The fact that spending on online advertising increased last year when most other forms of media saw declines in investment underlines the fact that the web is "firmly established as an accountable channel" for marketers, according to one analyst.
Karin von Abrams of research firm eMarketer said that the main attraction of internet marketing services is their potential to generate an "excellent return on investment".
"If anything, the recession and the potential for further economic uncertainty make an even stronger case for the online option," she added.
Her comments follow the publication of figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IABE), which showed that spending on search engine marketing jumped by 10.8 per cent during 2009.
The organisation said this was down to companies looking for a better return on investment by using direct response ads instead of brand advertising channels, such as display.
Overall, the IABE said Europe’s paid search market was worth €6.73 billion (£5.47 billion) last year.
To read more from the IABE’s survey, click here.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
In order to reap maximum benefit from your organic and paid search results (and your budget), you need to understand how your audience works. Getting into the mindset of a customer will help you to write ads and copy that have the desired result.
If you understand what makes you react first, it will give you a sense of the triggers that work in advertising. Many of us don’t evaluate why an advert has been successful in convincing us to buy, and therefore are even less sure about what will make someone else react.
However, many people fail to recognise that what might make them respond to an advert may not be the same as A.N.Other person. Do not write ads just because they hit your buttons unless you honestly believe you are a typical customer of your own products and services. And even if you are, there will still be non-typical customers to attract as well!
You need to research and test to find the ads or words that will cause your potential customers to respond to your call to action. It is always worth asking your existing customer base, your staff, and even friends and family which words or phrases would make them click on a PPC ad or a call to action on a landing page. Which offer is most attractive? Which is most important when making a purchase decision – is it price, location, free shipping, ease of purchase, after-sales support? Or will your potential customers want someone to talk to first before making a decision?
You will find that a variety of different ads or content pages will bring in better results than just a single type of advert, and Pay Per Click Marketing gives you an ideal opportunity to test, often for a minimal budget if you are targeting long tail keywords rather than the most common and hence competitive keywords.
Think of one thing that is on your personal wishlist, search for it in the search engines and then evaluate why YOU chose the ads or listings that you did to click on. What appeals to you? This type of research can help to inspire your own marketing efforts, and can lead to a better understanding of the psychology of advertising.
The Yahoo! Marketing Blog has highlighted how important it is for companies using pay per click services to write effective advertisements.
In a ‘best of’ post, the search engine advised companies to put themselves in the position of their customers and consider what their needs are.
Once these have been established, professionals can set about composing their ads.
Yahoo! explained that people do not have to be writers to create an effective campaign, they simply have to concentrate on what makes them stand out from the crowd.
"So focus on what makes you different from your competitors. What’s your secret weapon, your special sauce, your unique angle?" the company asked.
This could be a product or the level of service provided and according to Yahoo!, this extra effort could result in a good return on investment.
In a previous ‘best of’ post, the search engine’s communications manager for advertiser solutions Kastle Waserman advised many of the mistakes that may affect pay per click campaigns can be fixed with ease.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Google is launching a new set of training sessions that may help schools to take advantage of its search engine optimisation apps.
The brand explains that educational establishments in Colorado and Iowa are joining those in Oregon that have already signed up to its Google Apps for Education.
These are now available to more than 3,000 schools in the states and will enable them to save money as well as make use of centralised resources.
Brent Siegrist, director of Iowa Area Education Agencies Services, said: "As a former teacher, I can see how these tools will engage students, make the classroom a more vibrant place and allow teachers to work together more collaboratively."
Some of the Google Apps that will now be available in classrooms include Gmail, Docs, Sites, Groups, Calendar and Video.
Earlier this month, Google announced the full rollout of its click-to-call feature for mobile search ads and apps.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – specialists in Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing.
Businesses hoping to make the most of their pay per click services and other online marketing techniques have been offered some advice by one expert.
Writing for Search Engine Watch, Nathan Linnell said social media outlets are the perfect way for brands to communicate with their consumers.
In order to do this successfully, he explained they must focus on audience engagement, even if their ultimate goals are sales, sign-up and increased customer satisfaction.
It is also essential for companies to understand their audience and to do this, Mr Linnell recommended they keep a close eye on metrics such as the number of blog comments people post, how much interaction there is on Facebook and the number of retweets people make.
Meanwhile, the Yahoo! Marketing Blog recently advised that businesses must achieve scope with their keywords if they hope to engage customers and maximise their potential.
