CEO Keywordspy | Internet Marketer
Archive for October, 2010
Fusion of Microsoft and Yahoo Sales
Oct 29th
The search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo is finally nearing completion. Microsoft announced that the company’s Advertising adCenter now powers both Bing and Yahoo search results, allowing advertisers to reach almost a third of Internet traffic on the combined platform.
The deal is the next step in the 10-year Microsoft Bing and Yahoo search merger, which was announced in July 2009. Under the plan, Microsoft’s Bing search engine will power Yahoo Search and its ad sales. Microsoft will get 12 percent of revenue from Yahoo searches. In August, the two companies announced that Bing was now powering Yahoo Search.
“This will provide advertisers with the benefit of a combined marketplace through a single platform, creating a competitive alternative in search,” said David Pann, general manager of the Microsoft Advertising Search Network. “Rather than managing campaigns on Bing and Yahoo! separately, advertisers can now reach the combined audience of both search engines by managing a single account, saving time and simplifying campaign management.”
Peter Zmijewski is the founder and CEO of KeywordSpy.com . You can find more information about him at PeterZmijewski.com
Google Pages to get New Precedence in Search Results
Oct 29th
Google rolled out the new look SERP’s which places much more importance on a business Place Page listing. Google has been playing with these changes for the past July month along with leaders in the local search space. There has been a excellent overview of these new results pages done by Greg Stirling over at Search Engine Land.
I don’t think it’s wicked or even intended but it’s real. It will keep even the mighty Google from making the money and having the impact that it truly could have for the vast majority of businesses in the US. If Google would just talk in plain English and stop thinking that just because some engineers used their logic to explain a process ‘clearly’ that everyone will get it, we will all be better off.
The reality is that most don’t get it because they are business people and not engineers. In fact, most people don’t use Google like Google thinks. I would love to know what their predictions are of how many people will actually find and click on the Places link on the left side of their homepage in order to get more Place Page info.
Peter Zmijewski is the founder and CEO of KeywordSpy.com . You can find more information about him at PeterZmijewski.com
On-page Optimization
Oct 28th
For on-page optimization process we can include Name of the URL, Structure of the page, Pictures, Header and Footer Optimization, Every link goes to its own content,Three columns of content or large quick links…
For more details please click here-
http://peterzmijewski.com/landing-page-optimization-to-complement-good-seo/
Landing Page Optimization to Complement Good SEO
Oct 26th
It pays a lot to have an effective landing page when it comes to your SEO and PPC strategy. Directing traffic to your page would be one thing, but maintaining it would be another. That is why, as an SEO or SEM, you would want to ensure that you have a strong landing page to complement your traffic generating efforts. Consider these elements in order to make your landing page count:
Name of the URL:
The name of the URL should be relevant to the topic of your page. An irrelevant name may just cause a major shakeup for the page, causing it to lose some focus, and may affect its indexing by the search engine.
For example, you have a page dedicated to the best motorcycles of 2010. So the URL of your page, in order to be optimized, should go like this: http://…/best-motorcycles-of-2010.htm . Undoubtedly straight to the point, search engines won’t think twice about awarding your page a quality ranking.
Structure of the page:
The main purpose of the structure is to make it somehow revolve around the keyword you aim to rank for. This would encompass everything, from the text to the pictures to the design. Even the meta codes would play a part in this make-up. To put it shortly, the page should be built around the topic.
Pictures:
One can do this by increasing the use of alt tags. This is used in the 
. Including this code in the embedding of pictures enriches the HTML of a site; and by plugging in a keyword in the whole code, it would enhance the site’s chances of being indexed.
If you have a website that sells baby clothes, you may consider putting the following alt tag in your photos: . The appearance of “baby clothes” and other possible variants of it in the alt tags are sure to be picked up by search engines and can help in improving your rankings.
Header and Footer Optimization:
These are the first and last things people will notice when they’re on the site. So make sure that you work on them with web design, and inclusion of meta tags. Take into consideration how they factor into the site from those sections.
The most important points should go into these sections. If you have keywords to rank for organically, the main ones should occupy prominent places in these parts.
