The lowly and misunderstood ad banner has been around since the dawn of the (commercial) Internet… and it’s still plugging away today. Even though newer and cooler forms of advertising like paid search, social media, and mobile advertising, have (seemingly) passed it by.

Why should you still care about banner ads? Well, for starters, brand advertising is coming back in vogue… shocking but true!

Seems that marketers have finally figured out what consumers have known all along – we buy from brands we’re familiar with! That’s why eMarketer now forecasts growth in online display ads (i.e., banner ads) will outstrip that for paid search through 2014.

Said another way, banner ads may not generate many clicks… but they do generate the kind of “awareness” that makes us: click on a brand’s link in search results, mention a brand to friends, and notice a brand when shopping (online or offline). All of which, sooner or later, results in the cash register ringing!

Here are six essential tips to building your brand with banner advertising:

• Bigger truly is better. The more website real estate you cover with your ad the better. This ensures that more people see your ad (whether they realize it or not) and are influenced by your brand message.

• Keep it moving. Our eyes are designed to notice small movements on a Web page. So get your ad moving, but do it in a way that engages not tricks (please, no blinking ads!). Maybe a graphic that builds or changes its message… you get the idea!

• Aim really high. Get your advertising as high up on the page as you can. More people will notice it plus it helps your chances of always being “above the fold”. This is why everyone competes for the number one slot in Google search results.

• Context is king. Design your advertising to fit in with the content and design of the website(s) your ad shows on. This keeps it from looking too much like advertising. Believe it or not, many prospects don’t like reading ads.

• Not a one-time shot. Building your brand takes time, so plan to keep your ads running for at least a few months… or as long as you can! Think about it. When was the last time you acted on an ad the first time you saw it. Never. That’s right.

• Change it up… but not too often. Prospects notice your advertising the first few times but then stop seeing it. So change up your ad every once in a while (think monthly). But be careful of changing too often… otherwise your brand message won’t sink in.

Now we’re not saying don’t do paid search, mobile marketing, or whatever the advertising flavor of the day is (iPad anyone?). We are saying you need to also invest in developing your brand in the minds of customers and prospects. And that’s where your newly empowered ad banner comes to the rescue!

Have your own tips on banner advertising? Let us know!

Want to learn more on this fun topic? Check out these posts:

Creating brand awareness is critical to your online advertising strategy

Where to advertise online? Well that depends…

Want to learn how to write Google ads? Read on…

And don’t forget, we’re here to help… give us a call at 888-330-3236.

It seems like everyone wants to improve their website design these days. Maybe it’s that time of year, or maybe we get bored with our website after six months or so.

Of course, it could be that nagging feeling that your website isn’t getting the results you’re looking for… like lots of visitors, leads, and sales!

Whatever the reason, here are seven important questions to consider before starting your website design project.

1.  What’s the (real) purpose of your website?

• Generate leads and phone calls?
• Support the efforts of your sales team?
• Sell your products?
• Offer engaging content to build an audience?
• Provide helpful information about your company?

It’s okay to have more than one purpose. Just be clear on what the main one is so that you can design your website with that purpose in mind.

2.  Who is your target audience?

Can you describe them in detail? I hope so… since you’ll be spending plenty of time and money trying to find them on the Internet. Not to mention, hoping to get these prospects addicted to your website and offering. Again, who are you targeting?

3.  Can prospects find your website in search results?

Make your website “search friendly” so it shows up in the search results of your target audience, since the more people that find your site via “natural search” the less you’ll need to spend on marketing to find them. Not sure how to search engine optimize (SEO) your website? Get an expert to do it for you.

4.  How will your website visitors know they’ve come to the right place?

Your logo, “tagline”, and a handful of short benefit statements (with search-friendly keywords!) are really important for explaining what your website is all about and why your business is different. Photos, videos, and testimonials can also help tell your story and engage your target audience.

5.  How easy is it for prospects to find and act on what they’re looking for?

What do your website visitors want to do? And have you designed your site with these actions in mind? Take the time to figure this out before you redesign your website. For example, is it easy to learn about your services and pricing, or (gasp!) reach out and contact you?

6.  Have you made social media part of your website design?

Get customers and prospects to “like”, “tweet”, and otherwise share your website content with their social network. Put your business on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Start a blog, and post reviews and testimonials. Bottom line: make it easy for everyone to “spread the word” about your business!

