I often get inquires from people wondering what it cost to do online advertising properly. They want to know what I can do for them, so I am posting the response I sent to the last person to ask about my services, and prices. Please read my answer to this question: Online Advertising Costs?

Hey Troy,
It looks like you’ve been in business long enough to remember when the yellow pages were worth the money. When A full page ad cost like 3k a year and we were happy to make the monthly payments.

Online advertising is a little different than the Yellow Pages. You have to spread some money around, grease the palms of many webmasters and pay the important directories like the BBB their quart of blood. You need authoritative websites to mention your website and link to it. One great way to get a local authoritative link is by joining your local chambers of commerce(s), for 250 – 500.00 a year depending on how many local chambers your join.

Before I build you a website, promote it through social sites, press releases, contests, giveaways, and pay influential bloggers to review the website, and possibly allow me to guest post on their blog on your behalf, which all cost money, I have to spend 1200.00 every year just to the directories.

I like to get my clients up and running with a 10 page website that gets pretty in depth about their services. (If the written word is not on your website, you will never rank for it on Google, *basically). I also Include a blog and write 40 to 50 blog posts during the first year. All this writing cost money to have done. Of course I optimize all the writing to target keywords most people type into Google when looking for your services, and keywords that trigger Google maps.

I also get all client companies listed in all the top free directories and handle verifying the listings. Even though these directories are free to get listed in, I still have to account for the time it takes to do the work properly (I don’t use automated listing programs)

Another cost that begins to add up are the cost of buying pictures and putting up a couple videos on YouTube. I try to post an image in every blog post and on every webpage. The average cost per photo is $9.00, that runs into about $600.00 a year for images.

I am being very candid about the costs, you will never get anyone to go into such detail about the plan. Mainly because most sites corporate companies like Yodle, Web.com, and 1&1.com use templates, stock sites, and don’t spread money around promoting you like they should, so they can’t say they do these things. But also because I am going to post this response to you on my blog, so my readers can get a richer idea of the details and costs associated with a good online marketing strategy.

Summary Of Online Advertising Costs

To sum this up for you, I would recommend committing to a three year plan at $600.00 or $700 a month. If you can commit to a $700.00 dollar monthly budget, and can scale your business to meet increasing demand, by the time you get to the end of the third year, you will find that 7- 8k a year is ridiculously easy to come by. Plus it is the best kind of write off!

If your not able to do that, I also have less aggressive plans for Two or three hundred dollars a month, but when you cut advertising spend, you limit your website traffic and lead generation capabilities. But my less aggressive plans get you listed in Google Maps.

I mentioned you could spend less, but you can definitely spend more too. Once you have a bunch of great content on your site, It helps to spend money promoting it and getting links. Plus we could also set up a budget to spend on Google AdWords / PPC (Pay Per Click).

Conclusion

The fact that I compete against the best marketing minds, SEO’s, and million dollar a year online advertising campaigns, yet I have managed to engage you as a prospect for my services, should sway you to believing I know what I’m talking about. If you let me know what your marketing budget is, I will design a plan for you. I know this much, I will do more for each of your advertising dollars than anyone else.

I hope this answers your question and gives you some insights about online advertising costs. I stand ready to answer any questions you might have.

Inform Local
Michael Kern
978-973-6048 (Personal Cell)

SEM Overview

What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)? It’s about getting a business listed, and ranked well on the search engines, and the message that compels a searcher to click-through to your website. Businesses today need to get their company listed where most people are looking for products and services, search engines.

In an effort to provide a great experience for searchers, Google and Bing both put a mix of different media types and information on each SERP (Search Engine Results Page). This gives you multiple ways to get your message in front of the people typing keywords into search engines.

6 Opportunities To Get Listed On Google

Most people focus on the big three search engine listing opportunities.

• Paid Search
• Organic
• Local Directory

But Google also lists: #4 Video, #5 Pictures, and #6 News. These last three really help support the big three.

Paid Search

Paid search is also called Pay Per Click or PPC, Sponsored, and some also referred to it as SEM. There is no written rule or set of standards, so people can call it what they want. But just so you are not confused, as far as I am concerned SEM is not paid search alone.

Google’s brand of PPC is called AdWords. They currently offer three methods of paid search, but only two methods that target search engine visitors. Google Adwords is there most popular Pay Per Click model, where you bid against other advertisers for selected keywords. The highest bidder is usually in the top position and so on down the ranking. You are not charged for being listed unless a searcher actually clicks on your ad.

