Website Design, SEO, CSS, and More!
The Joopk content management system was developed by a team of skilled development professionals. That said, we would like to think we know our stuff. On this page, we will share our thoughts and advice about web development, search engine optimization (SEO), cascading style sheets (CSS), and much more with our clients and non-clients alike. Visit our page often for new tips and tricks of the trade.
Want to find matryoshka nesting dolls in Saratoga? Google it. You’ll find the Etsy page for Three Dancing Magpies, a couple of local mothers working to turn their love of paper crafting, jewelry making and pendants into a stream of revenue.
Looking for something a little less obscure, like Saratoga glass repair? Google it. You’ll find Jim’s Glass Service, a Queensbury-based company that “Thanks you for the break!”
The bottom line: Google is powerful, far reaching, and influential. And while it’s popular for generating relevant search results based upon a complex algorithm, it is also an invaluable tool for businesses looking to gain a competitive advantage.
Google can help businesses in two ways: through organic search and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising through AdWords.
Organic search is affected by the quality of your website design, the effectiveness of your keywords, and the overall relevancy of your site. Google measures this through page rank. The higher your rank, the more visible you will be for everyday searches.
Pay-per-click is just what its name implies. Advertisers only pay when their Google AdWords ad is clicked, which makes it affordable and accessible for businesses of any size. And with a reach greater than 60 percent of all Internet users, it can be and often is an invaluable tool to drive online sales and expand into new markets…if you’re willing to take the leap.
Here are seven reasons why you should consider doing it, along with some pointers on what you should do.
1. Targeted advertising. By picking keywords related to your products or services, Google’s PPC platform allows you to create text-based ads that appear on Google’s content network. When it comes to selecting keywords, be specific (e.g., fresh flower delivery versus flowers). Google’s free Keyword tool can be a great aid—Google it. By identifying the right keywords you’ll ensure that the people who find your ads are actively seeking your business, which means they are more likely to click your ad, visit your website, contact you directly and purchase your products and/or services.
2. Complete ad control. With AdWords you have full control of your ads—from time of day to day of week to location. AdWords also allows you to promote your ad globally or locally. With geo-location features you can target markets based on users IP address and geo-specific keywords (e.g. Saratoga Springs SEO). You can get as narrow or broad as you like.
3. Scalable budgeting. Whether you have allotted $50 or $1,500 to advertising, you have the ability to set your own budget. Plus, AdWords’ daily limit function allows you to control your account without overspending. Once your daily limit is reached, your account will temporarily shut down until the following business day. It only costs $5.00 to get started and there is no monthly maintenance fee.
4. Broader reach. Create, edit and improve your ads as you see fit. We recommend trying multiple campaigns to see what keywords generate the most conversions. This ensures that you get your message to the right people.
5. Measurable results. It is important to gauge your return on investment (ROI), or the ratio of your profit to your advertising costs. Google offers two products that can help you do this well. Google Analytics provides information about where your clicks are coming from, conversion rates, bounce rates and much more. Conversion Tracking through AdWords is ideal if you’re just interested in conversions—and from AdWords sources only.
6. Competitive equalizer. AdWords levels the playing field so that small businesses with limited budgets can compete against larger companies. It also gives you equal access to global markets. Therefore, if you are a one-person business you can appear alongside your largest competitor through AdWords. No other platform available makes it so cost effective to compete with Fortune 500 companies.
7. Proven history. Research demonstrates that Google is the most popular search engine in the world, handling more than 60 percent of all Internet-based searches. What’s more, when you advertise with Google, you get the whole content network—Google, AOL, YouTube, Blogger and Gmail—and thousands of other partnering websites on the Internet.
Google AdWords is a great way to get traffic to your website—and instantly, too. But with many businesses now taking advantage of PPC advertising, AdWords has become very competitive. And everything on Google, whether organic or paid, runs off a particular algorithm.
For example, with AdWords Google uses a quality score to determine your cost per keyword and where your ads will show up. Your quality score is based on the relevance of your ads, keywords, and landing page to the person who is seeing your ad. All three must be congruent. For instance, if your ad says “Ferrari for Sale” your landing page cannot be about “Mercedes Benz” and vice versa.
Google also takes into consideration your click through rate and page speed. Therefore, if you have a poor click through rate or a slow loading web page, Google will decrease your overall quality score.
The challenge with AdWords is that it is easy to use and, when done correctly, is a proven advertising tool that generates a significant ROI. However, it’s not necessarily easy to maximize its value. So if it’s something you’re considering doing you should take advantage of the free online training Google provides, because proper AdWords management will drive down the cost you pay per click. If you do not have the time to commit to learning AdWords, consider hiring an experienced AdWords manager. Not only can an experienced professional help provide you with a competitive PPC advantage, often times the savings they can generate will cover the cost of their services.