If, at least once in your life / career, you had to create an AdWords campaign, you know that the most difficult step is the choice of keywords.

Until a couple of years ago, in fact, this task was quite simple: you only had to insert a few sentences composed of just one or two words and the game was done. If gestivi a hotel in Milan, the keywords that you were made for “hotels” and “hotel in Milan”. Simple is not it?

With the expansion of competition (number of advertisers) and the increase of the average length of queries (3-4 terms), everything became more complicated. Using keywords that are too generic now has a series of negative effects on the performance of your campaign:

•     a cost per click (CPC) is so high that to exhaust your budget without even noticing you;
•     a low quality score resulting in a contraction of the impression (especially on the front page) or in a display ad in locations distant from the first. All this involves a reduction of the CTR and therefore a low effectiveness of the campaign.

In this scenario, the choice of keywords has become a treasure hunt where you have to find specific keywords, well able to describe your offer, and that they cost little. Returning to the above fact, hardly “hotel in Milan” will allow you to display your ad on the front page. You will need to use more specific keyphrase such as “4-star hotel in Milan”, “design hotel in Milan” and so on.

The good news is that Google are familiar with our “professional drama”.

A first step to come to us have done long ago with the instrument for the keywords, starting a few words or analyzing your site, you can propose a set of keywords to associate with your campaign.

The ultimate solution to our headaches, however, could be close. At the recent Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conference a representative of Google announced that Bigg is working on an evolution of AdWords able to transcend the concept of keywords.

The new AdWords will be able, just by analyzing your site, to:

•     suggest the text of the ads;
•     choose the most appropriate format (banner, text ad, video, etc..);
•     show the ad only to users who are truly interested in your products / services, thereby facilitating the match between demand and supply.

All without you having to do anything except work on your core business.

I know now you know when the new creature will see the light. Unfortunately there are no official dates, but Google is talking about a project whose trial proceeds for some time. Do not just have to wait impatiently …

It remains to be seen whether the new AdWords campaign management will make keyword advertising really affordable, so end up off work for several industry consultants.

What do you think? Leave a comment with your opinion!

Thanks to the professional blogger Darren Rowse I discovered the Credibility Pyramid (the Pyramid of Credibility), a theory that explains how to behave in order to be credible in front of your audience. This theory was originally developed for those who have occasion to speak often in public as teachers, conference speakers, leaders of working groups, managers, etc.. The step to extend it to bloggers, however, is very short. So we analyze what constitutes this pyramid.

Credibility = Knowledge + Enthusiasm + + Focus Attention

Knowledge

At the base of the pyramid is situated knowledge, which can be assigned a value equal to 10% of the total.
The fact that it is not random at the base: all that is above has no meaning (and is destined to collapse) if what you say or write is not supported by adequate knowledge of the subjects to be taken.

Wondering how to increase your knowledge? The answer is known, put it into practice is harder  Read books, magazines, blogs and other online resources, training courses follow, observes people smarter then you. Above all, never cease to seek, never think of having reached the maximum limit of what you could learn. In other words, the world always thinks that there is someone more experienced than you
If you have any problem to discipline you in your training, you should effectively Andrea Giuliodori the excellent blog on personal growth.

Focus

Who takes care of any kind of communication certainly know the golden rule: “communicates a message and one at a time.” Reduced to the case of blogs, this means:

Carefully choose the theme of your blog By focusing on a specific theme. Can you think of the name of some famous blog “generalist”? Exactly
each item in your blog tackles a single topic. If you have many topics to be addressed and many things to say … better, you’ll have material for various posts.

Being focused on a specific topic will guarantee another “15% of credibility.”

Enthusiasm

As many as 25% of your credibility depends on the enthusiasm that you put into communication.
The excitement is in turn closely linked with the interest. If you talk about something that involves you risulterai naturally excited, until it becomes contagious in respect of your readers.
Enthusiasm is the force that allows you to react to failures (few players, a few comments, few gains …) or to persevere when you feel you no longer have the energy to carry out your project. It is no coincidence that most blogs are open for the sole purpose of financial gain have a short life.

