Author: Andy Commons

Categories
Search Engine Optimization

Be very suspicious of anyone that guarantees they can get you on the first page of Google.

A sales rep called today offering my company a way to get on page ONE of Google.  I played along and got a website to check out with their offer. What a rip-off.  (Step one, don’t call an Internet Marketing company with that pitch.)

This type of company frustrates me to no end, and they give the industry a bad name.

If someone is telling you they can get you on page one of a search engine, you need to be very careful. The are probably talking about getting an ad to show on the right hand side under “sponsored listings”. And frankly, that’s not hard at all for a long tail keyword phrase. Want to appear for the search  “Seattle Law Firm with free underground parking”? No Problem.  Is anyone really searching for that? Even if they were, is this the kind of client you want?

Oh, and even if they do target a phrase that people are actually searching for, the Guarantee says if they fail to deliver, they give you another month of their service at no charge! Wow, more bad results for free??? Thanks!

Look. No one has a ‘special relationship’ with Google that gets your site higher in the rankings. And even if they help you run ads with Adwords, are they really taking the time to review the results, optimize the bids, and test ad copy that pulls in people ready to buy? Will they help you review your landing pages and set up the campaign in tightly targeted groups for optimal performance? Highly doubtful.

-Andy

Categories
Random Thoughts

It went well. Thanks for your support

So I ended up speaking at the very first Missoula Ignite event. All in all it went very well. I was a little overdressed… a Hawaiian shirt would have been better. The room was super warm with all those people in there.

I was worried the audience would not be interested in my topic “how to create an effective Pay-Per-Click campaign”, but as I milled about with a “speaker” name tag on, people would ask about my topic, and when I answered, they would respond enthusiastically. So when I went up front, and was introduced, I felt pretty comfortable.

It went well, but I’ll tell ya, the 15 seconds per slide thing makes timing your words critical. I guess I was speaking faster than I rehearsed because several times I was done talking and still had time left.

Videos of all the speakers are now online at http://www.ignitemissoula.com/

Talking about Adwords was interesting to some I guess, It’s my passion, but I get it that it’s not going to save the planet.

Man oh man, some of the talks really blew me away.

  • Tim Greiser spoke about a project called AskNature.org that is the Worlds First Catalog of Biological Design Solutions. It was neat to see how we can take clues from millions of years of beta testing by Mother Earth to gain ideas to make our own world more efficient.
  • Geoff Badenoch gave me great insights into poetry, and made me regret I never got into it. His speech “Will young poets save the world”. Makes me want to introduce my kids to poetry.
  • Elke Govertsen of Mamalode, the Missoula Magazine for Moms have a fun talk titled,
    You say “mom-jeans” like it’s a bad thing…moms defy recession.
    How to harness the power.
  • A couple of personal trainers gave us some good tips on work out myths
  • We had a guy talk about how to steer a motorcycle, which as surprisingly interesting
  • Steven Sundheim introduced us to http://www.grupthinkpowered.com/ which is a platform that let’s private websites or communities have their own branded version of Grupthink.com. A local example of one in action is Squawk Missoula
  • and Karen Marsolek gave a well polished talk about re-connecting in person in this world of online communities. She must have been a theater major… her stage presence was excellent.

So all in all a great time. Check them all out at www.IgniteMissoula.com

-Andy

Categories
Uncategorized

Tick Tock!

What am I thinking! It’s the night before I give a presentation on PPC Marketing to over 100 people at the Missoula Ignite event, and I’ve decided to revamp my entire website. Well, nothing like a deadline to motivate me.

There are still a few buttons that don’t do anything, but after the presentation, I’ll get back and finish this.
Oh, and look for a copy of the presentation to appear here soon.

Categories
Pay Per Click

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