More Comments on Your Facebook Page</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/7-ways-to-get-more-comments-on-your-facebook-page</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook page]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=14016</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Facebook posts look stale without comments on them. Getting fans to comment on your Facebook pages requires time and effort. However, you can expedite the process by following a couple of proven tips. Getting comments on Facebook posts is all about encouraging your fans to participate at a conversation. What’s important is that you know [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/7-ways-to-get-more-comments-on-your-facebook-page">7 Ways to Get More Comments on Your Facebook Page</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Facebook posts look stale without comments on them. Getting fans to comment on your <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/making-the-most-out-of-facebook-fan-pages">Facebook pages </a>requires time and effort. However, you can expedite the process by following a couple of proven tips. Getting comments on Facebook posts is all about encouraging your fans to participate at a conversation. What’s important is that you know what types of conversations compel fans to comment more on the wall posts of a business page.</p>
<p>Given below are some of the most effective ways that you can use to increase Facebook post comments.</p>
<p><strong>#1. Ask Questions</strong><br />
One of the easiest ways to get fans commenting in good numbers is to ask them questions of different styles and types. Some good examples would include ‘yes or no’ questions, ‘true or false’ questions and ‘fill in the blanks’ type of questions. Asking poll questions is also an excellent idea to add some extra fuel to your business page and get your Facebook fans to comment.</p>
<p><strong>#2. Post Photos &amp; Videos</strong><br />
Users have a natural tendency to react to photos and videos more actively as compared to text-based posts. Whether you post a photo or a video, make sure they are informative, interesting and funny.</p>
<p><strong>#3. Go Off Topic at Times</strong><br />
Allow your fans to have some fun time while they interact with your business page on Facebook. Talking about off-topic things does a great job to add some personal touch to your page. When you discuss things that you fans can relate to personally, you actually establish an emotional connection, an essential ingredient for getting more comments on Facbook wall posts.</p>
<p><strong>#4. Increase Posting Frequency</strong><br />
A proven strategy to increase the degree of engagement with your Facebook fans and get them to comment is by increasing the number of times you share posts on your Facebook page. Posting frequently doesn’t only make your business page look fresh, but it also enhances the likeliness of getting viewed by a large number of Facebook users.</p>
<p><strong>#5. Add Call-to-Action to Posts</strong><br />
Even when your Facebook posts are relevant or interesting, you need to add a call-to-action to increase participation. Therefore, don’t forget to ask your fans to leave comments.</p>
<p><strong>#6. Be on Time</strong><br />
Timing plays a vital role in terms of engaging more fans. Mornings and evenings are best time periods to share posts with Facebook fans via your business page. In addition, you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to connect with your fans at the weekends. If you post at the right time, you can easily get more comments on your Facebook posts.</p>
<p><strong>#7. Comment Back</strong><br />
Do you respond to your fan’s comments? Yes, you can never expect to increase commenting on your fan pages, if you don’t reply. When fans post answers, reply a question or comment, you need to acknowledge their participation. Commenting back fuels the conversation further and bolsters connection with your Facebook fans.</p>
<p><em><strong>Do you have some more tips in mind? Please feel free to share them in the comment section below.</strong></em></p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/7-ways-to-get-more-comments-on-your-facebook-page">7 Ways to Get More Comments on Your Facebook Page</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Target Niche Positioning is Essential to Online Marketing Success</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/why-target-niche-positioning-is-essential-to-online-marketing-success</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Ecommerce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[niche]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[niche marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[niche positioning]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=10843</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Getting results from your niche marketing will require paying attention to a company and brand positioning strategy.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/why-target-niche-positioning-is-essential-to-online-marketing-success">Why Target Niche Positioning is Essential to Online Marketing Success</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Having an <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/creating-link-worthy-content-for-any-industry">attractive, well-designed website</a> is good, but this alone won’t help you achieve online marketing success.</p>