Attention

The attention with which you relate to your audience affects 50% of your credibility.
What does it mean to have the right attention to readers of a blog? Here are some suggestions:

Study the profiles of your readers and adapt your communication to it (eg you’re using terminology too technical for your average reader?)
Create a community, trying to get your readers “one by one.” To do ssa one of the gadgets available like Google Friend Connect (see sidebar to right) or MyBlogLog
Constantly invites your visitors to give their feedback
Follow the advice and requests that come from your audience
Reply to comments, especially when it comes to criticism.

My pyramid

Far be it from me to criticize the experts who developed the Credibility Pyramid. My experience, however, leads me to revise slightly the weights to be attached to 4 items:

Knowledge: 20%
Focus: 15%
Enthusiasm: 25%
Warning: 40%

I think that knowledge, that is the domain of what you are saying / writing, can not represent only 10% of the credibility of an individual. Knowledge is the key to authority, I do not think that the credibility is inseparable from the recognition in the speaker, a strong authority.

And how’s your pyramid?

Define the concept of web marketing is not easy. Take M N sites and books on the field and get N + M different definitions.

Since the advent of Internet theorists are scrambling to figure out what falls within those two magic words, and what are its boundaries than other similar concepts such as web advertising, SEO, SEM and more.
Being a lover and a “preacher” of simplicity, as evidenced by the minimalist style of this blog  In this article I will try to strip the concept of all that is necessary, explaining the 4 basic steps that are needed to distinguish a good strategy web marketing.

1. Planning

Do not start doing anything until they have planned your activities. This is a golden rule that should apply in any business setting, and why not, in our private lives.
Yet, too often, I find myself facing companies that decide to develop the web site just because “everyone has one now” or because “my main competitor has done.”
Any action that you undertake internet marketing should be part of an annual plan setting out clearly:

objectives to be achieved (eg increase in sales or customer numbers by 10%)
activities associated with the relative timing (eg, website development, E-mail Direct Marketing, Keywords advertising)
budget allocated to each activity
metrics for measuring results (eg, number of accesses to the site, number of conversions).

By doing this you obbligherai planning to write on paper targets, activities and budget. All this will also help you understand what is actually feasible in the short and what, however, it is worth postponing the future.
Do not forget, then, that web marketing is a part, today more and more significant, due to marketing and communication carried out by the company. So be careful to consistency between what you do online and offline activities.

2. Presence

In order to make marketing efforts and communication on the web you have to be in the online world. This means that, first of all, you will need to develop your company’s website. The online site will become the image of your company and the center towards which the convergence of future communications activities; then entrusted to professionals.
Today, being online is not just about having your own website or blog. Seeks to exploit all the opportunities the web offers: vertical portals, social media, Twitter, article marketing, online advertising etc..
But beware, do not get caught by the desire to be ubiquitous: choose the channels of communication depending on the target to which you are targeting and communications goals established in Phase 1.

Do not forget, finally, to measure continuously the results of actions taken. Regularly assess your online presence (who visits your site or your profile on social networks, etc. Who links to you.) And the perception of your brand online.

3. Contact

The actions undertaken in Phase 2 must have a precise goal. I know what you’re thinking: selling! But no, that will (hopefully) later.
Your first concern at this stage should be to generate leads.

Lead is the interest shown by a customer in response to sales promotion, you may then realize in starting a negotiation.

The lead is the time when you convert a simple website visitor a potential customer.
To maximize the leads you will first need to worry about having a high number of targeted visitors, that is truly interested in your products or services.
Explain in a complete way as to direct targeted traffic to your site definitely requires a separate post. We limit ourselves here to recall the main tools: techniques of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to help you position your website well in the SERPs for relevant keywords, campaigns, Pay-Per-Click (PPC), link building and affiliate programs well etc. studied.

