Understanding Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

The expansion of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) companies who charge an ongoing fee to manage Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing designed to bring traffic to a website has led to more confusion for customers. Recently a prospective customer in Florida was told by a Search Engine Marketing salesperson from another company that their 5 year old website should not be upgraded because they would be able to get more traffic to the website through a 6 month contract for pay per click advertising. The current website is not listed on any of the search engines with a HUGE FLASH SPASH page, out of date information, difficult navigation and little opportunity for buyers to make a buying decision online.

The salesperson went further in telling the customer that they were 'putting the cart before the horse' by fixing the website before obtaing more traffic to the website. The salesperson is either uninformed or dishonest in his proposal and claims to the customer since driving more traffic without an effective website will not generate any more sales nor provide the website with any chance of being listed on a search engine without having to pay for the listing. Since the Search Engine Marketing company is paid by managing the ongoing paid advertising it makes sense for them to advise the customer not to invest on an effective website that would begin showing up online without having to pay for clicks. Pay Per Click (PPC) is an effective short term solution for new websites to bring traffic, visits and inform the search engines of the website content.

PPC works similar to an online auction (think ebay) where each company or marketing firm out bids the competitors for the top spots. This means that the cost will ALWAYS increase while the results will continue to decrease. The focus of marketing companies sell paid listings and search engine marketing is to ensure the customer always has to pay them to obtain traffic on the website rather than having an effective website that reaches customers through Search Engine Optimization. What most website and online marketing companies are missing is that they will not lose money by helping the customers reach more buyers on a search engine without PPC. If the website is developed properly with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) it will reduce the monthly costs for customers delivering a more effective long term reach. The initial loss of advertising income will be offset by the long term relationship and business from the customer who will need another website or related services in the future.

The other EXTREMELY BAD affect of search engine marketing and PPC management companies is the lack of understanding or accountability to the customer. The marketing companies usually have little to no understanding of the customers business or target audience. A builder in Kansas has been paying the website company that built the current website for search engine marketing each month. The builder only builds homes in Kansas City Metro (KS/MO) yet the website company setup paid marketing nationwide so that anyone looking for new homes or a builder for any city in the country will see the paid listing for the Kansas City builder. Specifically the builder who ONLY builds in Kansas and Missouri is paying for advertising in Georgia, Oklahoma, California and all 50 states because the search engine marketing was setup wrong by the website company!

The website company also has a link on the HOME PAGE of the customer's website to the website traffic reports for all of his competitors to see. When reviewing the reports they only show the number of visits and overall traffic to the website not where the traffic is coming from. This means the customer will never know that they are being charged to market homes in California or Georgia because the report does not include this information and the marketing company either does not know or does not care. To see this specific example visit www.AtlantaNewHomesandBuilders.com then view the GOOGLE ads rotating at the bottom of the page often showing a builder in Oklahoma and a builder in Kansas City along with the local Atlanta ads.

When marketing online consider the long term goals, what opportunity is being presented to buyers when they reach the website and what common sense tells you.

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
http://www.BuilderConsulting.com
Building Better Websites Since 1995
913-814-8844

Return on Investment (ROI) from Online Marketing

In 1999 Yahoo went public and quickly became the top Search Engine used by millions of Internet Buyers worldwide. Microsoft Network (MSN) and America Online (AOL) were the top competitors with little heard about Google. Move forward to 2008 and Google has become an adjective "Do You Google?" or "Google it" commanding 60% of the online searches. Naturally businesses and Internet Marketing companies spend the majority of online budgets on Google AdWords pay per click advertising. Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft bCentral are often overlooked or ignored missing millions of potential buyers.

The largest is not always the best and marketing dollars should be invested where the best Return on Investment will be accomplished. Advertisments for 'Kansas City New Homes' on Google AdWords can cost up to $3.85 per click reaching 60% of the online users. The same advertisment on Yahoo averages $1.31 per click with 18% of online users. with a mere 14% of online users Microsoft bCentral advertising will cost $1.12 per click. A monthly budget of $500 would give:

• 129 clicks (potential buyers) from Google
• 381 clicks (potential buyers) from Yahoo
• 446 clicks (potential buyers) from Microsoft bCentral

Others considerations for online marketing are demographics and usage - consider that Yahoo became the top Search Engine 8 years ago and remains the top destination for finance and business users. Google has the largest porportion of teenage users making it perfect for marketers wanting to sell IPOD's, concert tickets or Teen Magazine. Researching the demographics to ensure your marketing dollars are reaching the proper audience is more important than the total number of users on a specific search engine. Pay Per Click alone is not an effective long term marketing solution. Pay Per Click is effective for targeted traffic with a set budget yet will constantly cost more for less results or traffic as others bid against you for the top spots.