<p>The problem with business owners and site owners today is that they are too concerned with their sites’ aesthetics. Unknowingly, they end up giving web designers the money they should allocate to more important aspects of their business. This isn’t much of a problem for personal and non-profit websites, but, when it comes to e-commerce sites and online businesses, spending too much money for your web design expenses is bad for business.</p>
<p>We should begin positioning ourselves in our target market’s mind. This includes imposing a personal brand, creating an image, and building a stronger network.</p>
<p><strong>Positioning ourselves in our target niche starts with link building.<br />
</strong><br />
We know that adding a blog to your website is a great way to establish a perfect link building strategy. Another way to do so is to build a separate website where you can put all the links from your main website, but this requires some time and effort. The new website should be as strong as your main site in terms of PR, DA, and online reputation. Achieving these definitely can’t be done overnight.</p>
<p>Building relationships is the key to a successful business. Having people and other companies trust you secures your business’ success. As you build relationships through a network, you automatically gain truthful critics, believers who will push your company to become better, especially if you’re a startup business owner.</p>
<p>In addition, you have the responsibility to connect people to others. Be a bridge, and let them know about your company as you act as a bridge for them. Blogs are perfect for this purpose. When the owners of two linked blogs talk about how met each other, they’re likely to mention you as the bridge that connected them.</p>
<p><strong>Marketing is a selfish environment.</strong></p>
<p>It does not really matter what people think about you and your company. If they see and feel that your products and services are efficient, it stops there. What matters to your consumers is what they feel about themselves and their decisions. They only care about how your products, services, or even your company will affect their lives. Do not expect them to praise your website design or cry over your internal company disputes; they are customers, and they’re not concerned with your company. However, these people need you, especially if your business becomes an integral part of their daily lives.</p>
<p><strong>Competition kills.</strong></p>
<p>Competition gives life to the market, but kills those who breathe it. Thinking of competition on a daily basis can wear a business owner out. When we focus too much on the idea of competition, we tend to do things that aren’t really beneficial to our business: we tend to copy ideas, or conceptualize new business strategies that are products of the pressure of being knocked out by competitors. Competition should push business owners to be more innovative. When competition makes us follow trends, we’ll end up like the dull and boring companies on the market.</p>
<p><strong>Convey your brand to consumers.</strong></p>
<p>The art of conveying your brand to consumers is a personal process. It all begins with you as a business owner. The process involves the information you use as site content, how you create your products, how you deal with consumers, and how you use your company to provide the needs of your market. Conveying is a personal process, and it becomes physical only through <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/5-basic-tips-for-creating-profitable-niche-websites">promotion and advertising</a>.</p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/why-target-niche-positioning-is-essential-to-online-marketing-success">Why Target Niche Positioning is Essential to Online Marketing Success</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
		<item>
		<title>How to Get the Best Deal on Online Products</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-research-and-get-the-best-deal-on-online-products</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:00:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Tools]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=6514</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Nowadays, it feels like there are a ton of products popping up to help you with your website traffic, SEO, and making money online, as well as various course and membership forums. So how do you know which ones are right for you, and how do you get the best deal? Research the Product First [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-research-and-get-the-best-deal-on-online-products">How to Get the Best Deal on Online Products</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Nowadays, it feels like there are a ton of products popping up to help you with your website traffic, SEO, and making money online, as well as various course and membership forums.  So how do you know which ones are right for you, and how do you get the best deal?</p>
<h2><strong>Research the Product</strong></h2>
<p>First of all, let&#8217;s look at how you can learn as much as possible about a product before you buy.  Because it&#8217;s not a good deal if it turns out to be not a good product.</p>
<p><strong>Google It</strong></p>
