1. Mobile Device Bidding

Upon upgrading your Adwords account you’ll be given the option of specifying a percentage greater or lesser bid price for searches on mobile devices. Think through the implication and make a choice that fits with your business. To exclude mobile devices altogether you can decrease your mobile bids by 100%.

2. Ad Extensions – Telephone Numbers

Telephone numbers will no longer be allowed within Adwords copy. Instead advertisers can use extensions to add a phone number. Personally I think it’s smart to add phone numbers to most all ads. The more copy that’s there the more an ad potentially is differentiated from another.

3. Ad Extensions – Sitelinks

Sitelinks are another good option for most advertisers under the rationale mentioned above. If there are particularly important pages within your site that deserve special attention then direct links to them can be made available in your Adwords ad via sitelinks. “Get a Quote” might be an appropriate sitelink for businesses that have a dedicated page for requesting a quote for services, for example. For more ideas in your industry take a look at what other advertisers are doing with sitelinks. Like with everything else, be prepared to test variations and modify sitelink settings based on results.

There are several other different types of ad extensions (see above pull down menu). Check out those that might apply to your business.

The question of SEO or PPC has certainly been written about before. Still part of the reason I write blogs is to refine my own thinking on topics, which evolves over time, given the benefit of experience.

Here’s a five point checklist to help webmasters and marketers determine which of these two categories of internet promotion might be the best fit for them, or more realistically in what proportion to emphasize each:

Criteria in Favor of SEO (organic) Internet Promotion

1. You have quality content, either on-the-shelf or have the ability to create it.

To succeed organically websites must be good, preferably great. High value sites have quality content, typically lots of it. Why else would they be valuable but for their content? So if you’re fortunate enough to have a stockpile of off-line content in the waiting, or if not that then the ability to create high quality content, then a fundamental condition for pursuing a successful SEO campaign has been met.

2. A long-term outlook is present.

SEO success typically occurs over an extended period of time. The results and benefits are cumulative, they build over time as sites evolve and grow. So a successful site’s metrics will also improve over time. SEO success doesn’t happen in a day, but if there’s a serious intent to effectively market an organization’s online presence then what happens today and over a series of “todays-to-come” directly contribute to the success.

3. You have a commitment to lead your business category.

For organizations that are intent on leading in their business category, however the category’s defined, SEO is almost certainly a part of the equation. A dominating PPC presence alone is an incomplete achievement by itself (in my opinion). Companies that have a strong organic presence are usually rightly regarded as leaders in their fields.

4. Clear goals and metrics to evaluate success and effectiveness are defined.

Since SEO success occurs over time there should be metrics in place to evaluate your progress. Is success measured in terms of keyword ranking, site engagement, conversion, profitability, or a combination of all of these? SEO metrics have evolved since the early days of SEO. Decide on the metrics that matter to you and monitor them to confirm you’re on the right track, or as an indication that a change of tactics is in order.

5. You’re prepared to pursue a diversity of online promotional activities.

SEO success generally implies a simultaneous pursuit of a variety of online methods and tactics. Local search, social media, in addition to your organization’s website, all contribute to an online presence. Search engines look to numerous signals to determine the importance of a given website. So participation in a variety of complementary online pursuits is now considered an essential part of SEO and the discipline of internet marketing.

Criteria in Favor of Pay-per-Click Internet Promotion

1. You have the skills to set-up and manage a campaign (or can hire it).

Some find the Google AdWords interface to be too complex for casual users. Others can develop at least a basic facility to use it within a relatively short period of time. Experience does matter, and provides some insurance against making costly mistakes. Costly mistakes come both in the form of lost opportunity, as well as higher than necessary advertising costs due to inefficiently managed campaigns.

2. Your promotional goals are mainly immediate.

One of the strongest appeals of PPC campaigns is that results begin almost immediately. A campaign that’s set up and activated today will usually begin displaying ads within a few minutes, or hours at the most. So if it’s an immediate boost that’s needed then PPC might be the ticket.

3. Your campaign is for a specific term or period only.

This advantage is related to the preceding point #2 but adds the need for a definite end to a campaign. PPC allows near immediate activation as well as deactivation. So for promotional campaigns that must coincide with a specific term then a pay-per-click campaign is probably a better choice.

4. The competition on keywords in your business area is low.

Sometimes there are bargains in a pay-per-click campaign if the keywords associated with your business interests are not heavily competed on. This might tend to happen in market segments/niches that don’t traditionally rely on internet marketing. There are fewer of these around than there used to be, but if you’re fortunate enough to be in one then there’s a good case to take advantage of PPC bargains (e.g., cheap clicks) while they last.

