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What Are You Doing To Stay Ahead Of The Pack?
A short while ago I attended Perry Marshall’s Ultra-Advanced Pay Per Click Marketing Seminar in Maui, Hawaii.
The price of admission was $5,000.
Plus flights and accommodation.
Plus a minimum requirement of $5,000/mo in Google AdWords spend in order to qualify to be in the room.
Was it worth it? You betcha. This is the type of advanced training that gives us – and our clients – an edge over competitors who are happy with being ‘good’ as opposed to ‘GREAT’.
7 years ago, I told subscribers, “you cannot afford NOT to be using AdWords. The ROI is phenomenal.”
We had customers whose marketing costs were a tiny 0.2% of sales. Zero-point-two percent!!
Fast-forward to today and the situation is very different. It’s no longer ‘money for jam’.
While many companies are doing VERY well from the Internet (some we are lucky enough to call our clients), you have to really WORK to get ahead and stay ahead of the pack.
There’s a big mass of companies who are marketing on the net and are “keeping the lights on”, but are certainly not making a killing.
Clicks are more expensive than ever. The organic search engines are more competitive….
It’s harder to get people to respond or sign up to receive information – even if you give it away…
Prospects want more value and proof “up front” before they’ll trust you with your business…
Yep, the water level is rising, and if you don’t stay ahead of the pack, you’ll drown.
In fact, I recently consulted with a business owner recently who had always done well out of Google AdWords, until the last little while. He wasn’t doing anything differently, and that was the problem.
While his web marketing stood still, the cost per click in his market quietly rose from $1 per click to $8 per click over a couple of years, and his account went from ‘profitable’ to ‘bleeding cash’. It was only at that point he realised something had to be done… and fast!
So the question I want to ask you is: what are you doing to stay ahead of the pack in your industry, and on the Internet?
Reporting from Maui, Hawaii – looking forward to Perry Marshall’s “Tsunami” Seminar
I’m sitting in the hotel in Maui, waiting for Perry Marshall’s uber-advanced AdWords and Facebook advertising seminar to start tomorrow.
When we arrived yesterday, there was a tsunami warning in full effect and we were locked in Maui’s Kahului airport for a few hours until the eventual “tsunami” – a 1.5 foot wave – lapped over the shores of Oahu and the warning was lifted. The seminar has now been ironically dubbed “The Tsunami Seminar” 
Paid Search Is A Lot Like Chess
Paid search (AdWords, Facebook, CPM banners etc.) is a lot like chess. You can learn the moves in 30 minutes but it takes a lifetime to become a Grand Master. And the difference between a good social player and a World Champion is like night and day.
We specialise in paid search management and lead generation systems and in most people’s language I would be considered “expert” in the area – yet there’s a limit to how far you can go on your own.
This Seminar is the most advanced of its kind in the world – 3 days, 100 participants, US$5,000 per seat, no beginner or intermediate strategies – just cutting-edge strategies developed and tested by the best in the world.
Perry Marshall has an expression for this type of environment…
Iron Sharpens Iron
I believe that no matter how much expertise you develop in an area, you have to keep testing yourself and exposing yourself to the best in the field. A 10 or 20% improvement in ROI increase from paid search (for my own projects and our clients) as a result of this seminar would be well worth the price of admission.
Stay tuned.
Reasons Why Getting New Business From The Internet Won’t Work
One of the questions I get asked almost every week is “will online marketing work in MY industry?”
Usually the question is followed up quickly by reasons why it WON’T.
Reason Why Internet Marketing Won’t Work #1:
“We get all our new customers by referral. People just don’t look for our service on the Internet”
This statement came from the owner of an (admittedly successful) business in the technology space that has grown strongly via strategic alliances and, yes, referrals.
Meanwhile, we happened to have a client in the same city and the same industry, who was keeping 4 full-time salespeople busy with high-quality sales leads generated via the Internet.
Google is the new Yellow Pages. You might be surprised how many people use the Internet as a primary source of research. Not only consumers but purchasing managers and C-level executives who have needs that need fulfilled and money to spend.