<p>Google <strong><em>product name</em> review</strong> and <strong><em>product name</em> scam</strong>.  These are the most important search terms you can know when checking out a product before you are going to buy it.  Try to look for names that you recognize and trust when it comes to write ups about the product.  </p>
<p>Check out a few different reviews &#8211; if they are all similar, chances are the have been copied and pasted from a generic &#8220;sales post&#8221; written by the product&#8217;s creator.  Look for the reviews that are unique &#8211; those are the ones from people who have actually looked at or used the product and are giving a (hopefully) honest review.</p>
<p><strong>Turn to Forums</strong></p>
<p>Depending on the type of product, forums are a good place to search for opinions, especially forums that don&#8217;t allow members to post affiliate links &#8211; these are the ones that will likely have an unbiased review.  Try a search for the product name, and if that fails, join the forum and ask people if they know of the product and have any experience with it.</p>
<p><strong>Ask Your Followers</strong></p>
<p>If you have a sufficient group of followers on Twitter or Facebook, ask them if they have heard of a product and what their thoughts are on it.  A few months ago, I simply asked my followers which theme was better: X theme or Y theme.  The response was pretty unanimous as to which was the best based on the number of people who had tried it and did or did not like it.</p>
<p><strong>Contact Info</strong></p>
<p>Make sure you can find contact information for whomever the product creator is, and preferably multiple avenues of contact (email, Twitter, blog, website form, and phone number).  If there is more than one person behind the product, get their information as well and make sure you keep it handy, just in case there are any issues with the product.</p>
<h2><strong>Getting the Best Deal</strong></h2>
<p>If, after research, you have decided the product is right for you, here is the best way to stretch your hard earned dollars. </p>
<p><strong>Coupon Codes</strong></p>
<p>Heading back to Google, search <strong><em>product name</em> code</strong>, <strong><em>product name</em> coupon code</strong>, <strong><em>product name</em> discount code</strong>, and so on.  If there are discounts out there, they should popup.</p>
<p><strong>Strike a Deal with a Well Known Affiliate</strong></p>
<p>If it&#8217;s a particularly expensive product (namely the affiliates get hundreds of dollars in commissions), and you know an affiliate for the product really well (and I mean really, really well), see if they will cut you a deal.  You will buy the product from them, and they will split the commission with you, which is like a discount for you and a sale for them.  A win-win situation, especially for an affiliate that isn&#8217;t selling much product.</p>
<p><strong>Leave That Page</strong></p>
<p>Don&#8217;t buy right away from the sales page.  Close it.  Worst case scenario, you have to open it again.  Best case scenario, there is a &#8220;Wait, before you leave&#8221; popup that will lead to an discounted offer, or an offer with additional bonuses to sweeten the deal.  </p>
<div style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px"><img src="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/last-minute-deal.jpg" alt="Stay on This Page Offer" width="402" height="369" /></div>
<p>I have seen a few that closing the second page leads to a third, but they are rare, and sometimes you miss out on the second page deal.  You can always try it to see what happens, then open the deal up from another computer to get that second page deal back again.</p>
<h2><strong>Refunds</strong></h2>
<p><strong>Trial Periods and Cancellation Deadlines</strong></p>
<p>Make note of any trial periods or cancellation times (especially important for courses, memberships, or offers that will charge full price at the end of the trial period).  Be sure to buy the product when you will be able to dedicate the next however many days to really try it out and make sure it is a perfect fit, that way you don&#8217;t miss out on the window to get a refund if it turns out to not be the right product for you.  </p>
<p>If you have to, set a reminder in your calendar, phone, etc. a day or two before the trial period / refund availability expires, that way you have time to contact the right people to get your trial / subscription cancelled while you still can.  </p>
<p><strong>Don&#8217;t Be Afraid to Ask for a Refund</strong></p>
<p>If, for some reason, you&#8217;ve gone past the deadline, or there is an anytime money back guarantee and the product is really wrong for you, don&#8217;t be shy to ask for a refund.  Give your honest reasons as to why you are asking for your money back, but in a polite and courteous way.  Again, the worst they will say is no.  But it doesn&#8217;t hurt to ask, because there is nothing worse than paying for something you don&#8217;t need.</p>
<h2><strong>Become an Affiliate</strong></h2>
<p>Finally, if you end up keeping and truly enjoying a product, membership, etc. that you purchase, and that product has an affiliate program, become an affiliate by all means.  Writing an honest review and sharing it with an audience who trusts your opinions will lead to sales, and you could effectively make up the up-front cost of the product with your sales.  </p>
