SEO. Display Advertising. AdWords. Keywords. What does it all mean and when is it right for you? The answer is now. The real question is, “At what level?”
The strategy is different from business to business. Retailers must be a player in the digital market place. Gone are the days of relying on brick & mortar alone. But what are you selling and what is the value of a sale? A $10 Cost per Click (CPC) does not make sense if a sale nets you $5. But if you are selling cars – a $50-$100 CPC may be justified. There are so many nuances to marketing online. Search vs Display, Image vs Video, Shopping vs App, etc. How do you know which is right for you?
Also, what is the difference between free (organic) and paid placement? This is big. You CAN get great results with organic placement, but it is time consuming. You need to blog, post, share, get linked, constantly change content, revisit your keywords and plug into analytics. Sounds like a lot? It is. But if properly managed, can be very effective as both a positioning and a branding tool.
Taking the step to paid online advertising can be daunting, but if properly done, may yield great results. If you play well with Google, you WILL get results. Set your budget at an amount which you can afford. Put yourself in the position of the person who is looking for your products or services. What keywords would you use if you were looking for you? Keep it simple. Make your message clear. You can choose to advertise only within your neighborhood. You can advertise only when you are open for business. You can advertise to your target demographic, i.e. women with children ages 25-37. There is very little waste and that makes for extremely targeted advertising.
As someone who manages online campaigns for other businesses, I am usually hired because folks want to run their business and don’t have time to market it. Writing blogs, changing keywords, generating links and developing content takes time, experience and good old-fashioned know-how. And when your business is looking to grow, an outsourced firm such as Solstice Media may be just what the Doctor ordered.
Many other SEO companies out there manage your payments and bill you for your monthly budget. I would caution you against this. This practice allows them to take huge commission percentages and the actual dollars going to your campaign may be significantly less than your budget. Insist of seeing your AdWords reports monthly. Here you can physically add up what your bids totaled and ensure your marketing dollars are being well spent. You can also see the effectiveness of your keywords and adjust accordingly.
At Solstice Media, we charge a flat monthly fee to manage your digital marketing and that fee is based on the depth of services provided. YOU pay Google directly for your campaigns so you know there are no hidden costs. We believe this is the best way to gain maximum results. You get a monthly review with full analytics and suggestions for strategies. Solstice has a stable of incredibly talented individuals waiting to tackle your next project. All Google Certified. Please don’t hesitate to call 610-529-0122 to speak with me about YOUR goals!
Cheers!
-Pete Ricci