Every link goes to its own content:
Now that you’ve organized every link according to subject, the links should go to the content that describes them most ideally. Each topic in your site will be subdivided into subtopics, and the subtopics should also be in tune with the link it is assigned to.
If you are selling formal wear, certain links should just go to those referring to suits, others to ties, others to pants and so on. Of course they have to be interrelatedly linked but only at the general level as compared to their individual linking which should be dealt with specifically.
Three columns of content or large quick links:
Organizing content in such a way that it would be huddled up in a group in a page may be the key for you to rank high in searches. The more tightly knit in columns a topic or subtopic is put in, the better it is for it to be indexed and to land in the higher tier of searches.
Keyword tools for landing page relations:
Some keyword tools, apart from giving the ads and organic keywords, also give the landing pages that are linked. The landing page-keyword link strategies other keyword tools employ will also help you implement a similar strategy for your own page. KeywordSpy for example, discloses more specific information per ad copy with the Information (i) and KW buttons. These describe not only keywords pertaining to an ad, but also the landing page for an ad. Checking out how the page would appear in another browser window will show the make-up of the ad, and it will be your discretion if these are effective enough or not.
While linking to your page to get traffic is a challenge overcome by constant practice, encouraging people to stay on the site and turn their visits to their conversions require even greater practice on one’s part. This will seal the deal between you and the customer, so give it the value due it with your efforts.
Peter Zmijewski is the founder and CEO of KeywordSpy.com . You can find more information about him at PeterZmijewski.com .
Help Tips for Non-English PPC and SEO
Oct 26th
In doing PPC and SEO, you would eventually want to explore new territory. And this would include employing other languages. But even in the age of Google Translate, mere translation does not guarantee success in selling your goods to other nationalities, lest you risk being swallowed alive by other companies who have better language departments. That is why it is important that you know the following tips so that your search marketing efforts do not get “lost in translation”.
Carefully consider the language
The closer you translate the better your chances of selling. So don’t just rely on a translate tool to do the dirty work for you. Make an effort to create selling text, as if you wanted to sincerely sell to your non-English speaking audience. How about the language of telenovelas for the Spanish set? Crazy as it may sound, it may actually work.
In addition, look up potential foreign websites in a keyword research tool and look for the keywords they use. You will stumble upon native keywords and phrases that will be an accurate reflection of the website’s market, and you could use these too to enrich the foreign iterations of your site.
Get expert translating without compromising spending
Mere translation won’t cut it. You would need to make sure your landing page would also effectively convert. Know expressions, pitch techniques and other stuff that get other nationalities interested. Sometimes the frank American approach won’t work with Italian sensationalism, so that is something to consider.
This doesn’t stop with the ads you place on Google Adwords. You must also pay attention to the language used in the whole page, as this will be the clincher part for your application.
At the same time, also explore the keywords that will cater to those in that particular region. You can be most definite that the terms in use here will be different from the ones used to sell in English, so make good on your international keyword research. Know, once and for all, what terms will entice them to buy.
Link to other local pages
Since you’re now catering to a different country, you might as well link to other countries using pages which are related to the products that you are promoting. If your site will be selling biking gear to Brazil, you may consider hooking up with forums and blogs in the country to promote your site. Offer them a special promotional section, if need be. Be sure also to check their PageRank, as their popularity will make or break your efforts to be known. Not only are you noticed, you get to endear yourself even to the common citizen with your efforts.
Create internal links
While we do promote language targeting, it also helps to interrelate languages even if they are not really that similar. This would also work effectively in places like Canada, where two languages are in primary use. Francophones there would still prefer to see text in their language even with the exposure to English; in the same manner, not all Quebec residents are instant French speakers. So do your homework and link your site as strongly as you can to hit two foreign-speaking birds with one stone.
Use keyword research tools to get actual foreign market information
Of course, you wouldn’t know the actual domains and keywords being used unless you research the foreign markets you are targeting. Thankfully, there are keyword research tools that can help you get that information. One such powerful tool is KeywordSpy which covers over 30 countries.