<p>Sometimes, products don&#8217;t have easy to find advertising for their affiliate programs &#8211; again, Google is your friend.  Search <strong><em>product name</em> affiliate</strong> and <strong><em>product name</em> partners</strong> are good terms to find out whether your product has an affiliate program that you can join.</p>
<h3><strong>Your Online Product Purchase Strategy</strong></h3>
<p>Do you research products before purchasing them?  What other ways can you think of to prevent purchasing something you don&#8217;t need, as well as ways to ensure you get the best for your money&#8217;s worth?</p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-research-and-get-the-best-deal-on-online-products">How to Get the Best Deal on Online Products</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
		<item>
		<title>The Importance of Building a Natural Link Profile</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/the-importance-of-building-a-natural-link-profile</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:00:09 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[link building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=4161</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Link building is essential to any website that wants to climb the search engine rankings and stay there. What a lot of people fail to understand is that this is not as simple as finding as many links as you can, no matter where from, and then adding them all in one go. If a website is to be consistently successful in the search engines, it has to possess a natural link profile.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/the-importance-of-building-a-natural-link-profile">The Importance of Building a Natural Link Profile</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Link building is essential to any website that wants to climb the search engine rankings and stay there. What a lot of people fail to understand is that this is not as simple as finding as many links as you can, no matter where from, and then adding them all in one go. If a website is to be consistently successful in the search engines, it has to possess a natural link profile.</p>
<h2><strong>What Is a Natural Link Profile?</strong></h2>
<p>A good link-building strategy should appear natural, and not forced or manipulated. Ideally, the search engines are looking for a steady collection of relevant links from good quality sites, over a period of time. The links should be from a variety of sources.</p>
<p>A natural link profile is one that does not ring any search engine alarm bells. There are many things a web owner can do, when creating links, that will cause the links to look unnatural and suspicious. Unfortunately, there are many guides and uninformed advices that will advise of certain link-building methods that can alert a search engine that something is afoot.</p>
<h2><strong>How to Keep the Search Engines Happy</strong></h2>
<p>Keep the following guidelines in mind if you wish to keep search engines on your side:</p>
<ul>
<li>Link Velocity – Do not add 100 links in 2 days then none for a month, before beginning another mad burst of link-building. Sporadic linking can look like you are link spamming, search engines look for consistency and continuity.</li>
<li>IP Diversity – Having 20 links all coming from a variety of small blogs or hub pages you have created may satisfy the criteria for having links from different sites, but it will not fool the search engines. All these links come from sites with the same IP address and suggest that you are falsely manufacturing links. Get backlinks from a variety of sites with different IP addresses.</li>
<li>There is a significant number of SEO experts who believe that you should mix “NoFollow” and “DoFollow” links in your link building efforts. Some of them even go so far stating that 10-20% of your links should be from “NoFollow” sources to appear natural. There is no strong evidence for this, but is something worth keeping in mind.</li>
<li>Link Popularity – Search engines place greater importance on links from trusted sources and authority sites. Google has its PageRank system but the other search engines also look for high-quality links. The more quality links you have, the better you will rank. A larger amount of low-quality reciprocal links, or off-topic links, may suggest you are blog spamming or using a link farm/exchange.</li>
<li>Topical Relevance – Keep your content fresh and updated and a steady flow of links coming in to your site. Search engines are looking for sites that provide up-to-date information and relevance. If you keep your content on-topic and have good links gradually pointing to your site, the search engines will start to regard you as an authority over time.</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>Keep the Search Engines on Your Side</strong></h2>
<p>Of course link-building is unnatural. Unless you are Google, Facebook or Wikipedia you will have to go looking for your own links. In a perfect online world no one would have to ask for a link, everyone would be linking to other sites naturally purely for the interest of pointing out new, informative content for searchers. The internet is not perfect and if you are not one of the “giants” you will have to beg, steal and borrow links.</p>