To do this, they should address both broad and niche keywords, the search engine noted.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Google has detailed changes to the way in which internet marketing firms in China may be able to use its services.
Writing on its official blog, the company explains how officials in the country have prevented certain information from being released, even though Google is determined not to censor data.
To combat this problem, users are currently being redirected from Google.cn to the site in Hong Kong – Google.com.hk – although authorities are still not satisfied.
Google states it is "clear from conversations we have had with Chinese government officials that they find the redirect unacceptable" and its Internet Content Provider licence may not be renewed.
However, a new redirect has now been introduced that takes consumers to a landing page on the Chinese site which links to Google.com.hk, allowing the brand to provide information without filtering.
This is not the only change Google has been making recently, as it also announced it is altering its AdWords Report Centre so documents are now available in Campaigns tabs.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
One of the many questions that is asked frequently concerns hyphens in domain names. So, for instance would the search engines view your site more favourably if you use www.checkoutmycoolwebsite.com or www.check-out-my-cool-website.com?
The search engines have become fairly canny about recognising keywords in domain names now after all, it is by judging whether a site is relevant that they gain reputation points and make money, and domain names are included in the search engines’ algorithms. So, in a way the question bears far less importance now than it did a few years ago. However, the reality is that domain names are now so cheap that it is difficult not to justify buying several to cover all bases.
Firstly, it prevents anyone else buying them and your potential customers landing on the wrong website. And secondly, you never know when the search engines are going to change how they operate!
A more important question than asking yourself whether the search engines think a domain name with hyphens in is a good idea is to ask yourself whether your potential website visitors will? Imagine trying to tell someone your website address over the phone will the addition of hyphens make it more difficult to capture your address correctly than if it is just simple words?
Another point to make is that it is always worth buying domain names which reflect certain areas of your business or your product set. For instance, your ecommerce shop may have different categories e.g. domestic appliances, garden equipment etc so why not buy yourbrandgardenmachines.co.uk as well as yourbranddomesticappliances.co.uk? You can then point these at the category within your shop of the product set your potential customer is most likely to be interested in. This means that domain then acts as a targeted landing zone and can be tied in to PPC campaigns or specific search engine marketing strategies, giving you easily measurable statistics for those activities.
Companies hoping to make the most of search engine optimisation techniques during the World Cup may be interested to hear the latest results from Google.
According to the company, the goal let in by England keeper Rob Green in his team’s game against the US meant the term ‘striker’ became one of the most searched-for positions.
In comparison, unexpected results and surprising wins sent many people flocking to their computers, Google continued on its official blog, with Switzerland’s win against Spain proving to be one of the most popular.
Similarly, New Zealand’s match against Italy was a searched-for game.
Apart form the matches themselves, Google reported that many people investigated the tournament’s official song Waka Waka, which is performed by Shakira, while searches for ‘vuvuzela’ reached a peak on June 15th.
The World Cup final will take place on July 11th, although England will definitely not be playing as they lost 4-1 to Germany on Sunday (June 27th).
News brought to you by ClickThrough – specialists in Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing.
Businesses using internet marketing services may soon be able to take advantage of an improved Google Search by Voice function wherever they are in the world.
The search engine has revealed how it is gradually rolling out the feature across a variety of different languages.
After initially launching the tool in English in the UK, US, India, Australia and New Zealand, it was then introduced in Japanese and Mandarin.
Now, Google has extended its offering even further and it is available in French, Italian, German and Spanish.
Because local dialects are likely to affect the performance of the speech recognition technology, these languages have so far only been introduced in their native countries.
The latest languages to be included in Search by Voice are Korean and Traditional Mandarin.
Last week, the brand announced it is to integrate PDF formats into its Chrome internet browser, which IT director at eDigitalResearch Shane Wright described as being part of Google’s plan to make life easier for users.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
Companies looking to improve their SEO services may want to consider how they can use news articles to their advantage.
This is because, according to Bing, more and more people say they are logging on to search engines to find out all the latest headlines.
A total of 60 per cent claimed such sites are their "most important" way of reading the news.
As a result, Bing has introduced some changes that may make the experience even more enjoyable and beneficial to users.
Local results pages have been improved so people are now able to set their location and be greeted with headlines from their area, as well as weather forecasts.
Articles are now indexed at a greater speed, Bing continued on its Community blog, while improvements have also been made to news query intent.
Last week, Bing noted that it has also increased its focus on entertainment as part of its summer update.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a provider of SEO Services & Pay Per Click strategies.
