Top Placement in Search Engines with Advanced Strategies
(by Global Site Position)

Search engine usage experienced a boom in recent years. Over 85% of Internet users use search engines and directories to find information on the Web. Top placement in the major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN Search, etc. became more difficult, due to fiercer competition and constantly changing algorithms of how sites are positioned. Being placed on the top ten positions in the major search engines is the vital factor for the success of a Web Site. Using Pay-Per-Click (PPC) strategies efficiently guarantees a top placement for customer-specific keywords in all major search engines.

Traditionally Web Sites could have been submitted free of charge to the search engines, which is (except in a few cases) not possible anymore. Either paid inclusion (i.e. payment for acceptance in database) or PPC options are mandatory to be well visible these days. The "Paid Inclusion" option provides a guarantee that a Web Site will be included in the search engine’s database, although a good placement will depend on many factors, such as page content, link popularity, development technology deployed, keyword density, etc.

By using Pay-Per-Click engines, a company can bid on keywords that describe its business, products/services or its target audience. It is then charged a specific bid price, every time someone clicks on the ad, which is displayed when a searcher searches for the specific keyword. Whoever is willing to pay the highest bid for the keyword or keyword phrase will be at the top of the rankings. Bid prices depend on the industry and on the competitiveness of a keyword and can start as low as US$ 0.10 per click, up to a two-digit US$ figure. Most important PPC engines are Overture, Google AdWords, LookSmart, Find What, etc., although their real benefit lies in their partner network. For example top three listings for a keyword in Overture will guarantee a top placement in the "Sponsored Links" sections of MSN, Alta Vista, Yahoo!, Lycos, Nomade, Voila, etc. On the other side, Google AdWords partner listings are displayed at AOL, Excite, Netscape, Lycos Europe, etc. Partner listings in Overture are "almost" imbedded in the partner’s search results, whereas Google AdWords displays their advertising section on top and right hand side of search results in green colour. Making correct use of this network will pool the overwhelming majority of Internet users performing searches together.

Due to the fact that the usage of PPC engines can become costly if not well defined in advance, correct keyword selection is of high importance. Choosing too general keywords might bring a lot of visitors (i.e. clicks) to a Web Site, although the likelihood of converting visitors into customers will be low and the return on investment might not be achieved. After conducting an in-depth keyword analysis which outlines the most used keywords in an industry and targeted to a specific audience (including geographic locations and different languages), a PPC budget must be defined to estimate expected number of clicks/visitors, cost per visitor, cost per position, etc. to calculate the required return on investment. PPC engines should only be used if the return on investment is met.

Statistical reporting and continuous campaign management will ensure that positions are maintained and continuously improved. To maintain cost control, a maximum budget is set per month or per day, including a maximum cost-per-click for each keyword. This ensures that a Web Site owner will never pay more than the maximum budget set or the maximum bid price for each keyword. If the maximum amount is reached, the listings will be removed until the budget is increased or until the start of the month, when the next budget is allocated, such as in Overture.

One of the many advantages of PPC engines, besides a top placement guarantee, seasonal promotion campaign listings per day or month (for example during Christmas), full budget control, precise reach of target market and "fast-to-market", is that the technology and development language used during the Web Site development (e.g. JavaScript, animated menus, Flash, etc.) will not affect a site’s position, compared to the traditional options of Web Site placement. Nevertheless, content relevance still plays an important factor in determining the right keywords to accept.

Once the correct strategy has been defined, the accounts in PPC engines need to be set-up and individual ad titles and ad descriptions for each keyword must be defined. Sales-oriented text writing for each keyword and the selected target group will ensure a higher Click-Through-Ratio and more likely to later convert the visitor into a profitable customer. Results of click-throughs should be monitored and positions/costs should be constantly checked to respond to competitor moves. In addition, keywords should be tested throughout the life of a campaign, in order to identify the best performing keywords and to optimise PPC strategies.

Top positions in the major search engines can therefore be achieved, opening a new sales channel which will lead to more visitors and potentially to more qualitative customers. Continuous campaign management service of listings and the definition of the right budget for the right keywords are major success factors for a profitable Web presence. Global Site Position offers in addition to its complete Search Engine Optimisation services, consultancy and expertise to create the right PPC strategy for each individual customer.

Targeting the right keywords for your successful Web presence
(by Global Site Position)

The Internet today represents an increasingly important Marketing tool to acquire potential customers worldwide. Language becomes less a barrier than before. As many companies look for their return on investment after their site’s development, a well placed Website in the top ten results of search engines can bring the required success through more visitors and therefore more potential customers.

Search engines are the primary way users find new Websites, as surveys show that over 80% of users rely on search engines to locate information on the Web. To optimise a Web presence, the right search words must be chosen, which are being used by Internet users to find a specific company, product or service. A company or product name alone, if not already a well known brand name, will not be enough to easily be found in the search engines. It is therefore vital to identify the words (i.e. "keywords"), potential customers use to find a specific product or service over the Internet. The actual text body and content of a Website and its frequency of keyword usage, is a major factor in determining a good positioning by the principal search engines and directories.

In order to select the right keywords, list around 30-40 words which are associated with your company/product/service, geographical region, market/industry, target market, etc. Then create "keyword phrases" by combining words which are found in your list (e.g. website ranking services) and put the list in order of priority to your business. Many search engines make a difference in the type of keywords, such as if uppercase/lowercase, singular/plural, placement of words in a keyword phrase (e.g. Ranking Services of Web Site), etc. Always keep in mind by which terminology your potential customers might try to find your Site. To further identify the keyword efficiency, conduct a search using these keywords, in order to see the results returned in the major search engines, as well as which other company/Website already optimise for these specific keywords. The selected keyword phrases should not be too broad and not too specific, otherwise you might limit your target market. To demonstrate a search result, the keyword "monaco" returned 85,500 searches done during the last month, compared to the more specific keyword "monaco hotels", which returned 9,600 searches done by one major search engine. Although a larger number of visitors can be expected for the first keyword, you might have a more targeted audience by using the second keyword. Once the right keywords are identified by the ratio of results returned, ranking possibilities and the objective of your Website, you can then target the content of each single page of your Website for two to three specific keywords. A search engine will analyze how often keywords appear in relation to other words in a web page and those with a higher frequency are often deemed more relevant than other web pages and therefore get listed higher.

It is misleading to think that top placement in the search engines automatically means higher revenues. If the title and description (defined in the Meta Tags) of a Website is not "selling", then Internet users might not "click-through" your site, although it is placed in the top ten results. The same is true if a Website receives a large number of visitors per month, although they are not "qualitative leads" or not the desired target market. Therefore in addition to optimising a Website for top position and for a specific target market, the title and description must be compelling and Marketing-oriented.

The wrong selection and optimisation of keywords does not only result in targeting the wrong audience, but it can become costly if advanced placement options have been chosen to promote a Website, such as Pay-Per-Click search engines and directories. In addition, using too often the same keywords (keyword spamming), hiding keywords behind content and optimising pages for misleading keywords can get a Website penalized and even banned by certain search engines. As does the positioning of a Website change frequently on the results returned by the search engines, it is important to keep track of its well-achieved position, as well as identifying keywords which are effected by market trends, periodic events, etc.

Sponsorship

Global Site Position is proud to sponsor and/or actively participate since many years in the following events:

No Finish Line

Running and helping for unfortunate and sick children.
www.nofinishline.com

Rallye Monte Carlo Historique

Association FORMI CŒUR – medical research.
www.acm.mc/rmch/rmch_main.php

Junior Chamber of Commerce of Monaco

Contest for Young Business Development
www.jcemonaco.mc

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