Best Way Forward for Internet Advertising??

[EmmaGale]

I am currently working on a site for an online florists shop and they want to get as high on the search engines as possible.

I know about submitting to free directories, making text conform to W3C guidelines etc. and getting good quality links as per the general SEO postings on here.

My client wants to pay to advertise to increase his exposure - can anyone please suggest the best sites to go to? I know nothing about this subject and Im confused with exactly what the google adwords etc do and whether paid advertising can help your page ranknig.

Another problem i am havnig is that I know that one of my sites has a number of pages linking to it - that's because they are from other sites that I manage. When i enter the URL in google to find out which sites link to it - the links do not show. Any ideas?

Kind regards
Emma

[Duncan Pollock]

I think you can take the ongoing advice of various posts to WPW and do somewhat as follows.
1. Educate your florist about the realities of search engine positioning. Money is probably the least important factor, save for paying for a Ton of Topnotch SEO work (which, even then, isn't going to come with any guarantees or, at least, shouldn't be doing). In other words, get the client to recognize that the main requirement is time.
2. Work your daylights out of making the site equal to, if not better than, the online florist ones that presently appear in the SERPS. In turn, do the homework to find out what search phrases are being used for these sites to pop up on the first page(s) of Google et al.
3. Expect the site to be sandboxed, which may mean a wait for several months before it ever turns up on a search. And tell your florist "Get used to it!"
4. If only as an interim measure, sign up for either Overture or Adwords (or maybe both) as soon as the site is ready. Opinions differ, but the consensus is in favour of Overture for e-commerce and Adwords for lead generation -- and there've been several WPW posts that can direct you to detailed accounts of what the two methods are and how to make the best use of them.
5. Submit the site for review by your WPW colleagues. You don't have to agree with all the opinions you'll get, but the advice will invariably be "on the money."
6. When/if things aren't coming together as well or as fast as you (and never mind the florist) wants, start a WPW thread asking for suggestions.
7. Don't, don't, DON'T give up. The web is the cheapest and most effective way of marketing a product that has ever become available to a business, but it takes work, work, and more work to get it right. (And tell the florist this, too.)

Duncan

PS. To help make your case, share the following with the florist:
a) a search for online flower orders shows 5,310,000 results
a) a search for ordering flowers online shows 1,720,000 results
What makes him/her (or you) think it's all that easy to turn up in the Top Ten?!!

[sem-seo-pro]

Hi there

Seems Duncan took care of the seo part, but to ne honest there is more to marketing a website online.

There are numerous forms of advertising on the internet.

Pay Per Click - Offers advertisements displayed for free till someone clicks on you ad.

Pay Per Call - Offers advertising for free till someone clicks to call you.

Advertising on websites. Various forms below.

Full Page Pop-Under
350x350 Banner PopUnder
468x60 Banner PopUnder
PopIn Floating Banner
350x350 Rich Media PopUnder
468x100 Rich Media PopUnder
VAR PopUnder
Email Signature Campaign
PopUnder (No Restriction)
Targeted Contextual CPC Text Banner
Cost Per Click - Banner
Off Network PopUnder(New)
Banner (CPM)- In Page Graphic Banner

Before investing in any advertising make sure there are other florists advertising in the medium you are considering, otherwise if none are present it may be a dead horse, or at times unexplored territory.

Hope this helps

Clint

[jimmie1_us]

Originally Posted by EmmaGale

I know about submitting to free directories, making text conform to W3C guidelines etc. and getting good quality links as per the general SEO postings on here.
Emma

Hi Emma,

The post before this one lays out the web
marketing lay of the web land. Its a good
explanation of the what. If it is a brand new
site. You should take your time and research.

I have been on the web a very long time and
have enjoyed a fair amount of exposure and have
never paid for it. But my niche is easy. Web info
and promotion and SEO work.

Continue your submissons and your free web efforts.
I even have a directory small but running on auto.
http://www.jgp-seoservices.com/seoservices/
Submit in the correct area and I will approve the site.

Have your client start small and not even look
to the web for building web traffic. The place to
start for more exposure is local. Right there in
their home town. Business cards, Radio spots,
inexpensive cable TV ads, News paper ads, Ads,
in church bulletins, Sporting programs in high schools,
flyers, word of mouth ect, ect.

Laying down a chunk of money over a advertising
period of time would be much better spent locally
in the brick and mortar world. Then when things
get rolling look to the web. In banners , pay per click,
ad words and the other areas of web advertising.

[taxthis]

Other things to consider getting an e-commerce site noticed are quality incoming link partners, vertical portal listings, keyword density (ask what does a particular shopper enter into a search engine to try to find my store?), and PPC to combat the sandbox effect.

Rather than just Yahoo search marketing solutions (formerly overture) and AdWords, go with the lower rung PPC engines. You will save money in the long run. True you will get less exposure, but you won't go bankrupt in the process. I played with Yahoo and the Google versions and before I knew it had exhausted my planned budget in days rather than a month. Consider kanoodle, mamma, searchpixie, and others. There are hundreds of them! Minimum costs are sometimes $0.05 or even 0.01 vs. the 10 cent minimum of Overture.

[SnerdeyWebs]

Google adwords are mighty powerful. Don't let anyone tell you there not. Search Google for "online florist" and the like. Then see how many are in the sponsor area. If there are more than 1 page. You will have to pay more for one of the top 3 spots. It's been said somewhere that the #3 spots are hit 1st and turn clicks into buyers..

We make domains, create a complete site and even get people on Google within minutes in the number one spot.. it's up to you how much you want to spend.

Only one HUGE problem.. if you send mass of traffic to your site be sure and consider a few things..

#1 If I had the top spot on Google would I get clicked more? Sure, but not always. If your 70 char ad is boring and unsure of itself.. then no.

So, with a great creative and a website that offers what is being sold at the time of the ad on the front page. It's amazing what can happen within the 1st 24 hours.

Top spot's are normally $1.00 per click or higher. I've seem then at 8 bucks and it really is in the limit of the buyer of the clicks. Just keep this in mind. I blew 30 k on ad's last year and got 1k back or so. Lesson was learned and the changes were made on a daily basis.

Hmm, say 3 bucks a click and you also probly clicked the link to see what's being offered at most of those sites. So, Google just made money on you already and you did not pay people like your client paid for those clicks. Clicks are better than oil or gold. Just how much work goes into a barrel of oil.. and how many clicks can a great website get in a day?

The sky is the limit..

Snerdey

[Cristal]

I have to agree with jimmie1_us, I don't think that you will find much success tackling search engines with FTD and other very large companies working for the same slot. However, with the new local search engines, you are sure to find less competition, so make sure to submit to those.
The local offline advertising has proved fruitful for many of our advertisers provided they include thier url in the ad, and in addition to his suggestions, I would look for a local portal such as http://www.ElDoradoGuide.com , and see about trading links with your other local websites (non-competing of course) .

[EmmaGale]

Thanks to all of you who have replied. This has provided me with a good basis to start with.

The only query I still have is in relation to the links not showing as per the original posting:

Another problem i am having is that I know that one of my sites has a number of pages linking to it - that's because they are from other sites that I manage. When i enter the URL in google to find out which sites link to it - the links do not show. Any ideas?

Is there a reason for this?

Kind regards
Emma

[Touseef]

People send flowers on holiday events most of the time. Another place to advertise and get some quality prospects could be ecard sites. Go to an agency like http://www.Fastclick.com or http://www.casalemedia.com or run your own affiliate program to put your ads on these sites. Try it out on Father's Day and let us know if it worked out.

Hope it helps!