Through the Research module, you can just switch the dropdown bar on the top right whenever you do a search on the domain or keyword. For a search on the domain, you will see the ad copies for countries including non-English speaking countries such as Greece, Mexico, France, Spain and a whole lot more!
For example, in a domain search, you can get, for every country database, their Ads, PPC Keywords, Organic Keywords, as well as their Competitors and the Sub-domains they use. You can swipe the information from this to create a comprehensive strategy of improving SEO and PPC of your site in the countries they operate in. And yes, the database would include even foreign words (provided they are written using Roman characters- ABCDE, etc). So, even if you’re not from their country, they will be surprised at how effective you are in challenging them in their own turf—and in their own tongue!
Here’s an example: When you do a search for the domain CampingshopWagner.com- a camping related business in Germany, you see this ad copy:
CampingShop Wagner
Wohnmobil & Reisemobil Zubehör zu
Discount Preisen. Jetzt Sparen!
Going over this ad copy alone, you can now see the foreign copy. By running over this a translator program, you will see what these terms translate to:
campingshopwagner
Camper & Motorhome Accessories
Discount prices. Save Now!
CampingshopWagner.de
You can then use the foreign terms such as “Wohnmobil” and “Reisemobil, either in an ad copy, or for a keyword bid for your final ad copy, or even as natural keywords for SEO.
In the PPC Keywords tab, you then encounter the foreign keyword “camping zubehör”. You notice that it has an ROI of 150, and that the bar next to it is fully shaded green and cost .47 euros. This is a potentially good keyword to utilize, and again it would be up to you to either use it in an ad copy, or use it as a PPC or organic keyword.
Likewise, you can do a country specific search for a keyword, and unlock other keyword data that you could use for that country. A keyword search will give you Similar and Related keyword category data, and in here you can spot foreign keywords. For example, a search for flower in France can potentially give you a related keyword of “fleur” in either the Similar or related tab.
In addition, the ads for that keyword are also displayed in the Ads category. Just like in a domain search, from there you can see the ad copies used in a certain country and use them also in either in ad creation, keyword bidding or natural keyword inclusion.
On the other hand, through the Tracking module, you can see the performance in real time of the ad copies, and PPC and organic keywords in over 30 countries. You employ a similar way of researching the data from foreign markets as in the Research module; except in this method, you will unlock other keywords you can potentially use, at a faster, more frequently updating basis.
Remember, the world does not revolve around you and your tried and true marketing strategy. Don’t just use a new language; imbibe it and harness it to make you dominate as you penetrate new frontiers in the search engine arena.
Peter Zmijewski is the founder and CEO of KeywordSpy.com . You can find more information about him at PeterZmijewski.com .
Eliminate Unwanted Traffic to Your Website Using Negative Keywords
Oct 26th
There are a lot of things to consider when setting up an advertisement campaign such as keyword research and optimization; but few advertisers consider using negative keywords on their campaign for fear that it might decrease traffic coming in to their website.
Well, this may be true if your only objective is to drive and increase traffic to your website. However, if you want to target qualified traffic and get rid of unwanted ones, then you should start using negative keywords.
Let us first identify what negative keywords are. Negative keyword is a special type of keyword matching option that when added to your campaign or ad group will keep your ad from showing on search queries containing that word. These serves as word filters that eliminate the ads being elicited by the users query.
Let’s say you are trying to sell “iPads”, every time somebody uses this particular keyword, your advertisement will be displayed. For instance, when you use the keyword phrase “case for ipads” your ad will also be displayed since the phrase includes the term “ipads”. To prevent enlarging total impressions with immaterial searches, it is essential to incorporate negative keywords in your ad so that searches like “case for ipads” won’t trigger your advertisement.
Negative keywords will block your ad from showing up if the negative keywords that you have chosen are embraced in the search phrase that Google is using as Google uses search phrase to match ads and contents.
Here are five advantages of using negative keywords in your ad campaigns:
1. Use of negative keyword will result in better ad targeting – By using negative keywords, lesser online users will see your ad as it removes the chances for your ad to show up on keywords that you’re not offering. This way you can control the clicks that you are getting and only receive relevant clicks, thus you will only be paying for relevant traffic.