<p>Nearly everyone is in the same boat, but the person that shines in the eyes of the search engines is the one who can make this unnatural link creation appear totally innocent. Try to maintain a natural link profile and the search engines will eventually reward you.</p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/the-importance-of-building-a-natural-link-profile">The Importance of Building a Natural Link Profile</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
		<item>
		<title>Improve Your Website Traffic by Cleaning Up Your Google Index</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/improve-your-website-traffic-by-cleaning-up-your-google-index</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:00:09 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google index]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website traffic]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=3810</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Your site index gives you an indication of health problems on your site; if you suddenly see a spike or large drop in Google indexed pages it flags a warning that there is something wrong that needs some attention. We focus mostly on Google, as this search engine sends us the greater share of organic [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/improve-your-website-traffic-by-cleaning-up-your-google-index">Improve Your Website Traffic by Cleaning Up Your Google Index</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Your site index gives you an indication of health problems on your site; if you suddenly see a spike or large drop in Google indexed pages it flags a warning that there is something wrong that needs some attention. We focus mostly on Google, as this search engine sends us the greater share of organic SEO traffic, i.e. they have a larger market share.</p>
<p>Remember that the more pages you have indexed in Google, the more keywords you can rank for (long-tail) and the more keywords you rank for, the higher the amount of traffic you will receive to your site.</p>
<h2><strong>Finding Issues</strong></h2>
<p>So how do we find issues within our site’s index? As an SEO, what you need to be doing are weekly health checks which allow you to monitor your site’s health by tracking things like indexed pages, backlinks and duplicates. If you notice any significant changes in these areas, you should start a new investigation into what has been going on.</p>
<p>Signs that your site’s health is in danger would be a combination of a large drop of indexed pages in Google, and a large increase in indexed pages in Yahoo. This normally indicates duplicate or junk content problem.</p>
<p>If your site has been verified with Google Webmaster Tools, you will be able to see things such as duplicate page titles and descriptions, 404 errors, etc.</p>
<p>I normally use a combination of Google’s Webmaster Tools console and Yahoo SiteExplorer to find any issues that may hinder my site being indexed in Google.</p>
<h2><strong>How to Go About It</strong></h2>
<p>Here are some tips I agree with which has been taken from <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.vdotmedia.com/blog/3-ways-to-clean-up-your-google-search-results/">this blog post</a>.</p>
<p><strong>1. META Tags</strong></p>
<p>You can add a simple META tag to the top of every live page you have (between the &lt;head&gt; and &lt;/head&gt; tags) and configure it to your liking. Here’s how the META tag should look:</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><strong>&lt;Meta content=&#8221;NOINDEX, FOLLOW&#8221;&gt;</strong></p>
<p>NOINDEX signifies that site crawlers should not index the page. Alternatively, writing index would tell crawlers to index the page.</p>
<p>FOLLOW signifies that links on this page should be tracked or given credit for (alternatively, no follow would not track links).</p>
<p>The “nofollow” attribute is also used commonly for individual links by adding rel<em>=&#8221;nofollow&#8221;</em> to the &lt;a&gt; HTML element when web publishers don’t want to get penalized for linking to suspicious or low quality sites.</p>
<p>By default, every page is tagged as “index, follow”, but changing this attribute can help you configure your pages in a few different ways.</p>
<p><strong>WordPress Meta Robots Plug-in</strong></p>
<p>For WordPress users, you can install the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.joostdevalk.nl/wordpress/meta-robots-wordpress-plugin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meta Robots plug-in</a>. This will allow you to configure each and every post and page from the editor, as well as configure the global settings of your site.</p>
<p><strong>2. Google Webmaster Tools – Remove URL Tool</strong></p>
<p>You can use Google’s Remove URL tool in Google Webmaster tools for an emergency URL removal, this tool can be found under “Crawler access” as shown in the image below:</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/removal-tool1.jpg"></a><a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/google-webmaster-tools.png"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3891 img-none" title="google-webmaster-tools" src="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/google-webmaster-tools.png" alt="" width="550" height="290" srcset="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/google-webmaster-tools.png 550w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/google-webmaster-tools-300x158.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px" /></a><br />
</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong><strong> </strong></p>