The second is called Adwords Express, this is a stripped down version of the original product. This program is managed by Google them selves for you. They promote your local Maps listing and again you are only charged for clicks.

Google’s paid search listings usually comprise the top 3 listings and all the ads on the right hand side of the SERP. The ads at the top are usually colored with a pink or yellow background.

AdWords accounts are free to set up. Google gives coupons as an incentive for trying their product. Anyone with a registered payment method can run ads. Only new accounts can take advantage of the coupons.

Organic

Organic listings are placed right below paid search, and usually below local maps listings too. Also occasionally they’ll put one or two organic results above the local maps. The order is usually Paid ads, then Maps and then organic.

Every listing can be view and clicked on for free that is indexed in Google’s organic section. Getting indexed is pretty simple, ranking well is another matter. Ranking highly in the organic section is based on a secret mathematical algorithm. The algorithm is said to be based on over two hundred different criterion.

The specialists that work to rank sites in highly in the organic section of SERP’s are called  SEO’s which has to do with the art and science of search engine optimization. We don’t claim to completely understand Google’s Algorithm, but by reverse engineering thousands of top ranked websites we have it narrowed down to a 75% match (or so). We pretty much know what it takes, and we A/B test different ideas and monitor results to improve rank.

Google Maps / Local Business Directory

Google understands that many searchers are looking for local services and businesses. So they will often show 3 to 7 local businesses in the local maps section of their SERP’s. Getting listed is free, but getting listed above the competition can be quite difficult.

If there are only a few similar businesses in your town, you will probably rank well for your immediate area. Getting listed for searches done in neighboring towns can be a bit more challenging.

What Google Wants

Now that we have discussed the majority of ways to get your business listed on Google. We need to understand what Google wants. Google wants to offer it’s customers ( It’s Searchers) great relevant results and a good user experience (UX).

Google needs people to find the information they’re searching for, they need people to keep using their search engine so they can keep making 34 billion a year in ad revenue. Yes they made an estimated 34 billion in 2012, and are growing by 15 to 20% a year.

They offer a wide variety of results to make as many searchers happy as possible. They know when people are shopping, trying to navigate to a certain website, or looking for how to articles or information.

It’s your job to make Google’s customers happy, and glad they used Google to find your company. Think of some of the things you don’t like about websites and eliminate them from yours.

• Pages that take to long to load
• Pop up’s
• White print on black backgrounds
• Small dense print
• Having to scroll past ads to get to information
• Missing pages – 404 and 500 errors
• Confusing navigation
• Lack of “alt” tags for images
• Keyword stuffed content | Spam
• Non-friendly Url’s
• Thin or irrelevant content
• Hard to find contact information

Put your self in the shoes of the search engines. Would you refer your customers to websites with issues like the ones above if there were better alternatives? It’s not enough that you have relevant content and a lot of links, If you don’t provide a good UX, you will not be ranked nearly as well as you could be.

How Google Measures User Experience (UX)

Google crawls all the pages that are indexed, so they know how long it takes for a page on your website to load, or whether or not the page even exists any longer (404 errors). They also know how long people spend on your website (time on site) or whether or not they visit a second page (bounce rate).

Social Signals & Linking

Google also knows if people value and share the content they find on your website by monitoring social signals (Facebook shares, Pinterest pins, Twitter tweets & retweets etc…). They also know if others are linking to it. Having no links to your website is a bad sign.

If you have great relevant original content, but you don’t have links, you may need to find websites that list resources like yours and let them know you exist.

Reviews

Reviews alone are a great way to do search engine marketing. Running promotions and giving coupons for reviews will quickly build up a lot of reviews. I personally always look for reviews before making a purchase.

What kind of reviews are being left around the web for your business? Are any being left? It is better to have bad reviews than non at all. Reviews help to validate that your business is still active, current, and at least real, even if it’s not well liked.

How To Measure UX On Your Own Website

• Page Speed: This is a very important metric and can be checked with Pingdom. This tool lets you check page load speed from two different locations in the US.
• Bounce Rate: This data lets you know if a second page was visited on your website, and can be seen using Google Analytics (Free Google Tool).
• Average Time Spent On Site: Also available with Google Analytics.
• 404 Errors & Incoming Links: This data and a lot more about the health of your website can be found using Google’s Webmaster Tools

The above metrics will help you to monitor UX which is important, but when it comes to organic search, you also want to focus on three more things. Two are more important than the last: engaging content that offers value, and attracting links. The final is social: People socially interacting with your brand is getting more important everyday.

