Google Webmaster Tools Usefulness

Marketers should use Google Webmaster Tools to help them receive more clicks on pay per click advertising and to receive higher optimization rankings with Google. In this blog, I will explain some features of Google Webmaster Tools in more detail.

Search Queries

Search queries in Google Webmaster Tools are very useful because you can actually view what people typed in as their keyword phrase that clicked on your Google AdWords advertisement. This is useful because you can add phrases that people are searching for to your keywords list in AdWords if you think it is a relevant keyword. If you do not like the keywords the searcher typed in that clicked on your ad, you can add those keywords to a negative keyword list and Google will never show your ad when a searcher types in your negative keyword.

I found out just how useful the negative keyword tool is when I was doing Google advertisements for my Dad, who is a real estate agent. An example of a broad match keyword I had in his ad group was “homes in Ashland”. Some of the keywords searchers had been typing and clicking on his ad were, “rental homes in Ashland”. A renter is not the type of person a real estate agent is trying to attract since Realtors want home sellers and buyers, so I quickly added those search terms with rent and rental to the negative keyword search. I wished I had learned about this earlier instead of getting pointless clicks to his site through AdWords.

HTML Suggestions

Another useful Google Webmaster tool is HTML suggestions. This tool shows you issues that Google had when indexing your site. This tool can help you identify non-indexable content like rich media files, video, or images. If you get this improved, it can help drive traffic to your site because the spiders can read your page and it will be ranked higher on the search engine results page. It can also identify problems with the title tag on your page such as missing or repeated titles.

These are just few reasons a marketer should learn more about Google Webmaster Tools to get more relevant traffic to their website.

Deb Van Horn

The other day in my Strategic Internet Marketing class, Deb Van Horn came to speak to us on how she implements E-Marketing at The Rockingham Group. She is the Vice President of Support Services at the Rockingham Group which is a small insurance company located in Harrisonburg, VA. She is an alumna of JMU.

Google AdWords

Ms. Van Horn showed us a slide during her presentation that had three advertisements she had used with Google AdWords for the Rockingham Group. One was a simple text ad, another was a black and gray, large display ad, and a pretty blue image ad. She asked us to tell her which one we thought got the most clicks. We guessed the blue image ad as it seemed to be the most aesthetically pleasing. She said surprisingly, the simple text ad has gotten the most clicks of the three because people have started to block out the images and distractions on the tops and sides of the pages. They are focusing on what they are searching for. I will keep this interesting bit of knowledge in mind throughout my career.

After Hours

Ms. Van Horn mentioned that keeping up with social media pages for work is more than just a 9-5 job. People are getting on Facebook and Twitter at all times of the day and night. She advised checking your companies accounts often, because you want to be attentive on your page and answer peoples’ questions even if it is on a Friday night. You also want to check for customers that have had bad experiences with your company in case they start posting negative comments on your page, so you can deal accordingly with that issue.

Cotweet

A useful tool that Ms. Van Horn spoke of was the website called cotweet.com. Recently, I have been updating my personal twitter account and also the account for the non-profit organization I work for, Craig Springs Camp. Every time I log in, I have to constantly pay attention to which account I am logged in under because I need to follow specific people under each account and keep my tweets separate.  Ms. Van Horn made me aware of cotweet.com, which I soon realized would solve most of the problems I was having with maintaining two separate twitter accounts. With cotweet.com, you are able to maintain and access multiple accounts which is great for companies online. You can tweet and it will ask you which account the tweet is for.

With cotweet, you can actually schedule a tweet to be posted later for a certain day and time. Hypothetically, you could post tweets for the whole month in one sitting if you could plan that far in advance. This website will greatly enhance my efficiency in my marketing career. If you would like to reach Ms. Van Horn, her email address is dlvanhorn@rockinghamgroup.com. Thank you Ms. Van Horn for the awesome presentation you gave, and thank you so much for making me aware of cotweet.com!

