In fact, an analysis of these online advertising trends by Online Media Daily states that marketers will actually “rely more on search marketing as many become cautious about spending and look for methods to prove that campaigns work.”

More specifically, eMarketer projects the following spending figures for paid listings, contextual text links and pay for inclusion combined:

• 2007: $8.8 billion (actual)
• 2008: $10.7 billion (estimated)
• 2009: $12.3 billion (projected)
• 2010: $13.9 billion (projected)
• 2011: $15.6 billion (projected)
• 2012: $17.7 billion (projected)
• 2013: $19.5 billion (projected)

What are the benefits of search based advertising for your company?

Here are five key benefits of search engine advertising:

1. You only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad.
2. You can geographically target where you want your ads to appear.
3. With search based advertising, the ads appear on web sites containing relevant content.
4. You can choose the maximum amount that you wish to spend each month.
5. Online Media Daily, citing Microsoft and Epsilon, note a significant connection between ad spends and organic search engine optimization success. “A reduction in display ad spending,” writes Online Media Daily, “also can ambush search spending. Since display ads help feed both search queries and clicks, fewer display placements could result in fewer successful search-based sales.”

After reading about these online advertising trends, you’ll want to discuss search engine advertising for your company.

Email us now for your free gift session to discuss search engine advertising or call today at (330) 306-2418.

The holiday season is a peak time for shoppers and, to get an increased share of those holiday dollars, you need to begin using the right organic SEO techniques today.

If you had a so-so season last year, focus on turning that into a good season. If you had a good season last year, let’s boost your SEO techniques and go for great!

You might be wondering why you need to start using the right SEO techniques now for to get the attention of holiday shoppers.

It’s a good question. The reality is that it takes time for search engine spiders to index your pages; for you to create, optimize and/or expand your content; and for your rankings to become boosted by your SEO/SEM strategies.

For your “Christmas in July” strategies, you should:

• Check your conversions from last holiday season; which keyphrases were effective for you? What kind of SEO help did that give your site?
• Conduct or update your keyphrase research, focusing on your holiday products and services, using Keyword Discovery to get data from the past year.
• Create or update your content, based on what you learned in your research.
• Vow to keep your URLs throughout the year, so that you don’t need to start your efforts from scratch each year. For example, if you sell Christmas candles, consider selling another type of candles during the rest of the year on your candle URL.

For professional SEO help and expertise, contact The Search Guru – your search engine marketing specialist – for a site review today.

We’ll provide you with a comprehensive report that is chock full of recommendations to increase your traffic, conversions and sales, to make this holiday one to remember!

Now, here’s some Christmas in July fun that will make you smile .

Best of luck! Happy Holidays.

Believe it or not, it is time to prepare for the upcoming holiday 2008 retail sales season online. “Ah ha!” you are thinking, “She has made a mistake. It is October 2007. We are on the cusp of the 2007 holiday season.”  My answer to you is that, if you are just now preparing for the 2007 online holiday shopping season retail sales, then you are running very far behind.

The great 2007 holiday retail forecast

The 2007 holiday retail forecast is looking fantastic. Last year there was a 26% increase in holiday shopping season retail web sales over the prior year and there is no reason to think it won’t happen again… and again… and again. One of the best retail tips for the holiday online shopping season is that you should be using this year’s holiday season to get ready for next year’s holiday season – especially if you are talking about SEO.

Retail tips for the holiday shopping season

Your holiday 2008 retail sales will depend on what you find out from your site during the 2007 season.  Are your:

• Analytics in place?
• PPC campaigns up to date with the latest words?

These will help you find out what words and phrases you should be targeting for next year.

Improving next year’s holiday shopping season retail sales

Listen closely to these retail tips for the holiday. When it comes to organic search engine optimization, it can take months to rank for the words that will help your sales soar. This year, keep a close eye on what words are converting for you from your PPC and organic traffic. Are you ranking well for those terms? Can you rank better? Are you ranking at all?

Online holiday shopping season retail sales success!

Find out what your best keyphrase performers are and make sure that, for the holiday 2008 retail sales season, your site is exactly where you need it to be to make even more money.

One of the most common questions you hear these days is “Who is Barack Obama?”

Many of us had not heard of him before he threw in his hat to make the run for becoming the next President of the United States. When running for president, it only makes sense that you would need to do some serious networking — and in today’s modern Internet interconnectivity, what better way to do networking than with the LinkedIn networking tool?

What is LinkedIn?

You may be wondering, “What is LinkedIn?” LinkedIn has taken networking by storm. Often considered the grown-up version of MySpace, LinkedIn has combined the Internet with networking. You can connect to your networking contacts, look for jobs posted within your networking circles and ask business questions of those people who are in your network. Pretty much everything you can do offline, you can do with the LinkedIn networking tool.

Barack Obama asks a question.

This past week, Barack Obama asked a question on LinkedIn: “How can the next president better help small business and entrepreneurs thrive?”  Normally, these questions are put forth to the people in the networking circle of the person asking the question. But, for Barack Obama, LinkedIn made an exception. They added a new Featured Question element to their home page and Barack Obama’s question was the first one featured.

Who is Barack Obama trying to reach by asking a question on the LinkedIn networking tool? 

Influential business people and professionals, who are the exact people who use LinkedIn. These are people who make decisions, donate money and tell their friends about who they will be voting for. These are people he needs to get his product (himself) in front of.

Can I use the LinkedIn networking tool like that too?

The answer is yes, you can. While your question may not be featured on the home page like Barack Obama’s was, your question can go out to thousands of people who may be looking for products and services that you can provide.  Asking a question that will draw these people to you is an excellent way to use the LinkedIn networking tool to your advantage.