AGIS | Web Development & Marketing Blog

Pay Per Click advertising is a search engine marketing tactic that is making its way into many businesses marketing budgets. Pay Per Click or PPC are the text advertisements that can be found on all your major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. They are the results that are found under sponsored links on the top and right side of the search results.

Many of our clients find PPC advertising appealing because of the relatively low cost advertising and that it provides instant search results for keyphrases related to your business products or services. If you want to be on the top of page one, that is a reality no matter how large or small your business is and you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.

Level The Competition

PPC advertising is primarily used to get your website searched for keyword phrases related to your products and services, so that when a potential customer searches for your products or services your website is found and given the opportunity to make a sale. One of the most over looked features of PPC advertising is the ability to target your competition. In addition to showing up for product and service related keyword phrases, your advertising campaign can be setup to show up for keyword phrases related to your competition. So when someone searches for your competitions name or url your ad will be at the top of the search result. This is a great opportunity for smaller businesses to get the exposure of a larger corporation and to take some of that market share. It’s like posting a billboard for your coffee shop right outside of Starbucks.

AG Information Systems is bases in Lancaster County, PA. We provide Internet marketing strategies including PPC advertising for clients local to Lancaster, York, and Harrisburg PA as well as client nation wide. For more information about targeting your competition with PPC advertising or Internet marketing in general contact us at 717-285-7105.

Brian Weit
AG Information Systems

A common question we get is why Smarter Stats’ numbers and Google Analytics’ numbers don’t match? I have yet to see a definitive answer to this, but here is my best attempt to answer from what I know and from various sources. 

First off, Smarter Stats (SS) more so than Google Analytics (GA) expects IT people to view the stats for usage, load and traffic. Therefore SS wants to be as inclusive as possible. 

SS is log based, which includes data collected from all Web site visitors vs. GA which is tag based. Products like GA use JavaScript to track Web site visitors and potentially miss a significant percentage of search engine referrals in their metrics. Since not all Web surfers have JavaScript enabled in their Web or mobile browsers, these competing products tend to underreport Web site visitor statistics. Plus, if any pages are missing the GA code, their stats would not be included. So, SS will always report MORE information because GA and similar services don’t see Browsers/Mobile Devices and Spiders that do not support Java Script call backs. 

SS, as mentioned above does include Bots & Spiders. This can represent a huge jump over GA in some cases. You can go the Spider Totals and manually subtract them to help in comparing to GA. 

Also, Log Analyzers are not as good at tracking unique visitors, since they count them by IP address. With dynamic IP addresses, one person could look like 10 different (unique) visitors, or 10 people like the same visitor.

Plus, caching can affect totals. There is no really good way to know how much these issues affect data collection. 

Another issue, the length of idle time before being considered a new visit, can alter results. SS idle time is approximately 20 minutes before being considered a new visit. 

Overall, I think forces work to over-report in SS and under-report in GA. But for those who are more concerned about missing something, SS may ultimately be the more accurate especially with the separate Spider stats available. However, many of our customers prefer the user-friendly aspects of GA.

I often hear it’s difficult to capture email addresses from our clients or potential clients. Honestly this is one of the most important aspects of communicating with your clients so you need to consider different ways to obtain email address not only from your current clients but from potential clients.

By creating a list of customer emails you now can build long term trusted relationships and offer tips, articles, reviews, surveys, polls, new product releases etc.

Here are just a few of ways to start capturing emails!

1. Create a website sign up form.
 Place a sign up form on every page of your website.. a short description will greatly increase your subscription rate. For instance. using “Weekly Marketing Tips and Techniques emailed to you! Subscribe Today” or “ Sign up for Web Only Offers” Collecting just an email address vs. a long form will increase your subscription rate.
2. Provide a Customer Feedback form on your site. Be prepared to get both positive and negative comments. Remember even a negative comment can be turned into a positive experience for your customer.
3. Offer a Coupon or Discount for signing up for Web Only Specials.
4. Sign up for Articles or White Papers. Many of our clients have expertise that could be shared with others, we recommend asking clients and potential clients to sign up to download white papers or articles of interest in your specific industry. Becoming a resource for your clients will also have them coming back to your site for additional information and updated content is always a good thing for Search Engines.
5. Just Ask. If you are having a phone or face to face conversation with someone, just ask them for their email address or business card.

