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5 Tips for Choosing a Domain Name

Posted By Nathan Hughes in Internet Marketing, SEO, Search Engine Optimization on March 8, 2010
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One of the first decisions you make when setting up a website is what domain name you will purchase. For some people this may seem like an easy decision, but it is one that you should put some thought into. Choosing the right domain name can help with your online marketing plans, your search engine optimization and the popularity of your website.

Here are a few tips that will help you choose your domain name:

Include keywords

◦ Sometimes it helps to include some of your keywords in your domain name. This can help your search engine ranking and make it more obvious what your company does at first glance.

Make it short and memorable

◦ If possible, a short domain is usually better than a very long one. However, that’s not always the case. For example, VeryGoodDomainNameChoice.com might be a better name than VGDNC.com. A series of initials isn’t very easy to remember. Then again, neither is IThinkThisIsAReallyReallyGoodChoiceForADomainName.com, so you’ll have to put some thought into your choice. Unfortunately, you’ll likely find that many short, memorable domain names are taken, so you’ll have to be clever.

Notice how it looks and sounds

◦ A domain name could look great on paper, but it can be difficult to say. The opposite can be true as well. You should practice saying your name out loud to other people. It should be easy to pronounce and straightforward.

A dot-com if possible

◦ Most people still assume that commercial websites end in .com and most major websites do. If you choose a .net or a .ca address, you’ll have to make a point to specify your address to people. This is especially true if a competitor owns the .com. You could risk sending people to your competition if you’re not clear.

Check out similarities

◦ For example, if you want to buy domain.com you should also look at domain.net, domain.ca, domains.com and any other similarities of mistypings. If they’re available you may want to buy them. If they’re own by the competition, you have to be careful that you’re not infringing on copyrights and that you don’t accidentally send your customers to a competitor’s website.

Once you’ve thought of a name, make sure you pick a reputable domain name registrar to purchase it from and you’re on your way!

Using Landing Pages For PPC Campaigns

Posted By Meagan Mills in Internet Marketing, Pay Per Click on February 8, 2010
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A “landing page” is the page you see when you click on an advertisement or a search engine link. The goal of a landing page is to be related to the terms that the searcher is looking for and to convert that visitor into a customer.

Landing pages are a great idea for people that are running pay per click advertising campaigns. You can structure different pages to match individual ads. For example, if you have ads running for “blue widgets”, “green things” and “red something else” you can set up three separate landing pages that relate specifically to those topics. That way a user searching for “blue widgets” will find information on blue widgets, rather than any other topic or the main page of a website. This sort of targeting leads to more conversions and better sales.

There are a few things you can do that will make your landing pages even more successful.

Tips for Successful Landing Pages

Have a call to action

◦ This is very important. You want to do everything possible to turn your visitor into a customer. You landing page should feature a form to fill out, a phone number or other contact information or a large link to another page you feel is important. Making it easy to find the next step is a great way to ensure your visitor completes that step.

Keep it simple

◦ This is another way to make it easy for the user. Don’t include a lot of text or distracting images on the landing page. Keep your page free from clutter and give the user all the information they need in an easy-to-digest format.

Customize the page to match the ad

◦ If someone clicks an ad that says “Blue Widgets At Cheap Prices” they expect to find blue widgets at cheap prices. Give the visitor what they are looking for. Your landing page should take them directly to your blue widget sales page, rather than an overview of all of your products.

Keep important information “above the fold”

◦ Visitors shouldn’t have to scroll in order to find what they’re looking for. Put the most important information, including your call to action, where your visitor will see it without scrolling or looking too hard

If you use your landing pages properly, you will make your pay per click advertising campaigns much more effective. First2Search are experts at PPC campaigns and landing pages. Contact us for more information and find out how we can help you!

Internet Marketing During a Recession

Posted By Meagan Mills in Internet Marketing, SEO, Website Promotion on January 28, 2010
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Unfortunately many companies are still hurting and feeling the effects of the recession. Naturally, this usually means cost cutting and tightened spending. There are some things companies just cannot justify paying for during hard times.