4 Report

“Oh, you finally sell” you are thinking. But no!
Once established contact with potential customers, trying to engage with him / her a long term relationship. The tools available to create this report are known: social media, newsletters, mobile marketing, Twitter etc..
Do not overlook the importance of this step: if you can establish a relationship of trust between you and the customer, he / she become your best marketing man. A recent study of “Edelman Trust Barometer” tells us that only 17% of consumers are willing to give confidence to an institutional advertisement (evidently considered too partisan and not objective), while no less than 56% gives credence to the view expressed from other consumers.
In conclusion, make sure that your customers trust you and that they communicate to you. Initiatives are the most effective communication and economic existence.

Planning – Presence – Contact – Report. You have to do. Simple is not it?

In the previous article we talked about the 10 mistakes to avoid promoting a site, stop at the first 5. We see today the last 5 recommendations on things to do:

6. Become a “social media spammers”
A social media spammer is someone who reports all your articles to all the social media that has been able to find on the Net

Let your users have to decide if your item is worth pointing out and voted on social media. If you want to be sure to achieve this write useful and interesting content, the rest will do your readers.

7. Write (only) for the search engines
Do not optimize your pages just to get the first position in Google, thinks, and especially to your users. Find the right balance between Search Engine Optimization (SEO), quality of content and form.

If you write a large amount of content, a problem that you’ll definitely post at least once is what I call “the dilemma of the synonym”: better to use the same word all the time (eg. Marketing), or use its synonyms ( es. promotion, publicity, advertising, etc..)? The SEO that is in you, who very strongly want to see your site in first place with the word “marketing”, you will instantly forget every other synonym. The linguist in you I advise you to turn often to synonyms. The solution lies somewhere in between: the alternate term for which you want to place with its synonyms, so you’ll get a good ranking on the engines and your readers will get to the bottom of the article without getting a headache coming on.

Do not forget, finally, have a good ranking on Google is to be appreciated. If all points on SEO will likely get many hits, but hardly able to create a community of loyal readers.

8. Fill the online social media widgets
The trend is now widespread: a majority of the sidebar of the blog is now populated by gadgets / widgets of all kinds connected to many different profiles on social networks.

It is a behavior to be avoided for at least two reasons:

the first is purely technical: most of these gadgets are loaded remotely retrieving the related content from other sites. This ensures that you can not have more precise control over the load time of pages that greatly expands the proliferation of widgets;
the second is more theoretical and brings to mind the rule known as the KISS principle: “Keep it Simple and Stupid” or, some say, “Keep it Simple, Stupid.” Basically it is an ode to simplicity. The strength of your site must be content, avoids any unnecessary frills that would have the sole effect of diverting attention from the content itself (yes I know, maybe I have a little ‘too much with the minimalism of the graphics
One of the reasons Google has crushed the competition of the various Yahoo!, Altavista etc.. is its simplicity: you can not find another home in the search box.

9. Copying from other sites
This clause is not almost deserves no comment. Strive to be original in everything from design, style, content. And ‘This is the principle that, for example, I recommended to repeat the classic news on this blog you can find on many other sites in the industry.

10. Use automatic submission service to search engines
On this point there is no doubt that the services that promise to submit your site to 100, 1,000 or 10,000 search engines are completely unnecessary and, if paid, dangerous.

If you build your site with a minimum of optical SEO, search engines will index it automatically, without you having to do anything, let alone spend money.

And you, what do you think are the mistakes to avoid when developing and promoting your site or blog?

Create a website or blog today has become very simple. Thanks to CMS and blogging platforms, even people who have skills in web design and web development can build their own website within a few hours.
The hard part comes when you press the “publish” your CMS or when you upload files to the server. From that fateful moment, there are two problems (or should we call them challenges) that you will face:

Maintain the site, update it constantly. If it’s a blog thing becomes even more complicated because your audience is expecting more content “fresh”
Promote your site, make the world that the world, at least the portion that surfs the Internet, you notice you.

Today we explore the second point, trying to understand which are the most common mistakes to avoid when you promote your site / blog. The inspiration to do a guest post by Kevin Geary Blog Darren Rowse, considered the greatest world expert on blogging.