Janet Driscoll Miller

Yesterday in my Strategic Internet Marketing class, we had a very knowledgeable guest speaker, Janet Driscoll Miller. She was probably the best guest speaker I have ever heard here at James Madison University. Ms. Miller is the President and CEO of Search Mojo. She can be reached by email at jmiller@search-mojo.com. She is considered an expert in the field of search engine marketing. I was very impressed with the tips she gave us and can’t wait to try them out on my Google Adwords campaigns! She brought to my attention the difference between Pay Per Click Advertising on Google vs. Facebook. When an internet user is typing into Google a specific, long-tailed keyword, they are ready to buy, and already know what they want. With Facebook, it’s more of convincing the consumer they should purchase something.

PPC and Google Instant

A fun fact that the Search Mojo CEO gave was that around 95% of Google’s revenue is from Pay Per Click Advertising and they are rolling in the money. Ms. Miller informed the class that “Google Instant” automatically updates the results as a searcher types in their words. The user no longer has to hit enter before they are done typing because the Google results are “instantly” shown. When “Google Instant” was launched in September of 2010, users started to look more at the organic web results and less at the Pay Per Click ads based on heat maps. This is great for highly optimized sites that show up in the organic results, but not so great for Pay Per Click Advertisers.

Ms. Miller informed us on how broad match on Google AdWords can be dangerous because the searcher could type in any adjective before your broad match keywords and your ad can appear. She told us to keep track of what words Google is showing our ad with by going to the search query report which will show the searches generating your ad. If you don’t like the other words Google is showing your ad with, you can add these to your negative keywords.

Google Profile

Ms. Miller informed us of the new direction of search engine marketing. She told us how Google wants it’s users to fill out a Google profile which will give Google access to the user’s demographics, but more importantly it can see who their users are connected to through social media. On these profiles, one is suggested to have links to their social media profiles like Facebook and Twitter. After one creates their profile with this information, Google will now have a personalized Google search results page for each user based on who the user is connected with. This is why it is particularly important for businesses to get more followers because they are more likely to come up in those peoples’ search results.

Thank you, Ms. Miller, for taking the time to share your expertise with my class! It was most enjoyable and informative.

The Start to My Marketing Career at Craig Springs Camp

I was recently accepted to be the Marketing Manager for Craig Springs Camp.  My responsibilities include increasing camper attendance through various promotional efforts including print media, social media, and internet marketing. I am also responsible for increasing rental cabin usage and the number of volunteers through promotions. I think the skills I have learned and knowledge I have gained here at James Madison University will help me to succeed in this position.

What I Have Learned to Help Me Succeed

I have learned in Strategic Internet Marketing the value of social media and how this can be a free, but effective and informative marketing tool. I am very excited to complete learning the section in Strategic Internet Marketing about search engine optimization. I personally think that social media, search engine optimization, and search engine marketing are the three most effective types of marketing any business or non-profit organization can utilize in gaining and retaining customers. It is great that one can segment so finely online because with the internet gaining consumers’ information, marketers can better target customers and more effectively use our marketing budgets.

This class forced me to get a Twitter and Linkedin account. I am so glad it did because I had to put aside my preformed ideas on these and just dived right in. I realized that Twitter is a great tool for businesses to informing customers on the latest news. I don’t think Twitter has the best interactivity compared to Facebook, but if one just wants to let something be known Twitter is useful. I realize one can reply on Twitter to one’s tweet, but the format is confusing to the eye and harder to follow than conversations on Facebook. I think Linkedin could help me continue my Marketing career through my job search and I’m glad I joined the trend.

My New Spark

My Strategic Internet Marketing class has given me a spark to learn more about how to promote a business through social media. I enjoy reading some of the articles my professor in Strategic Internet Marketing posts and I am so glad I can continue to follow her after I graduate. In trying to promote Craig Springs Camp, I have figured out, on my own and talking to a friend, that a Facebook page is better for posting information, updates, and creating awareness for a business, whereas a Facebook group is better for retaining customers. Through a Facebook group it’s easy to share pictures, have discussions, and keep customers coming back by staying connected. People that click “like” on a business’ Facebook page might have never tried the product, but are now aware of the company. It’s now the company’s goal to entice and inform the new potential customer to purchase the product. I know my learning in Marketing will not stop after I graduate. The only constant about Marketing is change. How do you stay on top of the latest marketing trends?

Michigan Radio and SAP’s Social Media Guidelines

In completing my social media policies assignment, I found two different social media guidelines from Michigan Radio and SAP.  They both had a lot of the same underlying principles which seem to be reasonable and professional, but a few details of both stood out. A line that stood out to me from the Michigan Radio guidelines was one where it states that law enforcement officials can probably get access to what you post if they have a subpoena. While there is truth to this, I feel that Michigan Radio is probably using this as a scare tactic, so employees are very careful about what they post, since I feel this scenario would be pretty unlikely. SAP did not post anything in regards to this subject.

Accuracy

In a different section, Michigan Radio influences social media users to verify the information they post and make sure it is accurate. I feel like so many people will post something they find on their social media without thinking about if it is true or not. This is preventing rumors from being started and makes the employee look like a credible resource. In comparison, I did not see anywhere on SAP’s guidelines suggesting that their employees verify their information.

Politics

I found it very interesting that Michigan Radio stated that their employees should not advocate for a political issue. They also state that if you join a group for one side of an issue you should join the group for the other side of the issue when it is reasonable. Although I understand their rationale on this, I could foresee some problems with this policy. If they are very concerned that their employees will give a biased view on an issue, it seems to me that someone viewing their profile at a quick glance may notice that they joined only one of the groups and may not see the competing viewpoint group that they joined. Therefore, I think they should take the joining the group statement out of their guidelines or consider revising this statement. After looking at several different company guidelines, I think Michigan Radio’s policy on not taking a side on a political issue online seems to be fairly strict.

Internet Addictions

The very last section of SAP’s guidelines, I thought it was a valid concern since it seems that internet and social media addictions are becoming more common. Here, they talk about if an employee’s participation with social media is interfering with their role at the company, how maybe the company can try to use their habit to better SAP as a company and communicate for the company online. I think this is a great idea if an employee already knows how to use the social media, and enjoys using it, they could help the company. Michigan Radio did not state what an employee should do if social media is hindering their job performance. Overall, both company’s guidelines seem to have good advice.

Twitter

During my Twitter engagement assignment, I came across a problem mentioned in the articles we were assigned to read. I was glad I had read them because I had to shorten the URL to a cool website I found to be able to tweet in under 140 characters. The interesting article I found was called, “Revive Your Online Marketing“.  My favorite point in this article is number four which talks about how Twitter is a place to build a relationship; not to advertise. I think this is all too often forgotten among many companies and marketers. Twitter is an important tool for marketers because you are building a relationship and trying to get more personal with clients and customers. It’s an easy way to see what they are talking about and you can get feedback and responses online to your tweets. Public relations wise, Twitter is a great way to connect instantly with the public and let them know of the great things your company is doing to help build a good reputation for any marketer.

Free and Effective Marketing

A huge reason I think every company should have  and update a Twitter account is because it is free and useful. Every company has a limited marketing budget, so what better way to make customers loyal and informed than let them stay up-to-date with your company for free. With any marketing there is the cost of time and effort, but with social media and Twitter, there is no dollar amount to tack on to that effort.

Personal Usefulness

It’s important for me to engage in Twitter now for a few reasons. I can get more comfortable with Twitter lingo and understand how to better use it. I will know how to effectively use Twitter by the time I enter the work force and will have seen what other companies do to market their business. Overtime, I can learn what I liked from their tweets and see some mistakes they made. I also think Twitter is important to me as a Marketer because it is a valuable resource where I can stay up-to-date and informed on new marketing trends and can see what other people are looking at. I am glad I was forced to make a Twitter for this class because I now think Twitter is much more useful than I did before having one.