5. You want to test market a company, concept or product.

A new business or product concept might benefit by an immediate burst of exposure via a pay-per-click campaign. Campaign preparation can be extensive or as little as creating a landing page. Thus a test marketing campaign via PPC can be fairly low budget. If test campaign implications are favorable then additional investment is easier to justify. And if results are unfavorable then lessons are learned and for usually minimal cost.

Here are 3 ideas to help identify your next blog topic:

1. Read other blogs in your field

This doesn’t mean plagiarizing the work of others. Authors don’t own topics and multiple viewpoints on the same or similar topics are often valuable. So read other blogs within your industry and take note of the topics. Pick out a topic that interests you and provide your view, your unique input on the subject. And if you decide to link to the blog of inspiration, well now no one would object to that.

2. Something notable happened today (or this week) in your professional life

Chances are that something noteworthy took place in your professional life today (or if not today then this week). These blog-worthy occurrences are entirely unique to you and writing about them can make a great blog. For instance thinking back on this week I developed a system of organizing web maintenance tasks that’s allowed me to stay more focused and on task. Writing about it might make a nice blog. I’m also thinking of several client interactions that might be structured as blogs.

3. Close your eyes. Empty your thoughts. Pick the topic that comes into your mind.

Call this the “Zen method.” Sit down in a favorite chair, close your eyes, and clear your thoughts. Clearing your thoughts is often not that easy, but give it a try. Maintain awareness and become an observer of the thoughts that appear in your mind. Pick one that stands out and go with it. That topic might lead to something else, but start there and see what develops.

Website content development doesn’t happen automatically. It’s a continuing process with no permanent end in sight. Making the process part of an organization’s culture is a goal pursued by some companies with an effective online presence.

So who can create the content (and value) that your website requires? Here are a few categories of possible online content contributors:

1) Company Managers

Prospective contributing company managers include everyone from the chief executive through all levesl of management in the organization. Everything has a contribution to make and can find some time (every month) to spend in the creation of website material. The categories of potential content are not covered in this blog, but there is no shortage of topics. The career success of company managers directly correlates with success of their organization. The incentive to write should be apparent. Less senior managers can elevate their visibility within the organization by making contributions to web content.

2) Non-Managerial Employees

Almost every employee within an organization has a story to tell. Encouraging and welcoming contributions might be all the impetus that’s required to tap this source. Employees with a goal of improving their standing within an organization might find that contributing an article or piece to the company blog can increase their visibility and gain favorable attention.

3) Paid Writers

Professional writers have a demonstrated ability to create content. Outside writers might not have the internal or industry specific perspective that an insider usually has, but their knack for writing often makes up for this. Writers may be freelance or in some cases hired into the organization for sole purpose of creating material.

4) SEOs & Internet Marketers

SEOs and internet marketers can be considered a type of paid writer, although their skills and objectives usually take on an added dimension of consciously aligning content with internet marketing objectives. Content creation has become more and more a function of SEOs recently due to the importance of content in achieving promotional objectives. SEOs can also be tapped as “guest authors” who write articles for publication and receive a link to their site of choice as a consideration.

5) Customers/Clients

This category is often overlooked but company clients might appreciate the opportunity to include an informational piece about their business on your blog. Case studies written jointly can serve as good publicity for the site owner’s organization and the client as well. Some clients may be better suited for this type of contribution than others, but it may be worth reviewing your client list and discussing the concept with a few select clients as a test.

Inbound Marketing (currently 2.6 million exact matches in Google)

Pros: According to Wikipedia, inbound marketing is “based on the concept of earning the attention of prospects,making yourself easy to be found and drawing customers to your website by producing content customers value. Blogs, podcasts, video, eBooks, enewsletters, whitepapers, SEO, social media marketing, and other forms of content marketing are considered inbound marketing.”

Cons: I like how the term is defined, although without having a definition in front of me its meaning wouldn’t necessarily be that clear. Inbound might imply passive to some, although there’s a very active effort required to earn the inbound attention.

Internet Marketing (currently 99 million exact matches in Google)

Pros: This phrase has been adopted by many internet marketers already, especially those seeking to position themselves as somehow evolved from the practices formerly and collectively known mainly as SEO. It’s an apt enough phrase, although marketing is a multifaceted discipline that not all internet specialists touch on fully (or are even aware of).

Cons: Internet marketing firms who emphasize this term might not be associated with the most widely recognized term SEO. To address this companies sometimes mention “SEO and Internet Marketing” in association.

SEO / Search Engine Optimization (currently 833 million exact matches in Google on “SEO”; 80 million exact matches in Google on “search engine optimization”)

Pros: The term search engine optimization and SEO acronym are well established. Even non internet professionals generally know these terms.

Cons: The term is limiting in that search is exclusively emphasized (by name) and rankings have traditionally been the focus of SEO. While these are still important aspects of an internet presence, there is more to “optimization” than search and/or ranking alone.