2. It helps increase the CTR of your ad campaigns – If your ad is better targeted then it follows that searchers will click on your ad since they are genuinely interested in your product or service.
3. Reduced CPC and increased ROI – Negative Keywords will help you filter unwanted traffic from your website. Inclusion of negative keywords on advertising campaigns will cut down the CTR to the targeted ones.
4. Better Google AdWords Quality Score – Since ads are better targeted and less non-relevant viewing of your ads then it follows that you get better ratings in terms of the amount you pay for ads.
5. Better Click to Sales Conversion – Since searchers are receiving pages that they are really interested in the first place, there is a higher possibility that they will purchase a product or service through your website.
The use of negative keywords has better application to PPC Advertisements in improving its performance and at the same time eliminating unwanted traffic, thus advertisers will only be paying for those clicks that are most likely be converted into income.
Now, that you already know the pros and cons of employing negative keywords on your advertisement campaign, it is up to you to use this to your advantage. Always keep in mind that although having negative keywords on your campaign will help you a lot, still, the foundation of any advertisement campaign lies on proper keyword research.
It is always best to employ the use of a keyword research tool like KeywordSpy, which will help you in determining the most profitable keywords used by your competitors. Other things which you may find interesting about KeywordSpy which will greatly help you on your advertising campaign is the fact that it can show you not only your PPC Competitors but also your Organic Competitors, and the profitable keywords used by both, so your competitors will do the hard part of predicting keywords that will attract traffic and all you have to do is to view these keywords through KeywordSpy. Aside from this, KeywordSpy will also show you the related, similar, as well as profitable misspelled keywords applicable to your advertisement campaign.
Moreover, KeywordSpy will not only provide you with tons of competitive and profitable data, it also makes things easier for advertisers to directly export and upload data in Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft AdCenter Desktop with the Advanced PPC Exporter. With this feature, now you can generate your campaigns in less than five minutes.
After doing intensive keyword research with KeywordSpy and with the proper employment of negative keywords, you will not only eliminate unwanted traffic to your website but you can be sure that you are getting high qualified traffic.
Lastly, before going gung-ho on employing negative keywords read these words of caution: In using negative keywords, advertisers should be very careful because the negative keywords that you use are applicable not only to one of your ads but to all the ad groups that you have in your Adword campaign. Thus, it is advised to use only the most relevant negative keywords to your Adwords campaign in order to avoid the total opposite of what you are trying to achieve.
Peter Zmijewski is the founder and CEO of KeywordSpy.com . You can find more information about him at PeterZmijewski.com .
Suggestions to Improve Your Adwords CTR
Oct 26th
When talking about Search Engine Optimization, you always hear the term Click Through Rate or CTR. We have previously discussed what this would do to our ads and how we could improve this factor. In this discussion, I will be introducing some more ways on how to improve CTR. As we all know, CTR is one of the most important factors to consider when wanting to improve your ad position and reducing the cost per click (CPC). Listed below are more ways to improve CTR without going to the very technical aspects of your ad.
1. Trademark Symbol & Registered Symbol
Implementing this on your ad will not only increase PPC CTR because it can also increase your Search Engine Results Pages (SERP CTR). This is done by simply adding the trademark symbol “™” or the registered symbol “®” on your ad so that searchers will know that the product you are offering is legitimate.
2. Price in the Headline
Adding the price of your product in the headline of your ad can actually improve your CTR. Just also be aware that this could decrease it as well. A price which will give customers a good deal will definitely get them interested and will make them click. Take note; however, that your CTR could decrease when your product isn’t the cheapest one in the market since by nature, customers would first check out the cheaper product that offers the same services.
3. Seasonal Headlines
This can also help improve your CTR since most customers would usually purchase something during holidays. You can pick any of the relevant seasonal headlines to add to your ad. It would be an advantage if you target locally as well. You may use some terms such as “Easter Sale”, “Christmas Promotion”, etc.
4. Trademark in Display URL Sub-domain
You may use trademark terms in your display URL. Using these terms will attract potential customers and will give them an idea that your site is an official reseller or affiliate of a certain product. You will need to use this with great caution; however, because Google knows when a searcher hits the back button.