Online marketing is NOT one of those things.

In fact, Internet marketing is one of the best possible ways to spend your money during tough economic periods. Why? It’s simple. When compared to traditional forms of marketing such as print ads, television, radio and direct mail, online marketing has a much higher return on investment. When there isn’t much money to go around, you need to spend what you have in a way that sees the highest possible return. That way is Internet marketing and promotion.

Possibly the most cost-effective form of online marketing is pay per click advertising. These ads are proven to deliver. First of all, they are only displayed when a potential customer searches for a particular, related term in a major search engine or visits a related website. This ensures that every person that sees your ad is a targeted customer that is interested in the product or service you provide. This sort of efficiency makes pay per click advertising incredibly affordable and cost-effective.

Secondly, pay per click companies only charge you when someone clicks on your ad. If you have a direct mail campaign, you will be charged for each flyer or catalogue you send out, even if the recipient immediately throws it away. With pay per click ads, you only pay when targeted customers choose to visit your website. This is definitely an economical way to spend your marketing budget. Why pay for ads that aren’t performing? Pay per click advertising allows you to only pay when a customer is delivered to your site. It just makes financial sense.

Finally, pay per click and Internet advertising can be tracked quite accurately. Using website analytics, you can determine exactly which terms your visitors are searching for in order to land on your site, which pages of your website are the most popular and exactly how affective your advertising campaigns are. This allows you to modify your efforts in order to attract the highest number of targeted customers for the lowest possible price.

This sort of focused, direct advertising will offer you much higher returns on your initial investment and is an intelligent way to spend your marketing budget, especially during a recession.

During troubling economic times, many people are turning to the Internet as a form of communication and entertainment even more than before. Advertising online is the best way to reach a wide audience at an affordable rate as quickly as possible.

What the new Google Caffeine Means for Search

Posted By Meagan Mills in Internet Marketing, Pay Per Click, SEO, Website Promotion on January 19, 2010
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Google is close to releasing a new version of its search engine, called “Google Caffeine.” The main new feature is the speed of search (hence the name “Caffeine) but that’s not the only difference. Google search results are going to change and the search algorithm will change.

The look and feel of Google will remain the same. It’s not a drastic change that will make Google completely different, but there is a change. For some searches things will look exactly the same. In other searches there will be slight differences that most people will not notice. Overall, Google will be faster and, hopefully, deliver more relevant results than ever before.

So what does this mean for website designers and those involved in search engine optimization? A few things.

First of all, it seems that Google will now give more weight to news and social media sites. This is especially true for generic search terms like “dog,” “cat,” “shoes” and others. When you search for a generic, broad term you will more than likely be presented with current news and social media conversations on that topic. Google now assumes that people searching for generic terms online want the latest information first. For specific terms, web pages will come up.

Google will also index more pages in an attempt to provide more information. The page is also structured slightly different, with news and video moving around depending on the terms searched.

So how should you change your website to fit the new Google? First of all, the point that you should not structure your site solely for Google remains true. Ultimately real users are going to be the people that decide to spend time on your site, use your services and pay for your products, so you always need to have real people in mind and not just search engines.

It seems as though Google will be relying on current, up-to-date information more than ever. Depending on the topic, websites that deliver frequently updated content will be ranked higher. This makes it more important than ever to focus on delivering fresh, related content on your website.

The new Google be being launched partially due to Bing’s partnership with Yahoo. Google wants its users to find the most relevant results faster. If people are consistently finding better results on Bing, there is a chance that they may switch and use that search engine as their default. Google does not want this and so it will strive to deliver the best results. The bottom line here is, to continue to be ranked highly on Google or Bing, you need to have a good quality website. If you only use underhanded techniques to drive visitors to a sub par page, you will eventually be found out and punished in the rankings.

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