Understanding Pay per Click Advertising (PPC)

October 23, 2006 by · Leave a Comment

What is PPC?
On a search engines results page there are two kinds of listings, organic and sponsored. Sponsored or paid listings are conspicuously (somewhat) identified at the top and or right hand side of the search engine results pages. Organic listings occur naturally, while sponsored or paid listings are bid for by advertisers. Advertisers decide how much they are willing to pay for these ads, and they pay for these ads only when a visitor clicks on the ad, hence the definition – Pay per Click.

Why should you PPC advertise?
If your company is a B2C or takes customer orders online, you probably already are …for the same reason that most B2Cs have substantial traditional (offline) advertising budgets.  You simply can’t afford to be relatively invisible in a medium that at least some of your competitors are almost certainly exploiting.  No surprise, then, that some of the highest keyword bid rates – and some of the most skilled PPC specialists – are found in the B2C or e-commerce arenas.

But B2B companies also have many reasons to advertise with PPC and determine what it can do for them.  Let’s look at some of them… [Read more...]

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, Online Marketing, PPC ·

Yes, your website can generate hot leads…

October 20, 2006 by · Leave a Comment

We tend to think about – and blog about – B2B web lead generation as exclusively a long-haul proposition:  receive initial landing-page hit, capture email address, nurture via e-newsletter for 6-12+ months … then finally ring up the sale.  While that’s certainly the most frequent case – and hence our e-marketing surely has to provide for it – it’s far from the only case.

In fact, website leads can arrive in any temperature range, including the absolute hottest.  A prospect may have already done their preliminary research anonymously, and now be in heavy product/company-comparison mode.  Or they may have already short-listed your company based on a referral, and are ready to entertain sales presentations leading to a decision in 3-6 weeks.  Or – as with one case we heard of recently – the prospect’s need was so critical that only 3 weeks elapsed from an initial website hit to sale! [Read more...]

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, Traffic Generation ·

Converting Web Visitors… to "Something"

October 19, 2006 by · Leave a Comment

Let’s say you’ve got your search-engine marketing and even your offline programs revved up and working to attract visitors to your site.  Now what?  

Well, the answer to that is conversion.  Not in the religious sense, of getting them to change their entire philosophy of life, the universe and everything;  but more in the chemistry sense, of moving them from some State A to a State B that is “better” for both of you. [Read more...]

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, Conversion Metrics ·

Balancing Website Objectives

October 19, 2006 by · Leave a Comment

In designing – or rebuilding – your company’s web site, it’s vital to take the time to think about what your site’s visitors are likely to want from it, and what you want from them.  Those two are rarely quite the same, so finding a proper balance between them is key to your site’s success.  

Your web site’s visitors are likely to be seeking…

Entertainment:  Generally, this is important for B2C sites such as Disney.com or MTV.com;  it’s not typically a goal for B2B site visitors. [Read more...]

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy, Engagement, Web Design ·

B2B Blog Announcement

October 10, 2006 by · Leave a Comment

Welcome to eMagine’s blog on B2B Web Strategy…the blog for everyone who needs to keep up with all aspects of Web Strategy and Web Marketing.

The B2B Web Strategy blog (www.b2bwebstrategy.com)  will post business-useful, thought-leadership information in at least the following categories:

  • Driving Traffic
  • Engaging Visitors
    - Web Design
  • Converting
  • Measurement/Metrics
    - Web Analytic Strategy
  • Internet Marketing
    - Email
    - PPC
    - Search Engine Marketing
    - SEO

Our intent is to post new material typically on a weekly basis, so it’s probably worth setting a calendar reminder to check it out on a consistent day of your work week.  Frequent contributors will include the following highly experienced managers and staff of eMagine (a leading web design and marketing firm):

Bill Gadless – President
Bob Meese – Marketing Consultant
Matt Roche – Search Engine Marketing Manager
Brandy Wood – Search Engine Marketing Consultant

…and we intend to post items contributed by external industry experts as well.

Here are just a few of the topics you can expect to see treated in the near future:

Integrated Marketing to Drive Web Traffic
To Register or Not To Register
Understanding Pay Per Click Advertising
Driving Traffic by All (online & offline) Means
Balancing Objectives (company v. user)
Marketing your New or Redesigned Website
Converting Site Visitors (to Something…)
Blogging Benefits & Fears
Web Site Architecture
Who should use PPC?
Understanding SEO
Site Targeting with Banner Ads (PPC)
Web Development & SEM Working Together

We hope you will visit frequently (www.b2bwebstrategy.com)  …and be sure to post your responses to the material when the spirit moves you.  Being a blog, it will only be as good as total-community participation helps make it.

Filed Under: B2B Web Strategy ·