Reason Why Internet Marketing Won’t Work #2:
“You recommend Google AdWords as a core traffic generation strategy, but I never click on the ads… I always click on the left side of Google.”
This is another one I hear surprisingly often.
My response is always the same: Google‘s ad revenue in Australia is in the billions, and my company Marketing Results directly manages over $1.5 million in AdWords clicks every year – so somebody must be clicking on the ads. 
With the right strategy and execution, I believe AdWords can be made to work in almost any lead generation scenario.
If you think Internet lead generation won’t work for you, is that really true or have you just not found the right formula yet?
Something to think about…
Abbreviations Make Bad Domain Names
Almost every week I come across business owners who are committing what I consider to be one of the cardinal sins of domain selection – choosing an abbreviation.
For example: www.xyzpl.com.au or www.wxyz.com
Unless you’re IBM, this can be a very costly strategy for a few reasons:
- Abbreviations are meaningless, especially to people who don’t know you. Does BBS.com stand for Brisbane Baking Supplies or Boat Building Services?
- Because abbreviations lack meaning, they tend to be harder to remember… for your prospects and clients.
- Keyword-rich domain names assist your organic SEO results, both directly (domain names are a ranking factor for search engines) and indirectly (keyword-rich domain names lend themselves to keyword-rich inbound links)
- Relevant domain names dramatically increase your Google AdWords (and other PPC) Click Through Rates and conversion results. In some cases we have seen different domain names outperform others by up to 400% when tested in AdWords ads (like in this online marketing case study, for example).
So what do you do if you’re already using an abbreviation as a domain name? My advice is to seriously consider changing, or at a bare minimum investigate other domain names to “park” over your existing domain name.
That will allow you to at least test new ideas in Google AdWords and gauge response – then if the results justify it, consider a complete change.
Which Countries Should You Target With Google AdWords?
If you’re selling a product internationally (particularly a digital product) and you’re using Google AdWords, one of the factors to consider is which countries to target.
My preference is to duplicate campaigns and target them toward specific countries or country groups — this accounts for the different market dynamics within different regions and allows you to optimise independently.
My typical market groups are:
- USA
- Canada
- UK (plus Ireland)
- Australia (sometimes with NZ, sometimes separate)
- Middle East (UAE, Qatar, Israel, Kuwait work best for English language)
- South Africa
- Northern Europe (Sweden, Norway, Denmark etc)
Beyond that you have the option of targeting other country groups, but it’s important to track ROI for each group.
In my experience, most other country groups don’t have the purchasing power to buy USD-denominated info products, but you really do need to test on a per product basis.
Got a product or service and need high-end Google AdWords management? See how we can help.
.com or .com.au? How country-specific domain names affect SEO and Google AdWords performance
Many people ask me what implications “domain name class” have on SEO and Pay Per Click (e.g. Google AdWords) rankings and results.
“Domain name class” is another word for “Top Level Domain”, or the extension on the end of your domain name (e.g. .com, .net, .com.au). In particular, you should know the implications that country code top level domains (or ccTLD for short) can have on your search engine marketing efforts.
ccTLDs and Organic Search Engine Optimisation
Should your “main” website URL be a .com.au if you’re primarily targeting Australia?
Yes.
A site with a country-specific top level domain will rank better in that country than elsewhere, although you do see other websites with other countries’ ccTLDs ranking in google.co.uk, google.co.nz and so on.
If you’re primarily interested in targeting Australia, you should definitely go with a .com.au domain.
If you’re interested in targeting multiple places, the tactics get a little more involved, but for one nation, this is fine.
Another option is to go with a .com (or .net, .org, etc) but geo-target the domain to the correct country within the domain’s Google Webmaster Tools account.
This presumably works just as well, but a .com.au is really a sure thing in terms of telling Google where your intended audience is.
ccTLDs and Pay Per Click (e.g. Google AdWords) Performance
How about ccTLDs and Google AdWords performance?
