21
09
2009
Over the past year Google has been displaying their local Google Maps results in the search results. This tactic has brought more relevancy to the searcher trying to find a local pizza store, and even more opportunities to advertisers.
A typical Yellow Pages full page ad will cost upwards of $40,000 / year +, given the industry and competition. But who uses that 2.5 lb outdated book anymore?! Recycling plants are having a huge influx of new Yellow Pages / Canpages books whenever there is a new book delivery for one simple reason, it's not being used. Why find the book in the front hall closet, when in you can search Google in seconds, or even use the Local Business search on your iPhone using the GPS locator?
Gone are the days where naming your company AAA Auto Dealers was a competitive advantage, because no one is looking in the alphabetical yellow book anymore. Being at the top of Google for local searches (eg / auto dealers in Tornoto)is the new AAA marketing tactic that only a few companies are noticing.
Our company has quickly moved small companies / SMB to the top of Google Local map results within weeks, resulting in an overwhelming increase of website traffic and lead generation.
Are you at the top yet? Give us a shout, we'll pull you up!
29
01
2009
Companies now have the difficult task of obtaining new clients, coming out with new services and getting better results; with less money then last year. During hard economic times, quarterly losses because of lack of new customers cannot be tolerated. As credit is becoming scarce, companies need to market faster, better and produce better results than before.
Below are a list of advertising mediums that any company may choose to implement to bring their product or service to market. But accompaning these mediums are average timelines in which it takes to get into the hands of consumers.
TV Advertisement: 4 Months
Radio Advertisement: 2 Months
Direct Mail: 3 Weeks
Newspaper Ad: 1.5 Weeks
Online Ad (Facebook, Google): 1 Day
Secondly, we need to also consider response lag. This considers the average time it takes for a prospect to see an advertisement and respond to it. Using traditional mediums (TV, Direct Mail etc), this can take anywhere from hours to weeks before a customer finally responds. Using Online Ads however, the response is usually withing 30-60 seconds.
Does your business have time to 'get to market slowly'?
31
12
2008
Search Engine Marketing is being influenced by the recession, in a good way.
The 'economic meltdown' of Q4 2008 has lead a lot of companies to slash away employees, new ventures, and of course, marketing budgets. Already, traditional advertising methods (TV, Radio, Mail etc.) are seeing a decline in purchases overall and starting to feel the pain. But what does this mean for SEM?
There are a lot of predicitions that we will see Search Engine Marketing continue to increase as companies are cancelling old methods and needing to replace them with new ones. Marketers will face the daunting challenge of performing better than 2008 with less money and time for execution. This situation lends itself perfectly to SEM which can be implemented over a few weeks.
eMarketer.com has already posted their predictions for SEM in 2009, which attributes the growth to Video advertisements and the movement from TV waters to Video searchers. Take a look at their 5 year prediction:
Search Engine Marketing Toronto - 2009
17
11
2008
Meta tag manipulation, text dumps and hijacked links are now a thing of the past (thankfully). Crafty web designers no longer have the power to take a simple search phrase (Ex: Horseback riding, texas) and bring you to a website selling their poorly made T-Shirts.
Over the years, search engines have been getting better at understanding searching from the users point of view, then making sure that businesses have their act together to give people relevant results.
With the power of updating content, landing pages, web 2.0 websites and friendly navigation, the internet has finally killed the Traditional SEO era. Now users are rarely going beyond the first page on search engines and actually finding what they wanted, as opposed to what web designers wanted.
The companies that are reaping the benefits from such advancements are ones that take SEO seriously and understand that a new breed of Marketing Management is needed for online advertising / searching. Search Engines have led the way into a much nicer world for the average user looking to ride a horse.
Happy searching.