The sign up forms on your website should include an auto responder for signing up. The sooner a customer gets a response the more credible you become. You should also ask if they would like to receive future offers, articles etc to ensure that they would like ongoing communication from you. This will start your opt in list and you are on your way to establishing a successful online marketing email campaign.

To gain a broader knowledge of how email marketing can help grow your business follow the link below.
http://www.ag-is.com/Marketing/EmailMarketing/tabid/63/Default.aspx

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) have been getting a lot of attention and are making there way into many businesses marketing plans. This is because the Internet has changed the way we find and compare products and services. Both SEO and PPC are vehicles to get your business searched when a consumer is ready to buy your product or service. The question is which one should you choose to spend your marketing dollars on to get the best return?

Pay Per Click Advertising (Paid Search)

Pay Per Click advertising is typically located at the top and on the right hand side of the page in the sponsored links area (highlighted in green). With PPC advertising, you potentially get thousands of impressions (Brand Awareness) for free and only pay when someone clicks on your ad. The goal is to have your ad show up for keyword phrases people search for that will convert into sales and avoid paying for the keyword phrases that do not bring quality traffic. Pay Per Click has many advantages that can help improve your marketing efforts.

PPC Pros

• Affordable – You control your budget to fit your sales goals.
• Instant Results – Get top placement virtually at once for many keyword phrases.
• Level the Competition – Target your competition by displaying your ad when people search for your competition.
• Flexible – Target many keywords and people from different geographical regions.
• Track Results – Online advertising allows you to track your success and identify keyword phrases that people are searching for.

PPC Cons

• Saturation – Your ad appears randomly through out the day based on your budget.
• Short Term – Paying for clicks over a long period of time can get expensive.
• Less Relative Results – Ads may not be what a customer is looking for. (if not properly administrated)

Search Engine Optimization (Organic Search)

Search Engine Optimization is referred to as organic or relative search and is located in the left hand side of the page (highlighted in blue). The job of a search engine like Google is to find you the most relative website for the keyword phrase you are searching for. The goal of SEO is to make sure your website is found when people search keyword phrases related to your business product or service. SEO is an ongoing process and more of a long term investment, but the benefits are worth the wait.

SEO Pros

• Qualified Leads –  Bring customers to your site who are looking for the specific products /services you provide.
• 24/7 Marketing – Your company can be found via the web day or night, 365 days a year!
• Awareness – Gain market awareness for your business products or services.
• Credibility – Achieve credibility by showing up in organic search opposed to showing up in paid search which is associated with advertising.
• Long Term Results – Once your website has been properly search engine optimized, your company should continue to enjoy higher placement in the rankings long-term.

SEO Cons

• Long Term Investment – Requires patience to see longer term results.
• Complicated Process – Should be handled by a professional.
• No Guarantee – Can’t guarantee exact results (like first position for a keyword)
• Limited Keywords – Limited number of keyword that are optimized unlike PPC where keywords are endless.

SEO or PPC which one should you choose to spend your marketing dollars on to get the best return? My recommendation is to use a strategic combination of both PPC and SEO. Using the short term advantages of PPC is a good way to identify keyword phrases that produce quality leads and conversion. These keyword phrases can be implemented into SEO for more long term results without the long term expense of PPC. No matter which option you choose, if done correctly both are sure to improve your website’s performance and your business in general.

Brian Weit
AG Information Systems

A Web site’s design makes that all-important, first impression on its visitors. This look and feel, along with ease-of-use and fresh content, are major factors in generating repeat visits to your Web site. All site designs, whether new or a redesign, should start with these important criteria in mind.

Things To Consider When Building/Redesigning Pages:

• Compress images and minimize use of flashy multimedia for faster-loading pages.
• Organize site with clean navigation; minimize clicking so as to not “lose” users.
• Build site for browser compatibility.
• Use legible fonts on simple backgrounds.
• Balance use of images and whitespace.
• Avoid broken links.

Other Development Considerations

Sometimes a site requires the use of other functionality such as a content management system or integrated database. RIA’s (Rich Internet Applications) and Rich Media (i.e. animation, sound, or video) can also help your site be successful in presenting information. Although initial uses of rich media were mostly created as “Flash Intros”, and no longer rank as desirable, it can fulfill divergent business needs when utilized properly. Some examples of when to utilize Rich Media include:

• Demonstrations & Presentations
• Embedded Video & Web Movies
• Presentations & Trade Shows (CD/DVD)
• Streaming Audio & Video
• eLearning and Training Applications