The domain name you display in your ads or “Display URL” can certainly influence the click through rates and performance of your ads, and a country-specific domain name (YourSite.com.au) will nearly always perform better than the .com (YourSite.com) for users in the target country.
In some cases, the effect can be large (50% or more), which helps to increase your click through rates and decrease your average cost per click.
If you operate in multiple markets, then ideally you should test multiple ccTLDs in each market — and as a general rule you should avoid serving ads with the “wrong” ccTLD in foreign markets.
If you’re targeting multiple countries and you can’t get hold of a ccTLD for certain countries for whatever reason, then a trusty old .com works best. Bear in mind that in our tests, .com domains normally perform better than .net, .biz or other extensions — but your mileage may vary.
You have to test.
SEO vs PPC – Which Is Better For Lead Generation Websites?
Here’s a question I’m often asked:
“Which is better: optimising my site for “free” search engine rankings, or paying for clicks on Google Adwords?
My answer is always the same – if you can profitably generate website traffic with both, it’s best to do both to generate maximum returns.
But you should also keep in mind that free search engines and paid search engines are very different animals.
Let’s look a little deeper so you understand the pros and cons of Search Engine Optimisation for the “free” search engines (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click optimisation on paid search engines (PPC).
SEO vs PPC
PPC (paying for clicks) is good because…
- It’s a very fast way to generate targeted traffic – you can literally generate visitors to your website within 10 minutes. SEO takes much longer to see results.
- You can easily decide where to send each visitor (e.g. if a visitor searches on “blue widgets”, you can direct them to your “blue widgets” product page.) With SEO, the search engines decide for you.
- You can easily test multiple headlines / copy / offers by testing ads in Google Adwords.
- You can easily drive traffic for a broad range of keywords. With SEO, you’re wise to focus on fewer keywords.
- Your website doesn’t have to be “search engine friendly” for PPC to work. (Websites built with “Flash” are notoriously UN-friendly to search engines, but they don’t necessarily affect PPC traffic.)
- You’re optimising for conversion results, not the ranking formula for a particular search engine.
- You can easily change positions on the page in order to find the best Return On Investment.
- Changes in “the rules” of Pay-Per-Click search engines tend to be smaller and less frequent than changes to the “free” SEO rules.
SEO (free traffic) is good because…
- It’s free!
- You can generate hoards of traffic for search terms that it would be un-economical to bid on with Pay Per Click.
- The long-term Return On Investment is often better than Pay Per Click. It’s slower at first, and the risk is higher if you don’t know what you’re doing, but it’s cheaper in the long term.
- Once you get good rankings, it’s relatively easy to maintain them with little incremental effort.
- You can build incredible momentum and dominate your market while your competitors bleed themselves dry trying to compete with you on PPC search engines as they pay for every click.
Conclusion: SEO and PPC both have their place in any online lead generation strategy for your business website.
But the Search Engine Optimisation field is riddled with mis-information and half-truths that can waste your time, blow your budget and frustrate the heck out of you, all at the same time.
That’s why I’ve decided to totally rework my audio program, “Search Engine Strategies for lead generation websites”. It will contain what I believe to be the most concise, most effective way to generate free Search Engine traffic to your “real” business website. And…it will be available for less than $50.
This new program will be launched on Tuesday 10th March at 12 noon AEST, but if you want to get access before everyone else, and gain access to extra Early Bird bonuses, you can join the pre-launch notification list here.
Google Adwords Optimisation 1-Page MindMap
Google Adwords is one of the most effective ways to generate high quality traffic to product and service business websites, but it’s sometimes hard to keep track of all the features and functionality. That’s why I’ve put together a MindMap of Google Adwords success strategies that fits neatly onto one page:
Download The Google Adwords Optimisation 1-Page MindMap
This Google Adwords MindMap summarises the fundamental, must-have strategies behind the most successful Google Adwords accounts. Yes, there are a few advanced strategies that wouldn’t fit onto one page, but in my experience of working with hundreds of Google Adwords accounts, 95% percent of advertisers have NOT covered the fundamentals.
