Two posts ago we discussed the positive and negative aspects of Google AdWords (again, not to be confused with Google AdSense, noobs). In today’s post we will be discussing the pros and cons of Yahoo! Search Marketing (which may or may not be swallowed up and integrated by Bing, it remains to be seen). There are less of them than Google AdWords…I honestly have a lot less to say on the subject.

Yahoo! Search Marketing is Yahoo!’s PPC advertising network that was started after Yahoo! acquired Overture. (I’ll get into history stuff at another point in time. If I don’t focus I’ll never finish the post.) For the record, YSM came before Google AdWords, which was the subject of much litigation. It has, however, fallen behind Google’s market share in the world of online advertising.  Which, interestingly, leads us straight into a strong pro of Yahoo! Search Marketing:

· Yahoo! may generate less monthly searches than Google, but Yahoo! still retains a decent, somewhat existent percentage of the market share. (This is shifting dramatically with the Bing-Yahoo! deal…more about that another time.) Such being the case, Cost Per Click (CPCs) are significantly lower than CPCs on Google AdWords. And you still get a lot of views.

· This particular viewpoint also has a huge con – and I mean colossal. Since Yahoo! and Bing made a deal, Yahoo! has been getting less and less of the search market share.  The question is what is the value of advertising on a page that no one sees.  It may go up again, but searches on Yahoo! are definitely in a downward trend right now.

My recommendation?  Stay away from Yahoo! right now…No one seems to know quite what this Bing/Yahoo! deal means or what it will affect.  You may want to wait to see when (and if) Yahoo!’s market share picks up again.

Anyways…

Google is constantly innovating new ways to improve the relevance of their search results. The newest kid on the block is real time results in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Real time results are comprised of “the latest thing” out there – be it a tweet, news report, or blog post. I am still not one hundred percent certain as to how it works, but as far as I can tell any search query that suddenly increases in volume will produce real time results.

As excited as Google is about this shift, as an SEO, I am honestly not sure how I feel about this move. It will certainly affect short-term SEO by moving certain results down on the page, so fewer long-term results will be above the fold, which is problematic, because that is prime real estate.

And here’s a question, Google: after having worked for weeks – nay, months! – on a website ensuring that it is relevant for specific keywords, and knowing that it offers valuable information to Google users who are entering search queries for said specific keywords, how is it that some random jerk on Twitter is ranking higher than me? For two to three seconds, maybe, but nevertheless. So much for an honest day’s work.

Anyway, having finished that rant, back to SEO…So clearly, these real time results will have some repercussions on SEO. The short term consequences are obvious – relevant search results will be pushed down temporarily, and perhaps there will be a slight dip in search engine traffic. A very slight dip. We are not all that interested in short term, however; we are interested in what ultimately will affect the bottom line – namely, revenue. The long term affects of real time results are a concern.

However, having said that, I do not believe that the SEO of a quality website will be affected negatively by real time search results in the long term. Maybe I’m just being optimistic, but an increase in the number of searches for a keyword means that the percentage of the increase will be clicking on the real time results, because clearly buzz was created around that keyword. The remaining searches – the “normal” percentage of daily searches – will still be searching for steadier, less viral results.

So at the end of the day, not only will real time search not negatively affect the SEO of the more static search results, it may even have a (very minor and short term) positive effect.

The first step is selecting your PPC advertising network.  There are many options out there.  The most well-known one is Google AdWords.  Yahoo is still ranking up there, but since Bing took over their paid search, no one actually seems to know where Yahoo will be.  I would be wary of them, although they are still one of the bigger players out there.  In addition to Google AdWords, the other two top-tier PPC networks are Microsoft adCenter and Yahoo Ambassador (again, pending governmental approval, who knows how long that will last).  I would also recommend taking a look at the following five smaller PPC ad networks:

·    AdBrite
·    LookSmart
·    Bidvertiser
·    Miva
·    JumpFly

Please note that these are all targeted toward the US; if you want something for the UK, Australian, or general European market this post may not be for you.

In my next several posts, I will focus on-and-off on the positives and negatives of each network.  Let’s start with Google AdWords.

Pros of AdWords:

·    You will be seen on the search engine results pages (SERPs) for Google search queries – it’s a great way to maximize your exposure.  This definitely increases your chances for visibility in a very competitive world.

·    AdWords has awesome tracking – like most-to-all of Google’s products.  (I am a HUGE Analytics junkie.  I could never understand why you would want to pay for an Analytics program when you have Google Analytics at your fingertips for free.)

·    It’s fast – you can be set up in, say, five minutes.