5. The Exact Keyword in the Headline
This is where a good keyword research tool comes in handy. You have to know the exact keywords to use for your ad – keywords that internet users/searchers will most likely use when searching for your product. You won’t even need to use the dynamic keyword insertion method if you know exactly which keywords work best for ad. Here is where KeywordSpy gets into the picture. KeywordSpy is a powerful keyword research tool that allows users to mine the most effective keywords for an ad determinable by the metrics presented in its report. These metrics will help users in choosing the correct keywords in terms of profitability (ROI), position, budget and many more. Using this tool and implementing these methods would definitely raise your ad to the top and of course get rid of unnecessary budget spending.
Now try this out and watch your ad position improve while your budget is being spent well. Visit KeywordSpy’s website, www.keywordspy.com, explore the amazing tool and see which type of subscription would best suit your needs.
Peter Zmijewski is the founder and CEO of KeywordSpy.com . You can find more information about him at PeterZmijewski.com .
Keyword Strategy in Preparation for the Search Alliance of Yahoo and Bing
Oct 26th
The search environment has indeed taken on a new chapter in these past few months. The much anticipated development is the Search Alliance—the historic partnership between Bing and Yahoo—and everyone is hoping to capitalize on it, even with Google’s continued leadership in the field.
While this development is being cooked, here were the events that occurred the search arena these past 2 months: Google has taken a dip sharewise in the past quarter, but it has managed to keep within 62% of the market share in the US alone (dropping 1.1 points from May ). Bing, on the other hand, improved up to 12.7% (.6 points up from its previous position), though this is still far from breaking the dominance of Google. On the other hand, Yahoo also goes up to 18.9% (0.6 points up from its previous position).
In a not-too-distant hindsight event, Bing which was re-launched last year as Microsoft’s “decision” engine, accelerated from 11.6% to 49.4% growth rate for queries by the end of the year. Google, on the other hand, recorded 20.6% growth, while Yahoo dipped by 1.9%. Query wise, Bing had an 8% market share upon launch in May 2009; by December it had almost 11%.
Bing is also said to be taking over the search functions for Yahoo. (An exception would be in Japan, where the local Yahoo franchise contracted Google to run the search system). This would mean a further climb to prominence from Bing, and the minimizing of Yahoo home input into their system. It could also play a factor in Yahoo Search Marketing’s current #2 position among US search networks, and may either trigger a move to Microsoft Ad Center; or a revamp of the system, with Yahoo hardly squandering its current position, but introducing new rules to their system.
Yahoo Search Marketing itself has also put up a transition center for the companies advertising through their search. This page is complete with bullet points, and details that need to be undertaken. It also has put up some Editorial guidelines to also serve as a guide for the transition process.
And if there was still any doubt where the new information for Yahoo will come from, the Bing Search Blog couldn’t have stated it any better:
“For webmasters, it’s important to be familiar with how the Bing crawler interacts with your site. After the full algorithmic transition is complete, you only need to optimize for one crawler (Bing), as we will provide Yahoo! with results from our index.”
In lieu of this movement in the search arena, we can now prepare on how to use the upcoming search merger. Here are the tips on how to partake in the ad keyword chase for the Search Alliance revamp.
Keep researching statistics on Google.
Here’s a useful tip: Google doesn’t have much difference with Bing yet in terms of bidding—although it is slightly up by some points. So, if you have a keyword tool, think twice about getting rid of the research aspect of it, especially the part mentioning the Daily Ad Budget, Clicks per Day, Average Cost per Click and so on. It could still be useful for your transition strategy.
KeywordSpy’s Research module can provide you information on a keyword in the Adwords network, including its Search Volume, Google CPC, and the PPC advertisers using it, among others. But one nifty feature is knowledge of the other keywords remotely connected to it, whether by definition, category or even misspellings.
What’s more, knowing related keywords will give you the terms on which you could build your Tracking campaign later on to cover the other two search engines. Since you would want to monitor the performance of these keywords in real time, you would then include them in your own tracking campaign.
Consider getting keyword tools which cover Bing and Yahoo:
Now, if you already have a Tracking module with KeywordSpy, now’s the best time to make use of it. If not, then better avail of it now. Since it allows you to track keywords over Bing and Yahoo, and in key territories at that, consider this as your edge once you compete with competitors in other engines and get a share of their market there.
To illustrate, we look at the weight loss market. Through KeywordSpy Tracking, we create a campaign using keywords such as: “weight loss, fat loss, lose weight, dieting plans, fast crash diets, no carb diet” among others. Once we have included them in a Tracking campaign over Google, Yahoo and Bing, and run them for at least a day, we get to know other websites using the keywords and get the following raw PPC information from a sample of websites:
1) NutriSystem.com
Google: Keywords -37; Ads – 77; Coverage – 17.91%
Yahoo: Keywords -32; Ads – 237; Coverage – 11.92%
Bing: Keywords -37; Ads – 77; Coverage – 17.91%
2) Shape.com
Google: Keywords -35; Ads – 1504; Coverage – 7.73%
Yahoo: Keywords -39; Ads – 1393; Coverage – 25.27%
Bing: Keywords –N/A; Ads – N/A; Coverage – N/A
3) Smarter.com
Google: Keywords -3; Ads – 619; Coverage – 0.00%
Yahoo: Keywords -42; Ads – 60878; Coverage – 17.91%
Bing: Keywords -17; Ads – 16266; Coverage – 0.00%
*N/A – No information tracked
With information from the Tracking module, you can see which competitors are using more keywords, and for what category. Take for example, Nutrisystem.com. They seem to be running a well-balanced coverage campaign, covering 17.91% of the PPC keyword market in Google, 11.92% for the keywords on Yahoo and 5.83% on Bing. Now, as Bing would be the major beneficiary of the alliance, I would consider taking advantage of the results here for my PPC campaign on Bing. I wouldn’t want to take my stranglehold off of Yahoo, though, being a considerable leader in that field.
If I were Shape.com or Smarter.com, though, I would be a little concerned, since Bing would be the prime mover in the search alliance, and I would have no ads there. Given the tight timetable, I would probably put in ads on Bing as an experiment. Then tracking the keywords over time, I could then gauge their feasibility once I have incorporated them into the Search Alliance network.
Now for Organic data tracked for the keywords, different results will be shown. But aside from the difference in websites, there is also a difference in metrics, with the Ads metric out (This is obviously due to ads not applicable as a measure for Organic data).
Some of the websites admittedly are hardly related to the type of sites we wished to investigate. However, there are mainly related websites, including the one stated below:
Freedieting.com
Google: Keywords -16; Coverage – 12.96%
Yahoo: Keywords – 16; Coverage – 11.26%
Bing: Keywords -24; Coverage – 21.03%
While it has 12.66% coverage of keywords on Google, and 11.26% coverage on Yahoo, it leads in Bing with 21.03% of the coverage. So it looks like the site is up for a good headstart on Bing, in the organic ranking aspect.
Do experiments on creating further Ad Campaigns for Bing and Yahoo:
Whether or not the new Search Alliance will have an ads editor remains to be seen, but you can test the waters with the search networks of the two individual search engines. Testing with Bing would be also advised, given that it will control the search algorithms. If you have campaigns already with Yahoo and Bing, you’re off to a good start, but also consider tweaking the campaigns a bit also if you have room for small risks.
KeywordSpy, as we all know, has the new Advanced PPC Exporter for domain searches, which will enable you to do quick exports to campaigns in either Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing or Microsoft Ad Center formats—complete with auto bid features and match type generators. This will make tweaking more convenient for you by shortening the time needed for you to set up campaigns, and devoting it instead to the analysis of the performance of these campaigns.
A disclaimer, though: The foresights mentioned do not take into account the growth prediction for the Search Alliance as it is. However, with a slow, steady growth, the component search engines of Bing and Yahoo appear to establish themselves as prominent forces. For this Google must also be mindful. And so should you.
Peter Zmijewski is the founder and CEO of KeywordSpy.com . You can find more information about him at PeterZmijewski.com .