Developing a professional website incorporating the key aspects of design, Search Engine Optimization, navigation, usability, content, purpose and one-click call to action opportunities is the best overall solution. Investing more in expert website services will reduce the costs required for constant paid listings when your website shows up naturally online. Websites listed through pay per click that are poorly designed or ineffective are PAYING to exclude themselves from buyers!

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
http://www.BuilderConsulting.com

Search Engine Optimization Guidelines

When planning and executing an effective Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization program it is important to understand that Search Engines often change rankings within their directories. A Search Engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc) is simply a database of pre-approved website listings. This means that your next Google Search only shows the results of the websites that have previously been added and ranked in the Google Database Directory of websites!

When Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other search engines add new websites to their directory your website ranking will be affected. If there were 1 million new websites added to the search engine directory this month it is likely to move the rank of your website in the Search Results. Sometimes the website may rank higher while other times the addition of large numbers of new websites may bring the website rank down. When executing an effective Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing campaign remain focused on the long-term advantages and goals when the rank of the website changes each month.

Keep these 5 guidelines in mind when assessing search engine optimization efforts:

1. Content Changes on the Internet
Websites are updated, new text may be added, new images or pages may be developed and content changes on the website. Other websites are also changing and updating content to improve their rankings which may affect where your website is listed even if you make no changes. Any and all changes made to the website may affect the ranking at any time.

2. Search Engines Constantly Change and Evolve
Every Search Engine is constantly trying to improve the Search Results for users online. The algorithms or programs used to determine how a website is ranked are updated and modified frequently affecting how your website will be listed.

3. Size Does Matter Online
Websites or marketing pages with a single page and links to other websites are often ranked low or even excluded from Search Results. Since all pages of your website contain different text and content every page added over time can affect rankings. The QUALITY of the content is more important than the quantity since a properly developed and optimized website will always rank higher. When expanding the website keep your primary phrases and keywords in mind and be sure to incorporate them.

4. Inbound Links from Other Websites and Directories
In an ongoing attempt to exclude marketing websites the Search Engines have given higher rankings to websites which have more links TO the website from other websites considered to be of high value. This means that having a link to the website from website not listed in the directory or another website ranked poor does nothing while a link from a highly rated website that has been online for many years will improve the rank of YOUR website!

5. It Takes an Expert
Search engine optimization is an art developed over years of experiance and research. Knowing what search engines share data with others, how the cross linking works, what content and design affects rankings and how to properly submit a website and webpages to the thousands of directories is extremely time consuming. Search engines are constantly changing ranking methods and adding new websites which requires ongoing research and tracking by consultants and SEO experts.

Searching online may be discouraging when other websites rank higher than yours that have apparent deficiencies such as lack of content, no keywords in the title or META tags and a limited number of pages. Sometimes the rank of a website makes no sense considering the known standards used to rank and sort Search Results.

Often times the age of a website (how long has the website been online and ranked in the directory) and number of other websites with high ranking that link to the website can provide a higher rank for a poorly designed older website over a properly designed new website...at least until the new website adds creditability.

Not all websites are created equal and neither are the thousands and thousands of inferior website designers who lack true skill and understanding of the Internet. Make sure your website is Search Engine Optimized and keep the long term goals in focus as you see the webite rank differently over time.

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
Internet & Technology Expert since 1995
http://www.BuilderConsulting.com

Building Better Websites for Home Buyers

Having been in business for over 12 years building over 600 websites nationally we have had numerous customers request music, audio and video to automatically play on their websites. While many website design companies do this without thought (the customer asked for it) few consider the problems this will cause the customer. Statistically speaking having music or video automatically start on websites will lose business since the large majority of Internet Users consider it annoying.

Technically having music or video on a website will keep 58% of all potential home buyers from ever viewing your website since they are still using Dial-up internet connections which cannot properly facilitate this. Many website designers fail to focus on what their customers customer is looking for when creating a home builder website nor the technical numbers.

Home buyers want a visually and cosmetically appealing website that downloads fast and is easy to navigate so they can find a new home. Anything else is a distraction that loses the customer and the potential sale on a real estate website. When Internet Users want to be entertained they visit www.YouTube.com and even that website does not automatically play music or videos until the customer requests!

The overwhelming majority of home buyers who visit your website are doing so at their office during the week. Considering this fact most of the home buyers who visit a website at the office that starts playing music from their work computer will instantly turn the website off so not to be caught. Builder Consulting spends between 20-30 hours a week (myself and our Internet Marketing staff) researching online usage trends, technical changes, home buyer studies and Search Engines to ensure the websites we build produce the proper results for the customer.

