Paid Search Receiving its Due? – Part II

In Part I, we looked at two ways in which paid search may not be receiving its full credit – when lifetime customer value is not measured properly and when online sales tracking is not properly implemented in order to capture all PPC driven clicks.
In Part II, the focus becomes more complex because we dive [...]

Paid Search Receiving its Due? – Part I

Gone are the days when PPC was new, sexy and could do no wrong – in the wake of a crippling recession that continues to hold us in its grip in 2010, even online marketing programs are under greater scrutiny.
Clients are asking more tricky questions about their paid search programs in order to evaluate their [...]

What’s the Point of PPC?

Perhaps shocking but true, is the fact that there are still brand / lead generation / marketing managers out there who have allocated a marketing budget to PPC spend, but they do not quite grasp its purpose. What seems to happen is that upper management has experience with the PPC medium and they understand the [...]

SEMPO – From Greatness to Mediocrity?

Did you know that within the search marketing industry, there exists a professional non-profit organization built to provide a foundation for industry growth through fostering awareness, providing education, promoting the industry, generating research and creating a better understanding of search and its role in marketing?
No? Well, there is: SEMPO – Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization.
Maybe [...]

PPC Branded Sales Down?

PPC driven year-over-year branded sales are down – so the first natural recourse is to find someone to blame. Logical deduction would have it that it is the fault of whoever is managing the PPC campaign, because surely, if the PPC campaign was driving strong branded sales last year, well then, what has changed [...]

Search Marketers – Too Generalist?

In the last few years the online marketing field has grown to become more sophisticated, in line with the increasing demands of more knowledgeable clients and the constant evolution of the search industry. They say that the only constant in search is change’. They are right. A few years ago, it was more than feasible [...]

Breaking the Search Marketing Silo

In 1886 John Wanamaker coined the phrase that would define traditional marketing:

“I know that 50% of my advertising is wasted…
…I just don’t know which half!”
Then in 2000, search marketing made its official debut with the launch of Google AdWords. This redefined the marketing game, as Pay-per-Click (PPC) gave rise to a measurable form of consumer-initiated [...]

Oh, That’s Right, We Don’t Need SEO Standards

What is SEO?
“Suppose it’s got something to do with when doing a search, getting the most and best hits back, i.e. no crap.”
“A practise that improves performance and relevance of result sets for search engines. Never heard of it as a service.”
“No understanding at all…is it something that makes Google work better?”
“My guess is that [...]

My PPC Ad Position Has Moved, Again!

There’s a great deal of advice out there about selecting the right SEM agency so that your business reaps a positive return from the online marketing, but what about the SEM agency getting the perfect client?
As difficult as it can be for clients to work with agencies, there is a plethora of clients that give [...]

The New Divide: Sales vs. Web Team

The historic clash between the sales and marketing departments has been well documented. There are proponents on both sides of the fence making their case for the paramount importance of their respective function. Many articles written on this topic try to punch above their weight making grandiose statements such as ‘marketing leads, sales follows’, of [...]

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