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Welcome to the Engine Ready’s blog! Our blog will give us a unique opportunity to share news, views and updates from the SEO and PPC world.

Posted on March 26, 2008

Custom Write 100’s of Google Ads in a Flash!

Problem: A PPC account needs to be built ASAP and activated. Method: You build your account in Excel or the AdWords editor as opposed to the AdWords Interface. Difficulty: You have many ad

By Mike Poserina
Posted on February 27, 2008

Excluded? Negative? It’s All Good.

Google calls them “€œnegative”€ keywords. Yahoo prefers to use the word “excluded”. I call them “€œfantastic”. As an SEM manager, it is very frustrating to see click charges for keywords that are

By Mike Poserina
Posted on January 30, 2008

Getting to Know Your Online Neighbors

It was quite an honor being selected to attend the Microsoft AdCenter adChamps 2008 conference in Seattle earlier this month. Although a mandatory NDA was required, there are certain topics which I

By Mike Poserina
Posted on January 22, 2008

Basic Landing Page Practices for Pay-Per-Click Campaigns: Lead Generation

So you are getting visitors to click on those alluring 75 characters that make up your pay-per-click ad. The obvious good news is that your site is gaining traction, but the bad news is that you are shoving out advertising dollars on traffic, not guaranteed leads. Yes, more traffic most likely results in more leads, but there are ways to get the same amount of leads, if not more, by modifying your landing page. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could convert traffic into leads without spending the extra advertising dollars? Thus paying less and receiving more? Let’s go back to the basics:

Con-ti-nu-i-ty [kon-tn-oo-i-tee]

the state or quality of being continuous.
a continuous or connected whole.
Is the landing page congruent with the ad creatives? You may get plenty of visitors with an ad reading “Signup today to win a tropical cruise”, but your bounce rate will be through the roof if your landing page has images of Alaskan vacations. Your text ads should be designed to not only attract visitors, but also deter unqualified traffic. Always make sure that your text advertisements are congruent with the text and images on the page the visitor lands on. There is no use in wasting clicks on visitors looking for a service you don’t provide. The whole principal just goes back to what you learn in Business 101: Deliver your promise.

Va-lid-i-ty [vuh-lid-i-tee]

the state or quality of being valid: to question the validity of the argument.
With millions and millions of websites asking for personal information, savvy internet users have become cynical. There is always the looming thought of identity theft, calls from telemarketers, and credit card fraud to name just a few. Make your site look professional. At the very least, test for broken links and images. In my opinion, seals from VeriSign and HackerSafe can only boost your legitimacy points with consumers. Even a “we will not sell your information to a third party” claim next to your lead form will put your visitors at ease. Gaining that trust factor is imperative in converting traffic. If your visitor thinks you are a scam, they will just click the back button and continue on their search.

Sim-plic-i-ty [sim-plis-i-tee]

the state, quality, or an instance of being simple.
freedom from complexity, intricacy, or division into parts: an organism of great simplicity.
Let’s face it, filling out forms is tedious. Whether it’s an application for a potential job opportunity, a new patient file at the doctor’s office, or even a sweepstakes submission, one word comes to mind: Boring. Yes, ask for the very necessary, but please deny the inclination to ask for five telephone numbers, three email addresses and a pet’s name. Questions used for marketing research can be asked on the Thank You page, after you have received the essential information.

Func-tion-al-i-ty [fuhngk-shuh-nal-i-tee]

of or pertaining to a function or functions.
capable of operating or functioning.
having or serving a utilitarian purpose; capable of serving the purpose for which it was designed.
Why would you pay for someone to visit your website if they can’t complete an action? Whether it’s stripping away navigation or increasing the font size on the submit button, make sure visitors can complete the form with ease. Test the appearance as well as technical applications in each browser. There is nothing worse than having someone who wants to give you business, yet they can’t figure out how to give it to you.

Va-ri-e-ty [vuh-rahy-i-tee]

the state of being varied or diversified.
difference; discrepancy.
a number of different types of things, esp. ones in the same general category.
You have designed a purposeful and aesthetically pleasing landing page. Leads are coming in and conversion rates are “up to par”. Now what? Test. The best place to start is with an A/B split test. Change one element of your current landing page and split the traffic between the original and the new design. Gather data and analyze. Once you have a winner, test another design against it. You will never know the level of conversion rates possible unless you test.

By Mike Poserina
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