Sponsored Listings for Young Websites

So you've developed a small website for your business, product or service and you've done the basic optimization or had it done for you, but you're not ranking yet. How do you get quality traffic to your site while your optimizing and waiting to get those initial SERP rankings.

Try a sponsored listing campaign, otherwise known as pay-per-click, on Google or Yahoo!. Personally and professionally, I prefer Google as Yahoo! seems to be sliding into oblivion daily. Maybe Microsoft can bail them out.

Google is the number one search engine for a reason, they provide more to their customers and also try to make the Internet an easier place for us all to navigate by providing the best and most logical search engine results. This being said, their AdWords platform for sponsored search is really comprehensive and easy for a novice to set up and understand with a little coaching.

There are many resources online that will help someone to set up their first AdWords campaign. Check out a few of these below:

https://adwords.google.com/select/Login - Google will give you a lot of info prior to setting up your campaign

https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=tips.html - Google's AdWords tips center.

http://www.sitepoint.com/article/adwords-select-parts-1-4 - A good article over at SitePoint.

http://www.isitebuild.com/mastering-google-adwords.htm - Not too bad for general info.

Once you feel comfortable continuing with the setup process, sign up for a Google account and then sign into an AdWords account. Set up the basics by following the steps Google supplies.

When you are ready to go, the major elements of importance for your first campaign are as follows:

1. Start slowly, which means into not more than a few terms to start to get familiar with the whole procedure and to make sure you aren't spending more than you can afford.

2. Make sure you have chosen the best keywords to attempt to get clicks for.

3. Make sure your creative is top-notch and will grab the searchers more than your competition.

4. Make sure you set your per click bid no higher than what you can afford.

5. Add additional ads for the keywords to test which one is performing best.

6. Monitor and monitor closely to make sure everything is running smoothly and make changes as necessary.

A well setup sponsored listing program can generate instant quality leads for your business, and it can also break the bank if it is not taken seriously. Set one up today and take it slowly and you should see prospects popping onto the site before you know it.

Good luck.

Blogging Clinic in April

Starting on April 8, Bisson Barcelona will be offering hands-on instructional clinics for creating a blog and RSS feed.

Ben Adams online promotion and search marketing expert and owner of Spiral Media, will be teaching these clinics. Participants will leave with a completed blog and RSS feed!

Each clinic will run from 6:30pm - 8:30pm and will be held in the computer lab, room 253 at Barrington Middle School, 20 Haley Drive, Barrington, NH. Each clinic islimited to 24 participants.

Act fast! Because we expect this to be a guaranteed sell out with a waiting list, we are offering you an incentive as a way of saying Thank You!

Sign up for one clinic and receive $25 off, sign up for two clinics and receive $40 off. In addition, if you sign up a friend, they will receive the same discount. This is a savings of over $500 from having a professional set up your blog and RSS feed for you. Attendees who register for two or more clinics will receive a 512 mg USB 2.0 Flashdrive that will include additional information and resources for understanding blog promotion (a $50 value).

**Participation in a blog and RSS feed clinic is essential if you plan to attend the How to Make Money with Your Blog<http://www.bissonbarcelona.com/clinics/may08-blogging.htm> clinic in May.**

For more information, click here…><http://www.bissonbarcelona.com/clinics/april08-blogging.htm>

For questions, or to register and receive your discount, call 603 664-5776 or respond to this email.

Hope to see you in April!

Search Engine Marketing Specialties

There are many areas of importance to an up and coming search engine marketer to make yourself more marketable to clients or an agency. We all know that on page search engine optimization is a starting point for many newbies in the industry, but this area is flooded with those who feel that their skills and techniques are far superior. Therefore I feel this is an area to add to your skillset, but not focus your energy on becoming the best. There are many other disciplines within the online marketing and promotion realm that can provide you a better chance of succeeding in this career path.

Below are a few areas of study that would be a huge opportunity for anyone who wants to stand out from the crowd to learn more about.

1. Analytics - Still one of the most important aspects of any web site to justify ad spend or online marketing resource allocation. The backbone of any online campaign and any website that truly knows how to convert customers. Good ones to learn are Site Catalyst from Omniture, Web Side Story's Hitbox, Google Analytics, ClickTracks, or WebTrends.

2. Social Media Marketing - With all the new types of social media sites available and their overwhelming popularity with younger generations this online avenue will continue to grow for marketing experts who want to find new and creative ways to reach this target market for years to come. Some of the sites to check out are MySpace, FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc.

3. Widgets & RSS Feeds - This on demand technology brings content to the user and is constantly evolving in scope and popularity. Imagine the possibilities if you have the ability to develop a widget that a business can use to help bring content to their user base and to their desktops. Integrating these widgets with the RSS technology strengthens both the delivery method and the ease of use.

4. Blogs - Obviously well known for their marketing and promotion abilities, these personal journals are and online masterpiece of technology allowing everyone to create a space for themselves online for little or no cost.

5. Microsites - These small version websites are chalk full of dynamic content and work well to deliver a special piece of the online marketing and exposure puzzle for many larger companies that utilize the technology and marketing ability of them daily. There is a lot to learn for up and comers to help sites maximize their online presence using these microsites.

6. Social Tagging - One of the most fascinating new online technologies is social tagging. Sites like Digg and Del.icio.us allow the Internet to be compiled into one location that is different for all of us and yet allows each individual to share within the community setting. Brilliant, and a geat marketing weapon for your own content.

7. Of course there are many more...Community forums, CMS sites, peer-to-peer sharing, photo capture sites, online affiliate program development, e-mail campaigns, sponsored campaign management, etc.

Strengthen your knowledge in any of these areas, and reap the rewards as the online scene continues to take over how companies market their products and services to an ever changing world and a rapdily evolving and technologically savvy consumer base.