Jane Brocklebank » Online marketing

Adwords as a lead generation tool

Jane Brocklebank — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:21:36 +0000

I’m often asked by small businesses if I know where they can buy a mailing list so they can try and generate some leads. My feeling is that this is a bit like throwing jelly at a wall and hoping some of it might stick. It’s so unlikely that anyone is a) going to open an unsolicited email and b)respond favourably if they do, that I would say ‘save your money and spend it on something more effective’.

Could AdWords be more effective?

AdWords appear when someone is actively searching for a solution to a problem. If you can just get your ads right, they should prove to be a much more effective lead generation tool. I met with team from The Adword Adviser recently to grill them on how to do it. They had some very useful tips which I’ve outlined here…

Message match

It’s important to ‘message match’ – this means that the words within the search term typed into Google match the content of the ad that appears, and that this matches the content of the web page they are directed to.

Targeting

There are various ways you can target, including:

Geographic search intent i.e. targeting searchers who use a specific location in their search
Physical geographic location
Scheduling at different times of day i.e. if you’re expecting phone calls as a result of your ad, the ad will only appear when you’re open or available to handle the calls

Another option is to target different platforms such as:

PCs and laptops
Mobile phones
Tablet PCs & Ipads

Keywords

Google offers a keyword tool which is very helpful for finding out what search terms people actually use when looking for your type of product. Tell it the keywords you are thinking of, and it will tell you a whole bunch of related phrases that people search for.

You can also block out keywords that you DON’T want, such as anyone searching using the word ‘free’

Formatting your ad

Your ad consists of a heading, 2 description lines and the url line. It’s wise to use your keywords in the heading so that people can see the relevance of the ad compared to what they searched for.

The description lines should be concise and specific.

Poor quality ads won’t show. If the keywords, description and website content aren’t ‘matched’ Google will not show them. You only pay when your ad gets clicked, so you’re not losing any money but it means that you’re not getting the publicity you hoped for.

Different ways to use AdWords

You can use AdWords in various ways. The most obvious one is to sell a product e.g. shoes. But you can also use it to get people to sign up for a newsletter, or to conduct research. If you’ve got your finger on the pulse, you can even use current news stories to generate visits to your website. One such example was a company who sold lightbulbs. Following a popular TV programme that was talking about attracting moths, this company ran an AdWord campaign using the TV programme name and the phrase ‘moth friendly lightbulbs’. This was a very effective tactic and a great use of the tool.

Wasting money

Clicks can cost anything from 6p to £20. How much you’re prepared to spend on clicks will depend on the value of what you’re selling.

What would happen if your website and emails went offline?

Jane Brocklebank — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:50:56 +0000

Don’t find out the hard way! Recently I had a text telling me that my website and emails were down. Luckily it was a Sunday and I was able to rectify it pretty quickly (after I had kicked myself for being so lax!) I am ashamed to admit that my domain name registration had expired and because I set it up a few years ago, the email address they had been using to remind me and prompt a renewal was one I no longer use.

The most common reason for websites going offline is that either the domain name registration or the hosting agreement has expired. So how can you avoid this happening to you?

Do you know when yours expires? If not, find out and make sure the contact details they hold for you are current.

Don’t forget that the domain name registration and the hosting could be 2 separate organisations – for example 123-reg, Namesco and UKreg offer domain name registration i.e. you buy the license to use the website name of your choice such as www.yourcompanyname.com for a number of years.

Siteground, 1 and 1 and Fasthosts offer web hosting … and many of them offer both. This means they host your website and all its files on their servers, again typically for a number of years.

If you’ve had a domain name for some time, and have a new website created, it could be that they are out of sync with each other, so it doesn’t necessarily follow that because one is due it means the other is too.

To compound the problem, many of us now use several email addresses for different purposes and it’s easy for things to slip through the net.

My recommendation is to keep a file (either a physical one or a digital one – preferably both) containing all the information on your website and emails – who hosts it, who created it, how do you get updates done, when are renewals due etc. and do an annual check so you’re prepared. Designate one email address for all website related correspondence

Trust me, you don’t want to be trying to do this when you’re flat out busy, with looming deadlines and your emails and website aren’t working – do it soon!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net">Photo credit: Free Digital Photos

Online Directories – FREE advertising

Jane Brocklebank — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:59:01 +0000

There are a lot of directory sites that provide local business listings. If you run a business or service that falls into a recognisable category e.g. “hairdresser” or “accountant” you should take full advantage of these as they are very effective and often appear on the first page of search engine results.

Normally there is no cost for a standard listing and it will just take a few minutes to add your details to each one. You may look at these sites and think they are not that exciting, but try doing an online search for your business type and see how often they come up – you’re missing a trick by not being listed!

Here is a list of such directory listing sites in Maidenhead:

http://www.maidenhead-berkshire.co.uk/

www.maidenhead.net

And some nationwide ones that feature local listings …