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Sitelinks are useful ad extensions within Google AdWords that give searchers more options and help advertisers get more clicks. Using sitelinks allows you to build upon your existing AdWords ads by providing additional links to specific pages within your Website. Sitelinks appear directly underneath ads at the top and bottom of Google search results. According to Google, the clickthrough rate of ads with sitelinks is on average 30% higher than ads without sitelinks.

In an effort to make sitelinks even more effective, Google has rolled out enhanced sitelinks, which incorporate text ads from within your campaign that are related to your sitelinks. Underneath your ad up to four additional ads can now be shown in place of the traditional sitelinks. Google takes your sitelinks and essentially turns them into ads using other text ads within your campaign, displaying multiple ads within one ad.

In Google's enhanced sitelinks announcement, they show a clear example of what the new feature will look like.

In order to use enhanced sitelinks, your ads with sitelinks enabled must show above Google search results & your text ads must be closely related to the sitelinks in you campaign. Make sure your campaigns include tightly themed Ad Groups with ads that are closely related to your sitelinks.

Because these ads will now dominate the top of the results page & provide more detailed information about the Website, clickthrough rates are expected to dramatically increase for ads using enhanced sitelinks.

Labels: PPC Advertising

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You probably know that top Google organic search positions can make significant contributions to the bottom-line of businesses that enjoy them. The high value of Google organic search visibility means that countless dedicated, experienced and talented search marketers are competing for top search positions. If your team does not have the skills to match your competitors’ search marketers, then your online marketing is at a significant disadvantage.

An obvious red flag is if you invested in search engine optimization, but are not seeing results. If this is the case, then you need to determine why your SEO is not working.

There are many steps that need to be implemented now and in the long-term for you to enjoy superb Google search visibility. With so much at stake for your business, you need to make a commitment to doing search marketing right.

Answer these six questions and you will know what actions to take so you can enjoy the benefits of targeted, high quality traffic from Google.

Are you sure your Website is Search Engine Friendly?

Google penalizes countless Websites for a variety of common technical missteps. You need SEO experts to sort through the unique behavior of your Website and the myriad of issues that Google deems unacceptable. For example, does your Website have the same content on multiple Web pages? That is not unusual. But the result is that your Website is sabotaging its own search visibility.

Do you have multiple domains that point to the same Website? If so, then your multiple domains might be working against you and are hurting your search positions. Google has no problem with multiple domains pointing the same Website, as long as the domains are setup correctly so they do not look like Spam. That means aligning your domains with the same Administrative Contact, Technical Contact and Name Servers details.

Can Googlebot crawl all the links in your Website? If not, then you are creating roadblocks to search visibility.

Do you offer strong content that interests and benefits your target audience?

Search visibility starts with strong content that attracts your target audience. Strong content holds visitors to your Website and generates links from other Websites. Both factors improve search visibility.

You have to be honest with yourself. Is there content on your Website that will hold a potential customer's interest? Does your content make your site worthy of Google search visibility? For you to win top Google search positions, you need content that is stronger and more informative than the content on the Websites that currently hold those top positions.

Consider what content will feed the curiosities and interests of your target audience, then develop it. Be the voice of authority in your industry. When you are, then your audience will gravitate to you, along with top Google search visibility.

Is your Website search engine optimized for today’s Google algorithms?

Now that you have strong content, you need to search optimize it based on Google’s current algorithms. Unless you are doing search optimization every day, you may well be basing your SEO on antiquated techniques, which is not uncommon.

For example, are you building links by submitting articles to content farms populated by tens of thousands of articles about every subject under the sun? Google neutralized this strategy with its Panda update in February 2011.

E-Power Marketing’s Blog featured a series explaining a number of SEO practices that are no longer effective. How many of these techniques is your site still depending on?

Hidden Content
Keyword Density
Stuffing Keywords in Meta-Tags
Search Engine Submissions
Spammy Link Building Schemes with Low Quality Websites
Link Dumping - Spamming Blog or Forum Comment Sections
Microsites, PageRank Sculpting and Misspellings
IP Cloaking and Black Hat SEO
Building Links with Automated Directory Submissions
Content Scraping, aka Plagiarism

Do you use Social Media Marketing to promote your Website and to attract valuable links?

Google responds well to Social Media Marketing. Use Twitter, LinkedIn, Social Bookmarking sites, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and others to promote the strong content that you should be developing. You don’t need to use all these social channels. But you must use some of them. These channels can create viral opportunities for your strong content that will result in user generated links that Google rewards with better search visibility.

Do you have an active, growing Web presence?

Static Websites make Google (and potential customers) yawn. If you do commit to developing new Website content regularly, , then you can forget improving your search visibility. This is a key component of the Google algorithm and new content is required for your Website to EARN search visibility.

Is your search marketing executed by experienced search marketers whose career is search marketing?

Effective SEO demands practicing the art and science of search engine optimization every day. Without experienced, dedicated search marketers, you are at a supreme disadvantage on Google. There are many self-proclaimed experts in SEO and Social Media Marketing. Don’t be paying them to learn the craft on your dime.

Is your Web developer implementing your SEO? Then you have a Web developer, not a search marketer, doing your SEO, there is a difference. Don’t expect your IT team to know search engine optimization. They are not marketers, much less search marketers. When you've invested the time and resources into developing a Website for your brand, don't neglect the SEO side of things. Invest in professional, experience, specialized search marketers to guide your Website to top search visibility.

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These are clear strategies and tactics that will deliver the business benefits of superb Google organic search visibility. Notice how there are no gimmicks or quick fixes. It is about hard work directed at specific actions. Make the commitment and do it right, and you will soon earn Google organic search visibility.


Larry Stopa is President of E-Power Marketing. He has practiced Search Engine Optimization since 1998.

Labels: Organic SEO, SEM Back to Basics

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By: Morgan Counts
With Adrian Bredeson

On Social Media sites such as Facebook, the distinction between personal and professional is often blurred. Facebook is traditionally an outlet for personal socialization, but it is increasingly used in the business world for marketing initiatives. When you are associated with your employer's Facebook business page, what you do and say on Facebook directly represents your company. Practicing professional Facebook etiquette is important to maintaining your employer's good reputation. Here is a starting point for guidelines you should follow on Facebook, so your personal life doesn't conflict with your professional image.

Interacting on your employer's account

Depending on your company's Social Media rules, it can be a good idea to be active on your employer's Facebook page from your personal account. You and your coworkers can effectively interact on the page simply by "liking" a post or a picture. The more you and your coworkers interact within the page, the better the chances of other Facebook users seeing and visiting it. In a Social Media chain reaction, one new "fan" or customer on Facebook can turn into many more.

Tagging your company in pictures can also make the business page more appealing to potential fans. Tag your company in pictures of you and your coworkers out of the office, at a conference, or at a charity event, but keep them professional! Don't include pictures of wild office parties or of employees on a business trip, lounging around.

When you do post on your employer's Facebook page, professionalism becomes doubly important. Swear words or derogatory terms would not be appropriate to use on the business page. When a client sees an inappropriate post on the company's page from an employee of that company, they see unprofessionalism. Keep your comments respectable and business-related. If your employer has Social Media guidelines to follow, it would be wise to follow them on your personal page as well as when you post on the company page. For example, if your employer prohibits use of a competitor's name on the business page, you should not mention a competitor while interacting on the page with your own account.

Your personal page

Just as you represent your company at work, on a business trip, or at a conference, your Facebook page also represents your employer and your fellow employees. Any unprofessionalism on your Facebook page seen by clients or potential customers will leave them with an impression that the company, and possibly all of its employees, is unprofessional.

Start with your profile picture. Keep the picture clean and appropriate, as it is the first thing clients see and likely the only thing they will see if they are turned away by it. Also, when you are associated with a company on Facebook, posts on the business page are not the only posts that need to be kept professional. Anything you say online, such as a status update, post to a friend, or comment on a picture is permanent and can be easily passed around. Once again, you should follow the same rules that are in your employer's Social Media guidelines on your profile. If your employer prohibits releasing any confidential information, such as client information, you do not have the right to do it on your own page.

If you do network with clients on Facebook, keep in mind that they will be able to see your Facebook page and what you post can give them positive or negative impressions.

The easiest way to avoid any possible conflict is to keep your page out of scrutiny by using Facebook's privacy options. Facebook allows you to keep your page as secure or as unsecure as you want. Keeping your page secure by only allowing "friends" to see more than your name and profile picture is an easy way to remain professional.

What you say on Facebook is just as influential as what you personally say to a current or potential client or customer. If you would not do it or say it in person, do not post it on Facebook. When you are on Facebook and are part of a company, the expectations of professionalism follow you. Whether it is a status update, a message to a friend, or a post on the company's "wall," your clients and your employer expect to see a positive representation of the company. You can still have fun on Social Media sites, but check with your employer for guidelines on what to say and not say, and keep a professional mindset.

Labels: Social Marketing