<p>You’ll notice at the top of the page, there are one of three things you must do before being able to submit a Removal Request. For a directory/page/file to be removed from Google’s index, you must do one of the following (see <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=59819&amp;hl=en">Google’s URL removal Requirements</a>):</p>
<ul>
<li>Make sure the content is no longer live on      the web. Requests for the page or image you want to remove must return an      HTTP 404 (not found) or 410 status code.</li>
<li>Block the content using a Meta No Index      tag.</li>
<li>Block the content using a robots.txt file.</li>
</ul>
<p>In other words, you must either delete the directory/page/file from your server, or do one of the 2 things I’ve already discussed.</p>
<p>Once this has been done, go ahead and click the New Removal Request button. You’ll find that Google gives you options to choose from.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/removal-options.jpg"></a><a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/removal-options1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3892 img-none" title="removal-options" src="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/removal-options1.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="218" srcset="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/removal-options1.jpg 550w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/removal-options1-300x118.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px" /></a><br />
</strong>Choose “Remove page from search results and cache” , check the checkbox and submit your request. Your request will be added to a Pending list of requests, and approximately 24 hours later, if all goes well and all requirements have been satisfied, you’ll find that your requests will have been fulfilled and your directory/page/file will have been removed from Google’s index.</p>
<h2><strong>Some Stuff to Note</strong></h2>
<ul>
<li>Ensure that you do not have any blocked URLs in your  XML sitemap.</li>
<li>Note, that robots.txt file does not work alone; you will still see your blocked URLs in your index but without your page title or Meta description.</li>
<li><strong>DO NOT</strong> add Google Analytics tracking scripts to pages you do not want Google to see.</li>
</ul>
<p>In conclusion, by cleaning up your Google index, you should see an increase in the amount of indexed pages in Google, with an associated increase in SEO keywords and traffic in your analytics.</p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/improve-your-website-traffic-by-cleaning-up-your-google-index">Improve Your Website Traffic by Cleaning Up Your Google Index</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
		<item>
		<title>8 Step Checklist When Reviewing an Existing Pay-Per-Click Account</title>
		<link>https://www.stayonsearch.com/8-step-checklist-when-reviewing-an-existing-pay-per-click-account</link>
		
		
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 May 2010 12:08:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[SEM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[checklist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pay-per-click]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ppc]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.stayonsearch.com/?p=3557</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Whenever I inherit a clients PPC account that has already been setup by usually another Internet Marketing company, I will go through a mental checklist of important factors that go into the overall performance of the campaigns.  Usually you can find some major mistakes and wasted ad spend just in the first 2 minutes of [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/8-step-checklist-when-reviewing-an-existing-pay-per-click-account">8 Step Checklist When Reviewing an Existing Pay-Per-Click Account</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Whenever I inherit a clients PPC account that has already been setup by usually another Internet Marketing company, I will go through a mental checklist of important factors that go into the overall performance of the campaigns.  Usually you can find some major mistakes and wasted ad spend just in the first 2 minutes of looking at the account.  This will give you a breakdown of what and the order of how I review an existing pay-per-click account. <strong> </strong></p>
<h2><strong>1.  Google Analytics/Adwords Data</strong></h2>
<p>Before I even look at the account, I will review the site analytics just to gauge how people are finding the site.  Specially I will look at the search engine referrals, then drill down to paid vs non-paid.  I can start to see which of the paid keywords are bringing in the majority of the paid traffic, as well as important engagement data like time on site and bounce rates.</p>
<h2><strong><strong><a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/account_structure_420.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3573  img-right" title="account_structure_420" src="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/account_structure_420.jpg" alt="" width="241" height="237" srcset="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/account_structure_420.jpg 420w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/account_structure_420-300x296.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 241px) 100vw, 241px" /></a></strong></strong></h2>
