Search Engines & Marketing
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| Unless you're talking about your favorite fishing hole, there's nothing good about being the world's best kept secret. |
Generally, your site visitors will land on your site after (a) finding you in a search engine or (b), entering your URL directly.
Increasing direct visitors is pretty straightforward - they get your URL from business cards, brochures or direct mail - Make sure your web address is on your card and hand out as many as you can.
Increasing search engine traffic is a more complicated endeavor. "PPC", "SEO", "organic", "sponsored", "natural", "affiliate marketing" - It's enough to make your head spin. Let's break it down a bit and look at the basics:
PPC -
Pay-Per-Click - is a service offered by major search engines
and
their affiliates that allow you to bid on keywords to appear at
or near the top of search results. A common mistake is to
equate being at the top of the results with more business - It's a good place to start, but there's
a lot more to PPC success than just outbidding your competition.
their affiliates that allow you to bid on keywords to appear at
or near the top of search results. A common mistake is to
equate being at the top of the results with more business - It's a good place to start, but there's
a lot more to PPC success than just outbidding your competition.
SEO -
Search Engine Optimization is the process of modifying pages within your site to move it to
the top
of the organic (or natural) search results. Many clients expect this to happen on its own, but it
doesn't - There's nothing "natural" or "organic" about it.
of the organic (or natural) search results. Many clients expect this to happen on its own, but it
doesn't - There's nothing "natural" or "organic" about it.
Getting visitors to your site is important, but what will they do when the get there?