Social signals are admittedly already a big part of the Bing algorithm, and while Google is using social in theirs, they admit that they’ll be weighting it much heavier in the future.

All these issues are important for Google Maps too, but you don’t even need a website to outrank your competitors in Maps. The two most important metrics for Maps are reviews and citations. With reviews and citations you can be the #1 of local for many keywords.

Now I would like to know what you do for: Search Engine Marketing, what your strategies are, how you go about ranking better. Please share in the comments and if you like this article share it on your favorite social media.

Advertising and Marketing Lessons Learned From A Roofing Contractor

My late boxing coach and friend Richie Collins (“Crazy” to his friends) worked as a roofer his whole life. He installed roofing shingles since he was a kid. He was really fast with a hammer. He could keep up pretty good with people who used nail guns.

He ran an ad in the Lowell Sun Newspaper for almost 20 years. The headline read: ” No Roof Over $1200.00″. Of course most every roof cost over $1200.00, but he would only work on ranches and walkable roofs. His price only included labor, so he could usually get the job done for less than $1200.00 if you only counted the labor rate.

If you recently re-roofed your home and the shingles cost 3600.00. Don’t worry, you weren’t ripped off, the cost of roofing materials have more than tripled in the last 6 years.

I worked for him lugging bundles of shingles up onto the roof when I was training to fight. I asked him if he really got calls from that ad? He told me his phone rang almost everyday. He said he learned from Don King (fight promoter), to always keep them hoping. Even though most people knew their roof would cost more, a small part of them hoped it would not, and called him.

He paid the Lowell Sun paper $450.00 a month for over twenty years and was glad to pay it. He actually gave the bigger tougher roofing leads to other roofing contractors for a kickback. When they got the job Crazy made money. His roofing ad in the local newspaper made him money two ways, by providing easy roofs for him to do, and by selling roofing leads for jobs he didn’t want. win win

This was one of my first marketing lessons, and I learned it well. This tactic is used all the time. Consider the ads on TV for a no money down car lease. If you have ever looked into one of these deals you find that you don’t have to make a down payment, BUT, most want the first payment plus taxes and other fees to the tune of $1500.00. No money down my you know what.

Roofing Contractor Advertising In 2013

If there are any roofing contractors out there reading this. The spring and fall are still good times to run ads in newspapers, and when you see the weather conditions likely to cause ice dam problems.

The same ad in the newspaper today will cost half what it used to, but delivers less than 10% of the results it used to. Nowadays you need to invest in local online advertising to get leads.

You want to be on top of Google for terms like “Roofing Contractors”. Roofing Contractors (plural) gets searched 4000 times more a month than the singular version “Roofing Contractor”. It is also searched mores than Roofing Company or Roofing Companies.

I suggest you have a different webpage optimized for every one of those terms, and make sure you rank well in a few towns.

You might like to read more about Contractor Advertising in this related post.

Getting and ranking number one is not hard, but it is work! It can however be boring and time consuming work. Think of me (local SEO expert) as a contractor. If you hired a contractor to build you a house, he would hire all the sub-contractors and organize the project, he might do some of the work too, but most work would be done by teams of hired help. The only difference in this analogy is that I also am the architect.

I design a plan and orchestrate the team, my team is hired to do one of two things. Write or create great content. I then go about building links to that great content and optimize the page. That’s how easy the formula is for online marketing success. You put great content on your website, optimize the page, and get people to link to it.

Online Marketing – Designing The Plan

The plan is of extreme importance! Each webpage has to stand on its own, meaning it has to be original, offer the user value. It has to convert traffic into a leads or customers, it has to attract links, look professional, and sometimes has to be designed while keeping Paid Search Campaigns in mind.

My keyword research takes local search, traffic volume, and search intent into consideration. People search to learn, find and buy. Informational, Navigational and Transactional. We also know that 80 to 90% of transactional searches are done with the intent of buying or hiring locally.

While planning your keyword list, consider adding a lot of local modifiers. A blog will give you the ability to keep pumping out new content. You can target new keywords every week or everyday as your budget allows for content writers. How else will you get these local Geographical keywords into your overall design? Stuff the page with every town you service? Not anymore.

