Remember those blinking neon banners that used to appear at the top of almost every website? What about the spammy emails from adult sites and Nigerian princes? Here’s a migraine-inducing reminder:
Those days are (mostly) over, and digital marketing has gotten past the awkward teen years. Now, there are more advertising platforms and tactics than you could count in a day. But which are the most effective? The answer really depends on your industry, your audience and your business goals.
What’s the Difference Between SEO and PPC?
The jargon of the Internet marketingThis broad term includes everything from content marketing to display ads, PPC (pay per click) ads, social media marketing, directory listing work and online reputation management. industry is an alphabet soup of acronyms, and it can all be quite confusing. Here’s a quick rundown of the two most-used ones, plus a few bonus acronyms for the road.
- PPC: Pay per clickPay-per-click ads incur charges whenever users click on them, and their cost is determined during a bidding process. In Google Adwords, for example, these ads show up when users search for relevant keyword phrases., used for small ads on search results pages and news feeds. Advertisers bid on these, which display based on pre-identified keyword search phrases. Each time a user clicks one of the ads, the advertiser is charged based on the competitive bid amounts. These ads show up starting on the first page of results and are marked as Ads.
- SEO: Search engine optimization, used for techniques that boost your site in the search engine rankings without paying the search engines. Results from SEO are known as organic traffic, and tactics include web design, content marketingThis is the technique of getting more customers by way of providing high-quality information on your site and on social media. It has grown in popularity among both site owners and users in recent years., linkbuilding and behind-the-scenes coding.
- CTR: Click through rateExpressed as a percentage, this number compares the ratio of user clicks to the number of times they saw your ad or your site in search results., used as a metric for PPC ads. A higher CTR means your ads are working better in terms of getting users to your site. These numbers won’t tell you much about true ROI, however.
- CRO: Conversion rate optimization, an SEO tactic that focuses on using your website to get customers to buy products, call your company for services or enter email addresses. This is the lead generation side of the CTR coin, because it measures what people do when they are on your site.
- SEM: Search engine marketing, which includes both SEO and PPC. Many firms, including Online Image®, offer a complete range of SEM services for their clients.
- Display Network Ads: Sure, it’s not an acronym. That would confuse biologists everywhere. Display ads can be purchased through a provider such as Google. The ads show up on websites in the provider’s partner network. When your targeted customers visit those sites, they may see your ads. Like PPC ads, these are based on bids and keywords, and you can choose your level of specificity.
- WYSIWIG: What you see is what you get, primarily used for web design and software. (Alright, alright, we admit it. We added this one mostly because it’s so much fun to say).
Tips for Targeting Different Audiences
The watchword of the digital marketing age is personalization, and the concept couldn’t be more important. Readers are now choosing exactly what they see in news feeds and even customizing their search results, so there’s no use in talking about a general audience. Instead, Internet marketing has to focus on audience segmentation.
It’s important to recognize that older people and women are most likely to click on PPC ads in search results. According to a study be Econsultancy that looked at Internet users in the UK, 6 percent of people clicked on paid ads in search engines. Women were more likely to do so with a spread of 6 points, and people over 35 are more likely to click on ads by a spread of 30 points. People older than 55 were most likely to click on ads.
Imagine that you own a clothing boutique and are just starting to focus on Internet marketing. Your highest-paying customers tend to be women in their 30s, and they buy both for themselves and their husbands. You also see many young women and teens, but your returns on their purchases are lower.
In this instance, you might want to purchase PPC ads for your high-end items. You can target based on demographics such as age and gender. Then, you might want to blogThis term originated as shortened version of “web log” and has come to be known as a regularly updated web-page, often containing news, opinion and personal stories. about hot fashion trends and add details to your product descriptions online to boost your SEO and draw in the younger ladies. They’re probably using ad-blocking software anyway.
You’ll see how well your campaigns are working quickly, so you can make adjustments and save yourself money.
The ideal blend of PPC will get your company attention online, and using great SEO tactics will mean more leads, more conversionsWhen a visitor does what you want them to on your page, that’s a conversion. You can set any conversion goal, but common ones are phone calls, form submittal, newsletter signups and purchases., more purchases and more profit. To learn more about the PPC and SEO offerings from Online Image® or to upgrade your services, contact us online give us a call at 801-261-5700.