Worse there is a connotation for some of SEO meaning manipulative or somehow being a “snake oil” like service. That’s unfortunate but it does exist.

SEO techniques come and go. Too often many of them fall into the category of “chasing the algorithm,” or call for an investment of time that does not build value in a website over the long term.

As internet marketers and website owners there’s a lot we cannot control. We cannot control nor fully anticipate what Google or Bing will do going forward.

Still there’s much we can control. In fact as webmasters and internet marketers we’re the only ones who control absolutely the sites we have responsibility for. We can conform with SEO best practices. We can make sites better. We can push everything up and forward. That we can do … and that’s a lot.

So as 2013 approaches the question to consider is will we be investing resources that make our sites better and more valuable, or diminished in the new year? This is the time to consider the question. In a few short weeks we’ll all be doing one or the other.

For example someone notices that tweak A in their website produces a positive effect in search engine rankings. Based on that observed (or theorized) result, tweak A is then replicated throughout their site to exploit the desired effect. Such a practice would clearly be chasing the algorithm in my view since the modification’s effect may be obsolete in a week (or a month, or a year). More telling is that it does nothing substantively to build on user experience or the intrinsic value of a website. Post modification obsolescence there’s little or nothing to show for the investment of time. Even worse, the practice might even adversely affect the website, and a reversal of the effort is then needed.

Content marketing, or otherwise improving the value of a website through its design, functionality, or some other aspect, stands to add value to a site and as such is the antithesis of chasing the algorithm. Making a site better in some way, whether it’s immediately rewarded by search engines or not, will rarely if ever harm a site and will more often than not contribute to a site’s improved performance over time.

So the next time a change in your website is being considered, ask yourself the questions necessary to determine its category. Is what’s being considered chasing the algorithm or is it making your site better? Then decide whether to pursue it, and if you pursue it what priority the activity is given.

1) Doing nothing is typically not an effective internet marketing strategy.

2) Doing something, and then nothing, is not ideal either.

3) Doing something on an ongoing basis is usually the best approach.

Any questions?

1. You’ve stopped posting blogs. Or (almost as bad) blog composition coincides mainly with season changes.
2. In the face of Google algorithm updates like Panda and Penguin, which took their dismaying toll on many sites, you throw up your hands (even if not literally) and exclaim “what’s the use.”
3. You’ve actually put pen to paper in an attempt to mathematically make the case that SEO is a poor investment of resources (time and money basically). This is perhaps one of the more serious symptoms that left untreated can actually lead to lifelong underperformance for your organization’s website. In some cases it can even be fatal (not personally hopefully, but quite possibly for your business).

Here’s what I suggest. First give yourself a little pep talk. Go immediately to the nearest mirror and look yourself straight in the eyes, and with your best Stuart Smalley attitude declare “I am a worthy human being, and my website can reflect this too.” Then with your self esteem bursting at an all time high, go to work.

Spend an hour today writing about a topic relevant to your field. The result might be good material for a blog, or a new addition to your website as a landing page, or at the very least it might help to refine your articulation of your business in some way, leading to more insights. Writing has a way of forcing clarity.

There are also ways to recover from past injurious Google algorithm updates. Setbacks needn’t be permanent. Read the SEO blogs, get tips from experts, of course you can hire professional expertise. The probability of significant improvement by doing nothing is extremely small. An inactive website isn’t a cure for anything, or a viable online strategy.

SEO is a long term investment to be sure … and a continuing one. The process of optimizing an internet presence is never complete to the extent that further improvements aren’t possible. There is an undisputed correlation between the health of an organization’s online presence and its overall economic strength. If this truth is recognized then the case for investing in internet marketing is as compelling as it gets, and will become an essential priority.

1) For one thing the interests of search engines and ethical webmasters have never been more closely aligned. Search engines want to reward the best websites (it’s essential to their business models), and dedicated webmasters want to produce them. Some may disagree with this statement, although I’ve not seen any evidence to convince me that this is not true.

2) Search engines (Google in particular) are better than ever in detecting spammers and penalizing them. Webmasters needn’t participate in black/gray hat techniques to stay competitive. Gaming the system is not a true SEO skill, and it’s hard to believe that those who participate in such activities take much long-term satisfaction in pursuing them.

3) Many websites that may have traditionally ranked high on keywords in your industry have obtained those positions through applying techniques that are now obsolete, or even counterproductive. This means that those site owners haven’t acquired the long term skills to remain competitive going forward. If you have the skills, then that’s a sustainable advantage for your site(s) in the future.

There are no short cuts to online success but for site owners and webmasters who are willing to put in the hard work, in accordance with modern SEO guidelines, success is within reach. Inform yourself (or hire someone who is informed). And keep going.