Search Engine Marketing: Spidered and Paid Listings
Your Website: If You Build It, Will They Come? ...Only If You Tell
Them
E-mail Techno Tip: The Era of Managed Messaging
This issue contains Part 1 of a crash course in negotiation, an explanation of the two types of search engine listings, the truth about generating website traffic and the benefits of email managed messaging.
As always, your only dues for receiving The Next Level are to pass it along to anyone you think may benefit and to visit our advertisers.
Best regards,
-John Libonati, Editor
Negotiating to Win (Part 1)
By Dave Yost
Senior Media Buyer/Planner
Harmelin Media - Philadelphia, PA
dyost@harmelin.com
Whether you are discussing a compensation package for a new job, buying a car, changing your cell phone plan or putting together a media buy it is important to know how to negotiate. Negotiation can lead to elation if you win or anguish if feel you were taken advantage of.
The key to any negotiation is to do your homework.
First you must know your adversary. What is their personality like? What is their negotiation style? Are they the decision maker? Try and anticipate what they will ask for and if they have a hidden agenda.Anticipate your opponent's responses to any tactics you employ.
Second you must support your arguments with facts. Information equals Power. Always try and know more about the issue you are negotiating than your opponent. Information can intimidate.
Third you must clearly define your goals. Decide before you sit down to negotiate what exactly you are trying to achieve. Be as specific as possible. Form arguments that will accomplish these goals.
Fourth you must draw the battle lines. Any negotiation will involve compromise. It is very important to decide in advance what position you will not retreat beyond. Even if a negotiation goes poorly; do not allow yourself to go above or below a certain point.
Fifth you must be prepared to say "NO" and walk away. "NO" is the single most powerful word in any negotiation. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO USE IT. Conversely, do not be afraid of being told "NO". You do not get what you do not ask for. What is the worst that could happen?
Please look for Part 2 in the next issue when I explain the types of
negotiation power and specific ways to gain that power in order to get what you want. Until then remember: everything is negotiable and the more you do it the easier it becomes.
Dave Yost is Senior Media Buyer/Planner at Harmelin Media, a Media Buying firm in Philadelphia. Contact him at dyost@harmelin.com or 610-668-7900 xtn. 167
Search Engine Marketing: Spidered and Paid Listings
By Aimee Munton
So, you've heard the great new statistics about Internet commerce. People are shopping online in record numbers-Jupiter Research has forecasted this year's holiday sales to be up 17% from last year. What can you do to make sure your site takes part in the growth of the Internet? Although there are many answers to this question, one of the most cost-effective online marketing strategies is Search Engine Marketing.
Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, is the art of ensuring that when a search is made online for a keyword that is relevant to a website, that website shows up in the results. Unlike passive forms of communication such as emails or banner ads, SEM places the message in front of a potential customer who is actively pursuing information that is relevant to the website. For example, let's say your company sells all types of paperclips. With properly employed SEM, your website will be listed on search engines under results for all the variations of paperclip searches, including 'metal paperclips', 'heavy duty paperclips', and so forth.
In the world of SEM, there are two main categories of search listings: paid and spidered results.
Almost every major search engine now offers some kind of paid listings. Some of these are on a bidding model or flat rates, while others have more complicated algorithms based on price, impressions, and click-throughs.
While paid listings provide great exposure they are marked as advertising. Search engines are now required to notify their users if they are providing paid results. If you do a search on any major engine, you can see that there are various different listings, some are obviously paid while others are not. For example, by doing a search for "paperclips" on Lycos.com, you will see an office supply related banner on top, a few listings under the header "Sponsored Search Listings," and "Sponsored Links" down the right side of the browser. Similar formats are repeated on many different engines, such as Google and AltaVista.
Spidered results, on the other hand, are based on the Search Engine's relevancy algorithms. "Spidering" is when a Search Engine electronically looks through a site and, based on its algorithms, provides the site's pages with rankings based on its relevancy.
These spidered results usually appear below the paid listings. These results lack both the stigma of advertising, as well as the cost of the top listings. Many times, a visitor will bypass clicking-through on the top listings and go to the search results. Since these results are ranked based on the Search Engine's ranking technology instead of what the advertiser is willing to pay, these listings are viewed as more organic and relevant.