In any design I will add reviews into my keyword list, not testimonials. Why reviews? because people who are ready to hire are looking for reviews, not testimonials. The reviews are really testimonials, but the intent and search volume of a person searching for reviews is much greater.

This is one reason I feel I earn my money. Of course you want to optimize pages for high traffic keywords, but a lot of high traffic keywords (how-to) don’t convert into leads or customers. I research the phrases that pay. I spend quite a few bucks a month for tools that put me in the know. This research allows me to offer clients a greater return on investment. Related Post- Google Online Marketing Plan

Online Marketing – Creating Great Content

This is really the toughest part of the job for me, it is also why they call SEO an “art and a science”. Content is 95% art and 5% science. Writing and photography are arts (say that like a pirate). Including a subtle marketing message is art. Including SEO best practices onto a page is both art and science.

What ever the topic is you need a writer that really gets the subject matter. Nobody is going to link to an article that was mailed in, or has stock photography or clip-art. Content is your trade, and great writers and graphic designers are your stock.

Great content comes in many forms and is the most likely way you will get much needed links. One way to design content that will attract links is to research your industry and see what types of content are already attracting links. Related Post- Content Marketing Plan

Online Marketing – Get People To Link To it

Link prospecting will be easier if you plan for it in the design phase. When planning a campaign and quoting a client, I include a good chunk of content creation in the budget. I will research their market and see what content or tools are missing.

These tools, info-graphics, apps, content and resources all become link assets. Now you need to contact bloggers and though leaders and experts in the vertical to let them know about your assets.

Guest blogging on popular and high traffic sites will get you a link and some traffic. This is a good way to promote all your link bait and grow your own readership. But guest bogging is getting over done. People don’t want thin or poorly written copy. If your going to get a guest post on a great site your going to have a great article.

Summarize

Great images, articles, and other content will make every other aspect of online marketing and SEO much easier. Get with an SEO agency that has a great content creation department or contract out the work your-self.

I would love to here what you do to attract and build a great content. I would also like to hear what types of content you develop while keeping link prospecting in mind.

When it comes to local search engine marketing, you need to show up on the top of Google any way you can, as often as you can. Keep in mind when someone is looking for a local service or business type, they will often add the name of their town in the query. Often times Google will display local results even without a Geo-graphical modifier.

I have been doing some traveling lately, and find my self in Cocoa Beach Florida this morning. I am actually on vacation, but with some down time this morning I am doing what I enjoy doing most, blogging and SEO research. I have been doing some searches for local handyman services.

If I where just doing some research to see how Google displays results differently in Florida vs where I live in Massachusetts. If I wanted to get an idea of what they show for results on the West Coast or the South of France, I don’t need to visit these locations, I could just tell Google that’s where I want to search in my settings.

Research Keeps You Ahead Of Your Competition

Do random searches for businesses similar to yours, or in my case businesses I market on the web. As Google changes the way it displays search results, we need to change with them. I recommend you do some searches once or twice a month.

If you don’t have access to online marketing tools like mine, you won’t see your competition sneaking up in Google’s ranking. You wont notice when they have passed you if you don’t keep an eye on them in the search engines.

How To Show Up In Search Engines For Local Searches

You want to discover every combination of keywords that result in Google showing their local maps / Google Places. Then you want to create a page for every keyword. Don’t try to optimize one page for many keywords. It’s tough enough optimizing for one keyword phrase.

Many times Google will favor certain directories for different types of businesses. For food services Google will usually show some Yelp or Urbanspoon listings in their results. For construction services and companies they often show Angie’s List or the BBB.

You need to be in these directories. You need to be well represented in these as well. Make sure you are filling in the descriptions and adding photos. Try to encourage customers to leave a review. If your a local shop, try to get customers to check in on Facebook and Foursquare from your location.

When customers go to the search engines to look for local businesses, shops or services, your business needs to be their in as many ways as possible.

Growing Trend In Search Engines With Regard To Contractors

While doing searches for local handyman services in Cocoa Beach I noticed the same growing trend as back home. Google is loving Angie’s List and The BBB. They are often the top two results when local contractors have not optimized their website enough to surpass them.

Google wants to show the most relevant results and results that are best for their clients (the searchers). By giving the best results to their searchers, they will remain the dominate search engine, and keep making money. Is your business the best choice for Google to display?

Search Engines Get You Traffic But Trust Gets You Customers

I advertise for many contractors across the US. I try to convince everyone of them to spend the $550.00 for a BBB accredited listing. I don’t have to convince them to join Angie’s List because it’s free, and I just sign them up.