Here is the list of 10 mistakes to avoid when promoting your site or blog:

1. Comment on other blogs in a non-constructive
In his article, Geary is a typical example of comment that I have always found it tedious: “Very good post, thank you for writing it.”
A comment like that could be left with two types of people:

“Without the word” series “the most beautiful silence never was written,” if we do not have anything interesting, constructive, and so ironic. to be written, better just read
“Get smart” one who wrote the comment just to get a link to your site.

It is not my intention to terrorize the limit of no more you leave comments on blogs, let alone mine. When you are preparing to write the blogs of others, however, remember: Your comment must be true (ie not smart), relevant, and valuable for readers.

2. Make requests for inbound links in bulk
If he did Kevin Geary, then we can admit that we have done
Bombing of e-mail the owners of other sites and blogs begging for a link is definitely not a good strategy. Especially if the mail is received by the recipient as something standard and recycled, will be treated as spam, that is trashed immediately.
Use the time saved by not sending these emails to create value to your site / blog. If you reach this goal you will get links naturally, without having to beg.

3. Make requests for exchange links in mass
This point can be considered the continuous of the previous. If the inbound links should be natural, even the practice of exchanging links (I Linko you if you you link me) is not caldeggiabile. Once again we must put ourselves in the shoes of the user: if a link in addition, put eg. in the blogroll of a blog, is able to generate value for the user, then you should enter it, otherwise not.

4. Use Twitter just to promote themselves
Twitter began as a micro-blogging platform to keep in touch with friends updating them in real time on their activities, their thoughts and programs etc..
Use it only as a channel for promoting a website / blog is a distortion of the medium that will make you lose credibility with your followers.
The same can be extended to major social networks. Use eg. Facebook just to republish the post appeared on his blog is a behavior that, especially in the long term, will not bring any benefit. Your friends are interested in what you write will probably find it more convenient to subscribe to your blog feed or visit your site daily. Those who do not care what you do on the Net will find your behavior annoying.

5. Participate in the forum only for self-promotion
Continuing the reasoning of section 4, does not participate in the forums just to get some access to more generated by the link that will appear in your signature. Again, using the instrument for the purpose for which it was created. The forum aims to build a community that is discussing certain topics, is the perfect place to ask questions and get answers from people more qualified than you, or where he provide some advice to those who need it.
If you participate in forums with this approach and you make yourself useful, valuable traffic to your site will increase hand in hand.

It ‘s all.
But how, you were talking about 10 errors?
Sure, but to know the other 5 have to wait for the next article
Subscribe to feed the BernaBlog to be sure not to miss it!

In the previous article we have tried to understand why making investments in SEM (Search Engine Marketing), in other words, we wondered what objectives help to achieve these initiatives.

Assuming, very optimistically, that has convinced you that the SEM for you, the next question to ask is: where to find the money needed to finance these investments? Oh yes, because the company, as in any family, “the blanket is short.” The funds available for communication are all alike, even when they are not reduced, then you must make choices.

Once again we try to answer our question by borrowing the responses from 890 American advertisers interviewed by SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization).

“Where is the budget of your SEM initiatives?”

Approximately one third of respondents said that the budget dedicated to Search Engine Marketing is a mixture of new funds allocated ad hoc sums previously earmarked for other forms of marketing.
Another third said instead that the money for the SEM are derived exclusively from new appropriations.
My personal experience, applied almost exclusively to Italian SMEs, significantly strengthens the response given by the majority of respondents: Investment in SEM, and web marketing in general, are funded mainly by subtracting funds to traditional marketing initiatives. In times of crisis, then find a contractor willing to invest new money for such programs is virtually impossible.

How to finance the SEM

“What marketing initiatives subtract the budget to be transferred to SEM?”
As expected, the offline marketing (print, DM, television advertising) is the sacrificial victim from which to take the necessary budget to fund the SEM.
Rather surprising to see in the first positions the development of websites. Personally I have always rated the SEM and highly synergistic activity on the site. In my opinion, the SEM should be oriented to increase quality traffic to your website. In the latter, or a landing page that consists, however, it is the last decisive step: the conversion from a visitor to customer.

From where to get the budget to fund the SEM

And you, how to fund the initiatives of your search engine marketing and web marketing in general?