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I posted earlier this month about automated blog spam and ts impact on the blogoshpere. So i thought i would do a follow post about legitimate comments and the benefits that they provide.

I feel that this is a significant issue because I believe that most businesses that blog truly misunderstand that blogging is really a community. When I’m in front of new prospects, I tell them that blogging is kind of like instant messaging, however it has a slight delayed effect and what you write is virtually never forgotten. I relate it to instant messaging because blogging is a two way communication medium. It allows those that share or disagree with your beliefs to challenge or divulge their opinions and emotions. