Internet Marketing Tricks For Your Blog For 2010 and 2011

Author: Brennan Deitsch

Date: December 16, 2010

Isn’t the idea of Pay Per Click campaigns great? All you have to do is develop a keyword list and ads that are relevant. Additionally, advertisers only have to pay when their ads are clicked on. Sounds fantastical, doesn’t it? If you have invested your time and money into Pay Per Click programs such as Google Adwords, you will understand me when I say that PPC management is not always profitable. Sometimes there is too much competition for certain keywords and companies can not afford to place high bids to achieve high rankings. The easy solution is to only focus on long tail and niche keywords. However, what do you do if that approach is still not enough?

Manipulate Your Visitors Into Creating New Keywords

Manipulate your consumers into developing a keyword list for you! You do this by creating a blog and writing unique and fresh content and include words that you might not find in all the various keyword tools found on the internet. Manipulating others should be easy for all of us as we have been practicing the craft of manipulation since we were able to speak. If you have kids, you know what I am talking about. One final note on behalf of this digression; kids are excellent manipulators! I think I made my point!

Commonly, when internet marketing experts write blogs and content for SEO purposes, they commonly use keyword tools. They research keywords and transfer those keywords into the content of their blog. It can be extremely difficult and costly to compete for those keywords organically and in Pay Per Click campaigns. Instead of inserting those keywords right into your blog, think of other variations of the keyword. Often readers will use your blog to educate themselves and they may even use the same keyword variations from your blog on a search engine to find your website. If you do not believe me, that is ok. Here is an example from some of my work as an Online Marketing Manager.

I was hired by the Vietnam Veterans of America to head their internet marketing strategies to help them raise more funds with their car donation program. One of the first strategies I implemented was keyword research. After researching the competition, I developed a keyword list that looked something like this.

Donate car
Donate your car
Car donations
Donate car to charity
Vehicle donations
Donate my car
Car donation tax deduction

(My beginning keyword list had at least 1,000 keywords). While this keyword list is a good start, all of the competition is already investing their SEO strategies and money on those keywords. The fact is that those keywords are too costly and are too broad.

This is where you have to think outside the box. What specific product or message is your website selling? Referring to my example again, all the car donation proceeds benefit homeless veterans. With that in mind, the keyword list will require you to brainstorm for new keywords and throw away those so called “keyword tools”.

This is how my new keyword list looked:

Donate your car for veterans
Veteran car donation
Donate car Vietnam veterans
Car donation homeless veterans
Donate car Vietnam veterans of America
Donating car to veterans charity
Vehicle donations for veterans
Donate car Vietnam veterans
Donating cars veterans
Donate my car Vietnam vet
Donate car for homeless vets
Car donation tax deduction veterans
Donate car veterans Michigan
Car donations disabled veterans
Donate car to disabled veterans
Give car to veterans

Hopefully you get the idea. I used the generic keyword “donate car” and “car donations” and made them into more specific keywords. When I first started working for the Vietnam Veterans of America, the keyword “veteran car donation” received an average of 10 searches per month.

After two months of using those new long tail keywords in my blog at helpourveterans.wordpress.com, I noticed that the amount of searches including donate car for veterans tripled. I discovered this trend using Google Analytics. Analytics showed me the actual keywords users were typing.

I focused on writing content that included many different variations of car donations and veterans. This also makes the blog sound less promotional. I sometimes would even write blogs that never mentioned the target keyword of car donations. The most successful blog does not always promote a product or service, but it should stir up the emotions of the readers. Regardless, after potential donors left my blog, they used my blog as a reference and used keywords that the competition was completely missing.

What This Keyword Targeting Strategy Means To You:

This strategy is perfect for new businesses or any business that fits into a niche market. This SEO technique will make it easier to achieve top ranking organically and it will lower your costs per click. (CPC) Here is another example to help you understand:

Estimated CPC for the keyword “donate car”: $5.00-$10.00
Versus
“Car donation for veterans”: $1.50-$2.00

This is because there is less competition for the keyword car donation for veterans. Using niche keywords such as car donation for veterans will not bring you as much traffic, but it will allow you to operate at a budget you can afford. It was especially critical for the nonprofit charity. In addition, the more targeted a keyword is, the higher the conversion rate! After I made those adjustments, the conversion rate jumped to 10-20%. The conversion rate for the generic keywords was no higher than 4%! Job well done!

I was then hired by other car donation organizations to run their campaigns as well because of the great results I achieved. I did this by thinking outside the box and allowing the general public to establish hot new keywords for me! Many reputable bloggers already do this, but they may not even realize it.

My advice is to write blogs in a non-promotional manner and stir up the emotions of your visitors! Stop relying on keyword tools to develop keyword lists and generate your own! Start your own blog and keep an open mind when writing the blog. Make sure you track your progress using analytics. When you start to see a trend in new keywords, add them to your website and use them in you Pay Per Click programs. If your competition isn’t using those keywords, you can achieve top ranking organically easily!

Unpaid Advertisement:

-Brennan Deitsch

Toledo, Ohio

Ping Website

SEO Company Toledo| Web Site Optimization Tricks| SEO Expert Michigan

Question of the day:

Are SEO experts destroying the internet as we know it?

Brennan: “Like a dog chewing on its own tail!”

The invention of the internet has changed our life! We can do anything online now. We can shop, research, write journals, pay bills and even bid on online brides. It even opened the doors for new jobs. Such as Internet Marketers, Search Engine Optimizers (SEO), Digital Marketing Specialist, Pay Per Click Managers, Blog and article writing and Social Media Management.

SEO started out as an innocent and useful art that increased the ranking for many websites across the globe. First, the keys to find success for top rankings was to optimize the HTML code on the sites. Then the art of building links was realized. However, those were in the days that Dogpile and Lycos were cool.

Individuals studied SEO and were able to charge $400 for ten hours of work. That comes out to $40 an hour. Not too bad. In 2001, SEO experts began to write books on SEO strategies. People like me would read the book thinking they knew everything. But what they failed to realize is that there is no definite strategy to get top ranking on search engines such as Google. Every business and website architecture is unique and will deliver different results. Plus search engines own the advertising space your website link appears on. Why would powerhouses like Google allow you to get top rankings easily?

Many SEO companies failed to deliver the top ranking results they had promised and panicked. This is where blackhat SEO was born. Inexperienced internet marketing managers then decided to build links anywhere and everywhere. The anonymity of the internet allowed users to join forums and add keyword rich signatures even if the forum was not relevant to their site. They would not add one piece of useful and relevant information to the discussion. They would just promote their site.

For example, there could be a forum that is dedicated to showing support for cancer patients. This individual joins the forum and writes a message like this “Buy Nike Shoes” with a link to their site. This is called SPAM! Imagine this situation going on everywhere on the internet. Finally, the search engine giants such as Google and Yahoo put their foot down in a big way.

They were forced to introduce intricate algorithms that detected spam like this. Google made it even more difficult to achieve top ranking on their search engine for the targeted keywords. Now website content was viewed as the king.

However, the large amounts of spam also forced blog owners and forum moderators to stop allowing hypertext links to be detected by web crawlers. This is a simple code written that is called “nofollow“. This was to reduce the amount of spam on the internet. With nofollow tags on blogs or forums, the links are almost worthless to the link building process. This made spammers hesitate to promote their website because it was a waste of time.

I have discovered many websites and forums as an internet marketing manager. I would venture to say 60% of them have been forced to Nofollow links due to spam. This has reduced the impact SEO has on search engine ranking. The importance of a link is now based solely on its source, relevancy and keyword. Just like those annoying telemarketers that continue to call you, Spamming the internet ruins the experience of everyone involved.

The bottom line is this. There is no hidden secret to SEO. There also is no SEO company that can guarantee 100 links a day and top ranking. Internet marketing is extremely competitive. You have to find a niche market and establish a good reputation. To achieve top ranking, you also have to establish a loyal following. You do this by getting involved with the online community by writing unique content on blogs and social media platforms.

Remember this line: “link building should come naturally, not forced”.

By this I mean, users should share your link because they found it useful and want to spread the word about your product or service. It should not be a way to manipulate Google into giving your website top ranking. I guarantee you that if you try to manipulate Google, you will eventually get caught and you will get the famous Blackhat. What good would it be if your website is nowhere to be found on the internet?

My suggestion is to play nice! Take an ethical approach with your internet marketing strategy. If the internet continues to be filled with spam, link building will become obsolete. Learn how to optimize your website content and architecture first. Then use the social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Myspace to build awareness. Would it be prudent to risk your job or career? I certainly hope not. Save the internet and save some jobs!

What is Internet Marketing? What does an Online Marketing Manager do?

Many ask me what I do for a living. I tell them that I manage online marketing campaigns for companies in Ohio and Michigan. I then get a blank stare and the only response I get is “huh?”. Well I am here to tell you what I do in more detail.

Internet Marketing is getting more involved and complex as internet technology advances. When the internet first began to be popular with the public many years ago, no college institution offered internet marketing classes. Mainly because not many people shopped online. However, especially in the last five years, millions of people choose to purchase items on the internet. The internet allows people to research on products in more detail than ever before and buy items in their pajamas at any time of the day. Naturally, internet marketing companies began to see the internet as a great return on investment. The truth is, they were absolutely right.

