TruePresence Presents the Seven Deadly Sins of Search Marketing

Simple as it may be to set up a paid search campaign with the help of popular do-it-yourself programs such as Google AdWords, it is not so simple to get it right. Many companies waste money and don’t maximize their online presence. National Internet marketing firm TruePresence has unveiled The Seven Deadly Sins of Search Marketing based on years of industry expertise and analysis.

First, some background: According to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), North American advertisers spent $9.4 billion on search engine marketing (SEM) in 2006, and the trade group predicts SEM spending will double by 2011 to more than $18 billion. A major percentage of these dollars are spent by small and medium businesses trying to get some attention on the web, and to some extent, it’s working.

But with so much money at stake, most large businesses rely on the expertise of an outside agency to create and manage paid search campaigns. The smaller guys, more often than not, go it alone without specialized support.

If you are one of those little guys dreaming big, here’s an overview of things every small-to-medium should avoid if they want higher quality leads and lower customer acquisition costs—the hallmarks of a successful paid search campaign. Recognize any of them? If so, it might be time to take a step back and consider working with a professional , like TruePresence.

1.   Inviting Too Many Guests to the Table.
When creating a keyword list, a common mistake is in thinking “more searchers and more clicks = more leads and more dollars.” Not necessarily.

Wasted clicks mean wasted dollars. It may not feel natural, but it is crucial to limit your audience, and therefore, create a targeted keyword list for your campaign. You want to attract the RIGHT visitors to your site—the ones who are actively looking for YOU and your business, specifically, not just something loosely related to you.

2.   Spreading Yourself Too Search Engine Thin.
They all sound great. Google, Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, Ask.com … millions upon millions of people each day looking for things to buy, and potentially looking for you. But if you operate a small to medium business, it’s tough to optimize your campaign everywhere at one time. If you insist on managing your paid search campaign internally, don’t spend a few bucks with each search engine; no one will find you. Focus on one major search engine instead.

3.   Thinking that Being Listed #1 is the Path to Glory
A common mistake made by many business owners is thinking that the higher your ad appears in the paid search results, the more successful your campaign will be. The problem is, depending on your industry, you may need to pay boatloads to appear in that top spot. For example, the top spot for a locally targeted campaign in the mortgage industry might cost $15 per click, but a nice position in third or fourth might only cost $7 per click—that’s more than 50% savings—and could deliver a comparable number of leads.

4.   Focusing on Site Traffic Rather than Conversions
The three most important factors in search engine marketing are ROI, ROI, and ROI. You must always make the conversion your priority, rather than traffic. Unqualified traffic and wasted clicks mean expense without results. It is far better to have less traffic that converts well, than to have lots of visitors to your site who leave without taking an action such as filling out a form, making an appointment, or actually buying something.

5.   Inconsistency -- Forgetting to Align the Landing Page with the Ad
Many people who manage their own search marketing campaigns write decent ads, develop interesting landing pages, know about calls-to-action, and may even have an offer or discount to promote. But many times, the ad and the landing page don’t align with each other – and that’s a recipe for waste.

6.   Basing Decisions on “Young” Data
Search marketing experts always obey the “Three Month Rule.” This means that no campaign test should last less than three months. It takes anywhere between 6-8 weeks for a campaign to be fully indexed by the search engines, and for initial optimization tweaks to take place. From there, you should wait another month to gather more stabilized and consistent data, before you can truly assess whether search marketing will work for you.

7.   Not Minding the Metrics: “I’m getting leads so I must know what I’m doing!”
Just because you’re gaining some leads – or conversions – on your campaign, doesn’t necessarily mean that your campaign is optimized, or even successful. You may be getting some leads, but at what expense? Is the price too high, outweighing your average sales transaction? The stat that every business owner must know in order to be successful in any marketing endeavor is, “how much can I afford to pay for a qualified lead?”

Any paid search campaign that has clearly defined objectives and avoids these common search marketing mistakes will help your business find, get, and keep customers online.

About TruePresence
TruePresence is a national Internet marketing firm dedicated to helping businesses of all types and sizes find, get, and keep customers online. The company’s unique franchise approach lets clients work strategically with a local consultant, while a national team of web design, development, and online marketing experts manages the fulfillment of each client solution. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, TruePresence currently has 17 franchise offices operating across the country and is actively expanding to new markets. For more information, visit www.truepresence.com.