Below are a few articles and feedback on the use of audio/video on websites:

Business Community comments and information about music on websites:
www.startupnation.com/pages/community/forum_posts_SEO.asp?TID=322&PN=4&TPN=1

Nifty new service from Yahoo enables consumers to provide direct feedback and answers to questions such as music on websites:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070113153650AABqZMz

What other website companies say about music on websites:
http://www.oakridgewebdesigns.com/musicweb.htm

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
http://www.BuilderConsulting.com
913-814-8844 Office

Integrating the Internet with Traditional Marketing

Real estate has always been about Location and the number one location for reaching home buyers today is the Internet. Studies from the NAHB and NAR attribute as much as 86% of all new home buyers using the Internet as a primary resource when searching for a new home or builder. Less than 10% of the marketing budgets today are spent on the Internet. Integrating the Internet with traditional marketing continues to be a challenge even the largest builders or real estate companies find daunting.

Browse through any local newspaper or magazine and you will find a real estate agent with a full page ad featuring a huge self portrait, small images of homes for sale, a phone number and maybe a tiny line of text with a website address. Read a few more pages to find an ad for a beautiful new home community listing the Community Name in large print across the top, photos of the area, prices and a phone number but no readily available website address. Advertising offline needs to focus on driving buyers online to your 24 hour 7 day a week Internet Sales Center.

Most Internet Users will use a Search Line to type a community, builder or location name (i.e. Kansas City New Homes). If the Search Results do not display your website then you just lost the opportunity to sell that buyer a home. The Internet is being used to exclude as much as include you based upon locating your website and delivering it properly to the buyer. Home Buyers are searching for information online that is quickly displayed, organized, cosmetically appealing and consistent. Websites should be attractive but understand attractive does not mean effective on the Internet. Nationally only 42% of Internet Users have high-speed Internet leaving 58% with slow dial-up connections to view websites.

A pretty website designed with FLASH movies, music and large high-quality photos will never reach 58% of the people using the Internet. Internet Buyers have ADD typically waiting less than 20 seconds for content before moving on. There is nothing more annoying than to finally locate a website only to be presented with the ‘Loading’ (please wait a few minutes to see our website) screen.

Consider next the home buyer who has high-speed Internet who decided to look for new homes before bed on their laptop. With their husband or wife sleeping beside them a website blaring loud music awakens their spouse so they immediately close the website moving on to another. Many marketing or advertising methods are used simply because it is the way things have always been done not because they produce results. Billboards deliver a split second visual message which is effective for branding but difficult to deliver a message.* Home buyers were using the Internet twice as much as a newspaper by 2003 while the money spent on newspaper advertising was over ten times what was spent online. **

Old habits are hard to break; our industry will not change marketing habits overnight although you can start small and work your way into the Digital Age. Place your website address prominently on all advertising, business cards, company vehicles, signs, letterhead, community handouts and floorplans and every email you send out.

Integrating websites with offline marketing is extremely important keeping in mind that online buyers are not looking for entertainment; they are looking for a place to call home.

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
www.BuilderConsulting.com

*NFIB 3/14/2002 “Should You Advertise on Billboards”** NAR 2003 “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers”

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NAHB Reports Sales Slow but Inventory Drops

Posted from NAHB.com 3-4-2007

New Home Sales Slow in January, But Inventories Drop
Following gains in November and December, new single-family home sales dropped 16.6% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 937,000 units, 20.1% below the pace of a year earlier, the Commerce Department reported last week.
Despite January’s decline, which followed an upward revision for December, new single-family sales remained in the narrow range that has persisted since the middle of last year.
"The falloff in new-home sales in January largely reflected a return to more normal weather conditions, following a weather-related increase in sales late last year," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "NAHB's monthly surveys actually have been showing modest improvements in builders' confidence regarding home buyer demand since last September."
"The new-home sales statistics continue to show a lot of month-to-month volatility, but the pattern has been fundamentally flat since the middle of last year," Seiders said. "The market is being supported by solid gains in employment and personal income, as well as by a historically low interest rate structure, and we expect those supports to be well maintained as we move forward. Furthermore, builders continue to use both price and non-price incentives to bolster sales and reduce inventory," he added.
The inventory of new homes for sale edged down in January to 536,000 units, the lowest since February 2006 and equivalent to a 6.8 months' supply at the January sales pace.
Nearly 33% of the inventory was comprised of completed homes for sale; 51% consisted of homes still under construction and units with permits that were not yet started accounted for 16% of the inventory.
Completed homes were on the market for a median of 4.8 months in January.
Homes sales declined in January in all four regions of the country.
Sales were down 37.4% in the West, 18.7% in the Northeast, 9.7% in the South and 8.1% in the Midwest.
The median price of the new homes sold in January was $239,800, slightly higher than the previous month but 2.1% below a year earlier.
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Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
www.BuilderConsulting.com websites to reach more buyers and sell more homes!