I will quickly share my career path to becoming an experienced internet marketing manager. First, I earned a degree in Electronic business (E-Business). This Associate’s degree gave me the knowledge to develop web sites using HTML, XHTML and CSS. I also learned about different types of marketing such as business, international and of course; internet marketing.

To understand web design and internet marketing even further, I received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo focusing on Computer Hardware and Software. I learned the basic programming of computers and this helped me understand what powered computer technology.

After graduating I began to expand my online marketing skills by learning Pay Per Click Management. I learned the tricks of managing Google Adwords. Google Adwords is the small ads that appear on the top and right hand side of the Google Search Engine (See picture below). I setup Adwords campaigns and write the ads. It may seem simple to you. But it can be quite involved. I also optimize the content on web sites to increase the exposure on the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. This is an art in itself. This craft is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Included with SEO is called link building. Link building is the delicate process of adding links to your site on other blogs, articles, forums and web sites. Each link is seen as a vote that your website is useful and should rank high on the search engines. However, this is not as simple as it sounds, it is a big part of the internet marketing process. To put it in perspective, Google rates websites on over 200 factors. I have realized that I have to know what I am doing or I will be wasting my time and my clients time.

The social media world has added another spectrum to internet marketing. I am sure all of you have a Facebook, Myspace or LinkedIn page right? Well these social networking sites offer businesses great opportunities to market their business for free. I manage Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and LinkedIn pages as well. It allows me to meet new people and hear what they have to say.

Think of internet marketing in the same way you would think of a marketer from 1970. The goal is simple. Build awareness and focus on the target market. The fundamental principles are the same. However, there is less face to face interaction and there is some technical knowledge required. A successful internet marketing individual requires one to be a detailed, analytical and creative thinker. The internet allows all of us to communicate with anyone in the world. It is your job to persuade them to believe in you!

Questions or comments? Feel free to leave a comment!

Social Media Strategist| Social Networking| Community Manager Ohio

Do you have a feeling that the Internet and various social media platforms is leaving your company behind? If you are not tracking the relationships you have with the online community, you are missing some great opportunities to address customer complaints and improve your companies image across the entire world.

In the previous decades when cell phones weighed ten pounds and the internet was just a twinkle in our eyes, there was a deeper connection between customer service and the almighty customer. For service or repair of a microwave, you called the company and actually got to speak with a human being! Sounds great right? Well, even though you were able to speak to a human being who speaks English, you had to play the “on hold” game. So you could be on hold for an hour trying to figure out why you can’t fry ice cream in the microwave.

However, today many things are done electronically. Help lines are voice activated and companies will prefer to respond via email. I call this relationship of the consumer to internet as the e-relationship. The main drawback with an e-relationship is the loss of communicating emotions with companies to voice their opinion.

In the old days, if you had a bone to pick with a company, you could call them or even mail them. Most employees would ignore calls from irate customers. But some complaints would be heard. These complaints can be used to improve the product or service.

The internet allows anyone from anywhere to say just about anything. They can even speak their mind anonymously. Many consumers jump at the chance to review products or services. Especially, if the customer is ready to spill their emotions.

Let’s use Amazon.com as an example. Look at any product on their site and you will notice the many reviews toward the bottom of the page. Customers can rate products 1-5 stars and leave a brief comment. Sometimes, reviewers leave some pretty interesting comments. Unfortunately, there could be hundred’s of sites like Amazon that have the same type of review system.

A good community manager will use software or their own methods to find any review like this. They will do their best to find the individual and contact them. The idea is to find out why the customer is not satisfied. All successful businesses make mistakes. But a longstanding business must attempt to learn from their mistakes Speaking with unhappy customers is a sure way to improve a product or service.

The internet can even cause “multiple personalities syndrome”. Even the most reserved, timid and well mannered individual will use the internet as a medium to voice their displeasure. If you do not believe me, consult other websites that allow product reviews. Even use Facebook as an example. People feel inclined to write what’s on their mind, regardless of what it means to anyone else. If a customer with a reserved demeanor has a bad experience at a restaurant, they will use the anonymity of the internet to voice their displeasure. This situation brings up another point to why monitoring the online community is so important.

Hiring a community manager is a good idea to help build a loyal list of customers. The most rewarding customers sincerely appreciate companies that reach out to them to help resolve problems. So even if the customer has one bad experience. Due to the company’s diligence to resolve their complaint, they will return to your business again!

People will use the internet as a method to research products. So it is important that a company manages reviews. Positive reviews are great. But negative reviews signal a missed opportunity and an area for additional revenue. All companies with an online presence should acknowledge this idea.

The internet is open to the entire world. Unless 100% of your customers are satisfied with your product or service, you have some work to do! If you do have a 100% satisfaction rate, you deserve an e-high-five. (Electronic high five) Perhaps it would just be easier to “Like” your Facebook page.