I display badges on their websites for these two directories. I have noticed a correlation between how many people click on their badge and how many people contact my clients. There is no sense investing in a website if it does not lead to more customers.

People trust the ratings and reviews of these sites, these help people to decide which businesses to contact. One good review on the BBB is equal to 10 testimonials on your own website.

A listing is actually free on both sites. The BBB will rate your business, and you can point to this rating with a link. But the rating will inform customers you have not been accredited. Accreditation cost the $550.00 mentioned earlier. Even without accreditation or reviews, just being listed is a good sign.

That’s the end of my local search engine marketing tips except for one. Search engines are ranking sites based in part by social activity. If you post frequently on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin to mention a few, your business is likely to rank higher. So if you found this article informative, do us both a favor by sharing this post with your fans or by liking us on Facebook

BBB  Trends

Monitoring the SERPS (search engine results pages) for new online advertising trends are part of an SEM’s job. Identifying a new bias quickly will keep you and your customers on the right track. I have identified two new growing trends in Google SERPS. Back in 2012 Google began boosting local listings for those with an accredited BBB account, and now in 2013 began showing many more BBB results in it’s SERPS.

I have long believed that Google might be using the BBB as a prominent local business signal for it’s algorithms. I am going to share with you the benefits of a BBB listing, which  industries benefit the most, and some history and statistics.

 History

The BBB have been in service for over 100 years, and it’s main mission has been to improve trust between the consumer and businesses, with extra emphasis on local businesses. Though they are not a government agency, many consumers think of them as such. If a consumer feels like their being ripped off, they call the Attorney General and the BBB.

Benefits Of An Accredited Account

Lately I have seen representatives for the BBB on the news informing and warning of the latest scams. This is just one way they continue to brand them selves as a resource, and a hero of the consumer. This is why many consumers feel more comfortable forking over their credit card info when they see the BBB logo.

Trust

Consumers may or may not know that all accredited businesses listed in the
BBB have been fully vetted. If you say your a roofing contractor, the BBB goes and checks your license against the state records, if your license has lapsed or if you are not licensed, you can not be accredited for any amount of money. They also want to see your business certificate, to see if your a legitimate business.

Unlike services like Angie’s List, you don’t need to be a subscriber to see a businesses rating, or reviews left by past customers. It’s no wonder 97 million people in the united states alone made an inquiry in 2011. BBB Statistics

“Their vetting process is the main reason I believe Google uses them as a source for their local ranking algorithms.”

 Leads

Millions of Americans visit the BBB website to report dishonest companies, but also to get a list of local accredited companies with a good rating. Accredited businesses can count on leads calling and showing up in their inbox.

If you do a search on Google for “roofing contractors”, you will find the BBB promoting themselves and a roofing contractor right on the first page, usually in the top three organic results. The leads, increased exposure on the SERPS, and the trust the BBB engenders  to the consumer make the paltry fee of 500.00 a year a easy decision for most business types.

Citation

With out doing a formal study, I have noticed a trend in my regular weekly research that has me convinced that businesses listed on Google Maps do better with an accredited BBB account.

If you were Google, and you were looking for a way to verify legitimate businesses, looking for a way to make sure you deliver the best results to your customers (people who use Google), would you give more credence to those businesses listed in the BBB?

I have also noticed businesses with one link ranking better in the SERPS than those with 20 plus links, when the one link was from the BBB. I know I am not taking into account a couple hundred other ranking factors, but I have seen this enough to think it more than a coincidence.

Businesses More Likely to Benefit – Statistics

10 out of the top 20 businesses when ranked by most inquiries are in the construction industry. Roofing Contractors topping the list with just over 3 million inquiries. When counting just the top 10 businesses in the construction industry, we see the BBB gets roughly 30,136 inquires a day in the United States alone.

Some other industries in the top 20 include: Auto Repair and Service; Auto Dealers – Used Cars; Mortgage Brokers; Auto Dealers- New Cars; Movers; Insurance Companies; Collection Agencies; Internet Services; Attorneys and Lawyers.

 Conclusion – Online Advertising Trends

It is clear to me that local businesses should be seeking an accredited listing. Especially if you are in the home-improvement industry. It is also equally obvious that those that are listed will get a boost in organic local search, including Google Maps.

One added benefit to a BBB listing is this: Your customers don’t need to have an account with them to leave you a positive review.