- they have a few dozen keywords, not thousands
- they have 1 or 2 Adgroups per campaign, not 50+
- they don’t track properly
- their ad copy is flabby and ineffectual
- they waste a tonne of cash on overly-broad keywords that don’t produce RESULTS
(As a Google Adwords Qualified Company, Marketing Results manages high-performance campaigns for clients in competitive industries where advanced campaign management yields highly-profitable results. Here’s more about our Google Adwords Management services.)
Lead Generation Survey Of 324 Australian Small Business Owners Released
Earlier this year I conducted a survey focused on Australian Online Lead Generation practices, in collaboration with Dr Marc Dussault of Platinum Programs. The results were telling but not particularly surprising – most Australian SMEs don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to generating leads over the Internet.
And that’s understandable. I don’t know how to perform brain surgery, build a house or prepare a company tax return because that’s not my core business. But if I want to do any of those things, I find someone who can do it and outsource it to them.
The Survey:
324 Australian Small to Medium sized businesses from a diverse range of industries were dissected, scrutinised and thoroughly examined via an online survey of 28 questions. 81% of the study participants came from organisations with less than $1 million in annual revenue.
Key Findings:
The findings expose the fundamental reasons why a deadly ‘heart attack’ is almost assured for the majority of Australian small business websites and what needs to be done to stop the bloodshed.
- SMEs understand the importance of online marketing – 77% assess their website as being moderately to critically important for generating enquiries and influencing sales at the present time. A WHOPPING 98% predict that their online channel will be moderately to critically important for generating enquiries and influencing sales within two years’ time.
- 82% suffer from marketing blindness because they don’t track any KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for their website. 65% aren’t tracking ANY conversion rates such as newsletter opt-in rates or shopping cart checkout rates.
- 83% suffer from acute traffic depression and are either moderately dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the traffic volume their website receives.
- 86% admit they have no clue about their Search Engine Optimisation results and can only estimate their Return On Investment in ballpark figures
- A staggering 83% suffer from major cellular damage, running with online promotions that are actually eating their profits. They never realise the consequences of their actions because they don’t TEST to optimise results when they introduce new website features or content.
- 58% suffer form an embarrassing memory loss that’s costing them tens of thousands of dollars in lost profits, as they hardly ever or never send email broadcasts to their suspects, prospects or clients, thus missing out on a major revenue opportunity that could boost their constitution in a matter of days.
- 96% of respondents assess their website as being only minimally to moderately effective at achieving their revenue generation goals.
Dissection of the answers obtained from this extensive survey lead to the conclusion that one of the main problems lies in the lack of systems, strategies and processes that can create and sustain a profitable online lead or sales generation pipeline.
Most Australian SMEs are not doing the basics right (testing and tracking, keep-in-touch marketing, optin-and-followup), let alone the advanced strategies required to get outstanding results.
From a therapeutic standpoint, we recommend that Australian businesses begin taking a much keener interest in the health of their Internet marketing. Prevention is better than cure and as the saying goes, “An ounce of perspiration is worth a gallon of blood”.
A diet high in well-targeted online advertising with attention-grabbing headlines and clear calls to action that leverage proven Internet marketing strategies such as opt-in email marketing, information and education, testimonials, “proof” elements and sales process automation will ensure a long, healthy and prosperous life for any small business.
The full internet marketing survey diagnoses the source of the ailments and proposes several potential cures, providing that the unsuspecting victims are warned in time and take proactive action to protect themselves.
Download the Full Lead Generation Survey Report Here (PDF)
Why Can’t I See My Own Google Adwords Ads?
I got a call last week from a client who spends big $$$ on Google Adwords every month:
“I’ve checked my main keywords half a dozen times today and I can’t see my ads anywhere!”
That may be the problem… One of Google’s anti-click fraud measures is to lower the ad position of ads when you search from the same IP address. If you click a few times on your own ad to “check that it’s working”, you may find that you can’t see your ads when you check and check again.
A better way to check on the status of your OWN ads is to use the Google Adwords Ad Preview Tool.
Not only will you not mess with your impression/click data, but you can “test” ads without incuring cost.
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