While each type of listing has its benefits and drawbacks, when the two types of listings are used together, the advertiser can reap the benefits of both. By having paid results, the advertiser will have both branding and exposure. Paid results allow for more flexibility with titles and descriptions, so the advertiser is given more of an opportunity to ensure that this listing is branded and eye-catching. And if the searcher decides to ignore these listings in favor of the spidered results, they will already have been exposed to the branding of the paid listings. Now, the website will be viewed as both familiar and relevant.
Aimee Munton is an Account Manager at UNreal Marketing Solutions, an interactive advertising and marketing agency with offices in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Fort Lauderdale. Aimee can be reached at Aimee@UNrealMarketing.com.
Your Website: If You Build It, Will They Come? ...Only If You Tell Them
By John Libonati
Web sites are wonderful. You can put your entire company on the web, talk directly to your clients and sell your products directly. Construction costs are a fraction of building a brick-and-mortar business.
Contacting clients and potential clients through e-mail is relatively cheap as well. Unlike direct mail, newspaper and TV, there are no printing costs and you don't have to pay for postage or air-time.
But, (and there is always a but), submitting your website to a bunch of search engines in order to bring visitors to your website is not enough to generate traffic. Like a brick and mortar company, consumers have to be told to come to your website. They must be told over and over and over.
Generating significant traffic to your website requires a concentrated, clear and consistent marketing promotion strategy utilizing Internet search engines and a combination of traditional media.
The best method is to work your website into all your current and future marketing promotions. Brochures, newsletters, radio ads, e-mails, magazine ads, business cards, your media kit - everything that leaves your door must tell your target audience to go to your web address. Your website will tell them what to do once they get there. If you tell them, they will come.
John is a Partner at Ascension Design, a full service graphic design firm in Philadelphia. Contact John at 215-591-1010 or john@ascensiondesign.net
The Era of Managed Messaging By Rodney Hall
Now that your business has broadband access, now what? The adoption of the Internet as a corporate communications tool - along with the emergence of Web-based messaging technologies and standards that allow secure inter-company communications - have recently bolstered the case for turning over messaging systems to third-party specialists. A new class of outsourcers, called Messaging Service Providers (MSPs), has presented some pretty convincing arguments that managed messaging is the wave of the future. Their centralized, off premise messaging infrastructures offer businesses, both small and large access to the latest email technology with exceptional scalability, reliability and rock-solid security - all at dramatically lower operating and support costs than in-house messaging systems.
What are the Advantages of Managed Messaging?
Reduced Total Cost of Ownership and Operations
When companies purchase their messaging services from third parties, they don't have to make capital investments in hardware, software and operational support. Industry estimates state that the average cost per user per year in a managed messaging arrangement is $100, compared to about $650 per user with an in-house messaging system.
Improved Reliability, Availability and Scalability Outsourcing messaging functions doesn't have to mean compromising performance. Centralized messaging technology can employ total service redundancy; high service availability to accommodate growing message volume and user bases.
Access to Latest Technology Users don't have to worry about being outpaced by technology - MSPs take on the burdens of hardware and software upgrades, installation, testing, debugging, retesting and rolling out new services and features.
Expert Support
Managed messaging means that centralized support staff are available seven days a week, 24 hours per day to monitor, manage and troubleshoot messaging services.
Enhanced Security
To ensure that sensitive company communications stay out of unwanted hands, MSP's can provide Secure-Socket Layer (SSL) connections, certificate based encryption and intrusion detection software. Universal Accessibility
The beauty of Web-based managed messaging is that employees in far-flung offices, on the road or at home can access their email from standard Web browsers or from any email software using standard protocols.
Delegated Administration and Provisioning
Handing over responsibility for your company's messaging system doesn't necessarily mean handing over the keys. Some MSPs, offer customers the ability to create, modify or remove mailboxes in real-time, leaving end users with control over vital directory and other administrative functions.
Address Vertical Market Needs
Managed messaging can deliver additional benefits aligned to the unique needs of a variety of organizations. Small companies (as small as 5 users) can get access to big-company technology and administrative support, while enhancing their company's image via branded email addresses. Medium-and-large-sized companies can save money, cut overhead, integrate disparate communications systems and connect multiple company branches.
Web portals can use managed messaging to improve the "stickiness" of their site -how often and how long visitors stay at the site - by offering Webmail to their own customers.
With these kinds of benefits, the case for managed messaging is strong, but making sure you receive all these benefits is a matter of finding the right Messaging Service Provider.
Rodney Hall is president of R.B. Hall Associates, an IT consulting firm. For more information on this topic, contact him at rbhall@rbhall.com or 215-782-2268.
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