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<h2><strong>2.  Account Structure</strong></h2>
<p>To me, how you setup/organized your campaign is as or more important than the keywords you are bidding on.  A well structured and targeted PPC campaign can show outstanding results compared to a very broad and unorganized campaign.  I will identify ad groups that may be in the wrong campaign or deserve to be pulled out into their own campaign.  On the other hand I will</p>
<p>look for ways we can merge two ad groups in different campaigns into one, to make the account more organized and easy to manage.  I have found that using a whiteboard or piece of paper to map out your Campaign Levels and Ad Group Levels will make it much easier when you actually go in to start editing the account. <strong> </strong></p>
<h2><strong>3.  Budget Distribution</strong></h2>
<p>Depending on the <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/investing-your-internet-marketing-dollars-wisely">clients monthly budget</a>, I will identify opportunities for not only shifts in budget for ad groups that are performing better, but ways to <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/guide-to-decrypting-googles-ad-quality-score">increase the quality score</a> to decrease the CPC.  If you can clean up the account by restructuring it to be more targeted, remove non-performing keywords, and tweaking ad copy and destination urls, you can make your ad spend last a lot longer and drive more qualified traffic with that budget. <strong> </strong></p>
<h2><strong>4.  Keywords</strong></h2>
<p>Looking at the keywords, the keyword match, and the keyword bid will help me to gauge the advertiser competition and how broad/targeted our campaigns are.  If you are bidding on the broad term &#8220;widgets&#8221; that means that anyone using that keyword in their search query will trigger their ad.  What if they were searching for &#8220;blue widgets&#8221;, but the store doesn&#8217;t sell blue widgets, it would make sense to bid on terms like &#8220;red widgets&#8221; or &#8220;yellow widgets&#8221; on phrase match to better qualify the searcher. <strong> </strong></p>
<h2><strong>5.  Negative Keywords</strong></h2>
<p>There is a little <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.semvironment.com/ppc-management-adwords-keyword-data-exposed-with-google-analytics/">Google Analytics hack</a> that I have been using for years now that will show you the exact term the user searched which led to that user clicking your ad.  This is extremely important in finding negative keywords that you can ad to your campaigns.  If you notice that 50% of visitors coming in from the keyword &#8220;SEO software&#8221; are also putting &#8220;free&#8221; in front of the phrase, you may want to add &#8220;free&#8221; as a negative keyword.</p>
<h2><strong><strong><a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/hwd_geo.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3576 img-right" title="hwd_geo" src="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/hwd_geo.jpg" alt="" width="252" height="204" srcset="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/hwd_geo.jpg 342w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/hwd_geo-300x242.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px" /></a></strong></strong></h2>
<h2><strong>6.  Geo-targeted Areas</strong></h2>
<p>It may seems pretty basic, but are the ads targeted for the correct geographic areas?  If the store only caters to people in a 20 mile radius and for whatever reason the ads are targeted to the entire site, make sure you fix that so the ads will only show for people in that specific area. <strong></strong></p>
<h2><strong>7.  Ad Copy</strong></h2>
<p>Ad copy can be a big part in increasing CTR.  What do the ads say?  Are they trying to pre-qualify the user before they click on the ad?  Are they testing different ad copy by doing A/B tests?  Are they using price qualifiers in the ad to entice or deter users from clicking? <strong></strong></p>
<h2><strong>8.  Day Parting</strong></h2>
<p>Depending on the industry, it may be best to use day parting to try and have your ads show when targeted users are searching.  By looking at the data to see when people are clicking on the ads or not clicking will help you to find the optimal time to start and end your ads during the day.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/day-parting-1.png"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3574 img-none" title="day-parting-1" src="https://www.stayonsearch.com/httpdocs/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/day-parting-1.png" alt="" width="550" height="181" srcset="https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/day-parting-1.png 550w, https://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/day-parting-1-300x98.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px" /></a></p><p>The post <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com/8-step-checklist-when-reviewing-an-existing-pay-per-click-account">8 Step Checklist When Reviewing an Existing Pay-Per-Click Account</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.stayonsearch.com">StayOnSearch</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
			<dc:creator>mark@stayonsearch.com (Mark Thompson)</dc:creator></item>
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