Cons of AdWords:

·    Clicks generated?
o    Using Google AdWords is a double-edged sword.  Yes, you want your ads to be visible in the search engines, considering how many users visit the search engine results pages for a given keyword.  However, most people do NOT look at the advertisements at the top/right-hand side of the page simply because they know that the results located in those areas ARE advertisements.  (Which is the point of SEO – it’s organic, thus people click on those results, believing them to be the most naturally relevant for their search queries.)

·    Amount of training time
o    It takes a while to become an expert in AdWords – and a tidy sum of money.  You will fail in the beginning, simply because you don’t know what you’re doing.  You can read all of the AdWords tutorials that are available back-to-front.  It won’t matter.  Until you actually get out there in the field (so to speak), you are NOT an AdWords expert.  It will be a costly experience.
Next up:  Yahoo!  (Or Microsoft?  Only time will tell…)

To recap, in my last post we discussed the following methods that can contribute toward actualizing your potential to make money online:

·    Gurus - get one!  Or several…
·    Targeted traffic (as opposed to just plain ol’ numbers that don’t mean very much)

In today’s post I would like to focus more on the latter point - targeted traffic.  Laid out on paper it seems almost too obvious.  The why is self-evident; the how is less so.

Now I admit, I am slightly biased on this point, being an SEO.  I fully believe that the best method of achieving targeted traffic is via SEO, mainly because it means users had to type in targeted keywords to arrive at your website.  It’s the difference between cold-calling and returning phone calls of already interested parties.  Making sure your website ranks in the search engines for relevant keywords that drive a large amount of search queries can factor in tremendously toward driving targeted, “convertable” traffic to your site.

There are, of course, other methods as well.  They key to driving targeted traffic is being visible in the right areas.  The following are free strategies that you can use to be seen in helpful locales:

·    Craigslist
o    Craigslist not only has a HUGE quantity of visitors, it also has a section for virtually everything.  Do you have an ecommerce site?  Advertise in the “For Sale” section.  Real estate agents can post in the “Housing” section.  It’s less applicable for websites offering services; however, it doesn’t hurt to post in the “Services” section either.
·    Link baiting
o    Write something controversial, something that will get people talking, and submit it to all the major bookmarking sites out there.  Stumbleupon, Digg, Reddit, etc.  Disclaimer: This is not a strategy for the feeble-hearted.  Many companies prefer not to go this route because they’re afraid of the backlash.  Sissies.
·      Blogs
o    High-traffic blogs in your niche can drive traffic to your site if you post non-spammy comments.  Make sure that you’re saying something intelligent and worth reading.  And then follow it with a link.

If anyone has any other free strategies for acquiring organic targeted traffic, feel free to add them in the comments section.  (Maybe with a link ;D)

Internet marketers - PPC specialists, SEO experts, email marketers - are the new technical writers.  Suddenly there is an onslaught of experts in the internet world.  And it ain’t pretty.  All of these hopefuls, assuming that they will be the next dot com millionaires…when the dot com bubble bust happened almost ten years ago.  What percentage of the thousands and thousands of “internet marketers” do you think actually make it and see significant results?  Maybe five percent?

Aside from the sheer numbers against which you are pitting yourself should you decide to try the online-money-making thing, you must also remember that there is no “make money online” handbook.  It simply doesn’t exist.  Not even in individual chapters.  When I started out with SEO, it was purely trial and error.  I was fortunate to be working for a company that paid me to try and to err - but not everyone is.  For me, it was sheer dumb luck that I got into the business and got to meet people who actually knew what they were talking about.

Having said that, there are ways to succeed.  It’s not easy, and it’s made all the more difficult by unreasonable expectations that it is, in fact, a simple way to garner funds.  But if you’re up for it, go for it, I say.

Firstly, get yourself a guru.  Or more than one.  Find one of those precious, rare success stories and latch on.  Tightly.  You want someone who’s been involved in the internet biz for years.  And years.  These are less difficult to come across than you would expect; for example, Bruce Clay has been around for a solid thirteen years, and their blog writers are always happy to answer questions.  Internet marketers are surprisingly willing to share their expertise, and lots of it.  Take advantage.

Secondly, realize this: traffic to your site DOES NOT equal funds. It is no longer a viable working model.  It’s all about the conversions, and for conversions you need quality versus quantity.  In other words, targeted traffic is the key.  Less is definitely more in this particular instance.  Conversions - and returning visitors.  I would strongly recommend setting up “Goals” on Google Analytics.  It will give you an excellent idea of where you’re going wrong on your site structure.

It’s not an easy road to traverse; however, making money online IS possible.  Get ready for a ride.