7.  How will you know if your website is getting results?

Create clear goals for your website and marketing efforts. Track and measure your progress. This is where having a good web anlytics software is critical. How many website visitors are you getting? Are they doing what you want them to? Do they ever come back? All intriguing questions for sure…

Start your website design efforts by first answering these questions. Then worry about the “look and feel” of your website. Do this and your website will have a better chance of generating the results you’re looking for. Otherwise, it’ll soon be time to work on your website design (again).

Want to learn more about this fun topic? Check out these posts:

Who are you targeting with your online advertising?

Let’s talk about SEO basics. You first…

Ready to grow your business with social media?

Without web analytics your website is flying blind

And don’t forget, we’re here to help… just give us a call at 888.330.3236.

This isn’t “Mad Men” that cool TV show depicting ad agency life in the 1960s. So you don’t need to be Don Draper to write effective Google text ads. Instead, you just need to…

Start with the basics:

Every text ad has four elements, and each element has its very own goal (and character limit):

1. Headline: make it interesting and relevant to your prospects (up to 25 characters);
2. Benefit statement: why should prospects use your services? (up to 35 characters);
3. Call to action or key feature: convince them to act now! (up to 35 characters);
4. URL: where do you want to send prospects? Hint: don’t send them to your homepage.

For example, let’s take a look at how Google advertises its own services using text ads… since they should know what they’re doing right?

1. Google Search Advertising
2. Get Qualified Visitors to Your Site
3. Place Your Ad on Google Today!
4. www.Google.com/AdWords

1. Google Marketing
2. Online Marketing Was Never So Easy
3. Market Your Business on Google Now
4. www.Google.com/AdWords

We’ve added numbers to correspond to each text ad element (aren’t we helpful?)

See how Google marketing folks have written each of the ad elements in these text ads? That’s what you want to do. Not impressed? Trust me that each element in these ads has been carefully crafted to maximize you clicking… if you’re a prospect!

Now it’s your turn.

Here’s what to keep in mind when writing each element of your own text ads.

The all important headline

Your headline has a big job. Namely, to break through the search results clutter and grab the attention of prospects before they move on. Did I mention that you only have a split-second to do that? Clear, concise, and engaging headlines work best. And when in doubt use keywords since those reflect what your prospects are actually searching for!

Your benefits statement…  it’s not all about you (sorry!)

Everyone likes to talk about themselves. I sure do. But your customers actually care about themselves more than they do about you. Keep that in mind when writing your benefit statement. For example, why should prospects use your services? Maybe they’ll look beautiful and feel good too. Or make tons more money. How about impress their friends and family? Now those are benefits!

Give them a good reason to act now!

Congrats on getting them to notice your headline and for hitting the “me” button with your benefit statement. Now it’s time to say why you’re unique and drive them to action. How about: “Free Quote and Overnight Delivery” or “100% Organic but Supplies Limited”. You get the idea!

What about your URL?

Did you know that the URL is the second most visible element in your text ads (after your headline)? It’s true! So make sure and capitalize the first letter in each word of your URL so it’s easier to read. And if you’re sending prospect to a landing page (smart!) that has a long URL… then take advantage of the fact that Google lets you display a special shortened URL.

Some other comments and helpful stuff

Remember, you still need to find out what works best given your prospects, products, and competition! Try different headlines, benefits, and calls-to-action. And don’t be stingy in using keywords in your text ads when you can. The bottom line: just keep testing which text ads and ad elements generate the most clicks from your prospects.

Want to learn more? Here are some helpful blog posts to keep you moving down the path from novice to “Mad Man”.

Should you do SEO or paid search?

Don’t make these search engine marketing mistakes

When it comes to paid search, don’t be number one

Four basic emotions to sell anything

And don’t forget we’re here to help. Always feel free to give us a call at 888-330-3236.

C’mon you’ve heard it before (with infomercial voice-over in your head?) “You too can build a business on the Internet, work from home, and watch the cash roll-in!” Sorry. Not true. Building a business online takes a lot of work and commitment. Don’t trust anyone that tells you differently. But if you’re serious about bringing your business online (or starting one) then…

It all starts with your website.

Having a professional looking website is as essential as a listing in the Yellow Pages used to be (yes, used to be). I mean your new Internet prospects need a place to find you right? And nothing says, “Open for business!” like an engaging and friendly website. The good news: creating a website is well within reach of even the smallest upstarts (we have one!)

But I don’t know anything about building my own website!

No worries. Thanks to some of the great website builders out there, it’s now easy to create a professional website with just a few clicks of the mouse. And you don’t need a degree in computer science either! Check out Yola, Moogo, and SnapPages to see what we mean. They offer a wide range of templates, tutorials, pictures, and graphics to get you started quickly. Did I mention that they’re free to use? Yes, free.

