Have you ever wanted to know how much of your advertising budget should be spent online?
A new report just came out that says that worldwide spending on Internet advertising will total $65.2 billion this year (2008). That is about 10% of ad spend across all media.
That number is expected to rise 15–20 percent a year until it reached $106.6 billion in 2011. That will make it 13.6% of total ad spend.
So how much of your budget should be spent online? The worldwide average is now 10% but it will rise soon to 13.5%.
Of course, this would vary dramatically by industry. For example, the real estate industry and travel / tourism industry seem to be favoring advertising online as that is where their customers are researching and making decisions.
Google just introduced Google Ad Planner, a new way to find the websites your particular audience is looking at. They are announcing it as a tool for media planners at ad agencies.
The concept is a good one. Many advertisers and agencies are constantly trying to determine which websites they should advertise on based on demographics, but that information is hard to find.
As with all things Google, this product is in beta mode. You need to request access.
Let’s face it, building a website is typically not easy.
The effort it takes to find the right web developer, or learn a web development program yourself is just plain painful.
Yet, how many people do you know that want a new website? Perhaps they don’t have one or they don’t like the one they have. Either way, they wish they did not have to hire a professional. They wish they could make it themselves and edit it easily.
Are you that person?
If so, here’s the bad news…
The industry standard software out there (like Dreamweaver) is very difficult to learn and use. And the so-called “simple to use” methods tend to rank terribly on the search engines. They also lack the functionality you will want and need.
Here’s the good news…
Here is the perfect solution. About two years ago, I found out about a little-known software that makes clean, basic websites very easily. I bought it to try it out.
Within three months, I had bought three more licenses – one for every person that works at Hippo Internet Marketing with me. I’ve also talked four of my colleagues into buying it and using it.
All of us have loved this software. We’ve collectively built dozens of websites. Many of them rank extremely well. I promise you that the sites built with this software have clean code and rank well. The software is powerful, simple, and comes with great documention!
Here’s some even better news…
This website making software just came out with version 2.0. I spent most of my afternoon and evening reading and watching the videos about all the new features. They’re awesome. There’s no sense in going into all the details here. You can read them on their site (link below).
Tonight I am upgrading all of our licenses and reminding all of my colleagues to do the same.
How this affects you…
No matter who you are, I’m sure you can think of reasons why you’d like to have a new website. This software works incredibly well for that. It’s the perfect way to give your site a new look, or start some new sites you think will help your current efforts.
Those of you that have come to my classes know that the more pages and websites you make, the greater chance you have of ranking on the search engines and dominating your market.
Honestly, I don’t typically “sell products” on this blog. But I sincerely and deeply feel that this is one offer no one should pass up.
If you know me, you know I would not steer you wrong. Please go check it out. It’s money very well spent – especially at the current temporarily reduced rate.
Here’s the video that shows what this can do and the website that explains more. If you already own XSitePro, click here to see all the new features. (To upgrade, you choose the buy button and just use the same email you used before to upgrade.)
I’m happy to announce that Keith Schilling and I have secured a very special speaker for our next Charlotte SEO Meetup.
Andy Beal is an Internet Marketing consultant and a respected expert in online reputation monitoring and management. (That’s what his bio says.)
I could add that he’s been involved in online marketing and search engines from the beginning. I remember reading Andy’s articles and hearing him at the first search engine conferences I ever attended in 2002 and 2003. Truth is, he’s been doing such from earliest times of search engines – the 1990s.
More recently, he has been working quite a bit with online reputation management. He’s even written a book on it.
So if you are concerned about the online reputation your business, you need to attend this event. If you don’t care about the reputation your business has online, you REALLY need to attend this event – because you should!
Everyone that works with marketing, PR, or business in general needs to stand up and take note of their online reputation.
Go Google your business name (or your name) right now. Then, come back and sign up for this meeting on July 10.
Let’s face it, the Charlotte area is a great place to start an online business.
The city of Charlotte has a population of 664K. Within a 100–mile radius, there are 7.3 million. This makes for good stores, restaurants, sports, and general quality of life.
As I get ready for the upcoming Google AdWords class in two weeks, I’m reviewing all of our class materials, handouts, and examples. I’m adding some new stuff to this class, for sure.
Last week I wrote about some best tips for AdWords. In actuality, those are the best tips for either starting a new campaign or reworking a current campaign.
Since then, my Canadian SEO colleague sent me her two cents (Canadian cents, that is) via Plaxo on some other great tips. In thinking about them, they really are good tips.
Last Thursday we had another great Charlotte SEO Meetup. This time we had about 25 attend.
The format this time was a little different. We had a panel of search engine experts that reviewed sites one at a time. We spent about 10 to 15 minutes on each site and offered several suggestions. I offered some comments, but mostly just moderated the event.
Below are some pictures. The three panelists were local search engine experts and are shown below. I’m standing behind them…
Lately, I’ve been asked to do several audits of Google AdWords campaigns for friends, colleagues, students, and former clients. (That’s one nice thing about having less clients, it frees me up to do enjoyable things like that.)
After doing a few Google AdWords Audits, here are the best tips I have.