Most website builders will also help you get set up with your own domain name (e.g. www.yourbizname.com), which you can add to your business cards, letterhead, and other marketing materials. Pretty cool, huh?

As you build your website, keep in mind that most business-oriented websites have the following pages:

• Home Page: This is the first page most of your visitors will see, so don’t be coy – provide all the key information here. Your logo, business name, phone number, address, and business hours are the most important things. Bottom line: make it easy for them to contact you!

• Products or Services: This could be products you sell, services you offer, your menu, or your class schedule (you get the idea). Be sure to include pricing (unless your prices change frequently) and a few attractive, high quality photos to remind customers why they like your stuff the best!

• Contact Us: Make it easy for people to get in touch with you for questions, to make an appointment, or share a story. Provide multiple ways to contact you – email address, phone number, and a simple web form they can fill out.  If you’re into social media, invite prospects to follow you on Twitter or “Like” you on Facebook.

• About Us:  Is your business family owned and operated? Do you specialize in organic products or local suppliers? Offer a money back guarantee? Tell your story in your own words – it builds trust with your prospects, and, after all, people buy from people they like!

• Testimonials: Already have customers? Then ask them for testimonials for your website. Remember: nothing convinces prospects more than happy customers. You can’t afford NOT to start asking your customers to share their experiences. Use comment cards, email, or better yet, your Contact Us form!

Here’s our complete list of the Best Free and Affordable Website Builders from our blog: Best Online Advertising Stuff. You’ll do well using any of the website providers on this list… so take your time and find one that works best for you.

That’s it. You’re ready to jump in and start building your very own website. Remember, there’s no better way to get started than… getting started!

Let us know once your website is up. We’ll want to check it out too!

I must confess… I didn’t (gasp!) do keyword research before writing the copy for our website. And the truth is I should have. But better late than never. So let’s pretend we’re writing our website content today (maybe you are)… and then take it from there!

First of all, why is keyword research so important?

Search engines (i.e., Google) are the number one way that people find your website. Your job is to make it easy for them. There’s much you need to do to make this happen… but it begins with figuring out what words and phrases (keywords) your prospects use when searching the Internet for what you sell. Then you need to make sure your website content includes those keywords. Do it right… and your website shows up in your prospects search results!

Here’s how to get started:

1.  It’s all about your target customers. You really need to understand who they are, what they’re looking for, and why they’d buy from you in particular.

2.  Think about what keywords they’ll use when searching on Google for your products and services. (If you already have customers… ask them!)

3.  Then make a big list of all the keywords you come up with.

4.  Add qualifying terms to your keywords that help better define your market… such as your product features and business location.

5.  Boil your list down to the keyword phrases you’re going to use with your website content. These phrases should best reflect your product offering and be search terms your prospects will use often.

6.  Now write (or update!) your website copy with these keyword phrases in mind.

Simple enough?

For example, let’s say you have an Italian restaurant located in Long Island, NY. You want keywords that target customers will use to find your restaurant. The keyword “restaurants” isn’t specific enough. Maybe: “Italian restaurants”? Better for sure. But we need some qualifying terms to make it even more specific. How about “Italian pizza restaurants” or “Italian restaurants on long island”? Now we’re talking! Just include these keyword phrases as often as you can in your website content.

You should target 5 to 10 keyword phrases depending on how many products or services you sell, and the different types of customers you serve. Have lots of products and services? Then you’ll need more keyword phrases.

The good news is there are free tools to help:

• Google’s keyword tool makes it easy to come up with hundreds of keyword phrases to consider. Plus it’ll show you the number of monthly searches for each phrase.

• Wordtracker is another good keyword tool for generating ideas. And it will also show you the popularity of each keyword suggestion.

• Google Analytics is free web analytics software that gives in-depth data on your website traffic… including which keywords send visitors to your site!

Now it’s time for a few cautionary comments (sorry!)

Spicing up your content with good keyword phrases will make it easier for prospects to find you… and also make generic website copy more specific and interesting. But don’t go overboard. Remember, it’s all about making your website helpful and informative for your target customers… not about stuffing your pages with keywords for the search engines. (see our related post)

And the process of keyword research never stops. You need to keep an eye on what keywords are driving the most traffic to your website… since your prospects are changing how they search all the time!

Don’t forget to keep your keyword phrases handy. You’ll not only reference them for your website copy but also for your online advertising campaigns, social media efforts… and even your offline advertising (which also influences what people type into a search box).

Let’s get started with your keyword research!

Btw, did you notice the keyword phrases I’m using for this blog post? Let us know which keywords you used to get here. Thanks!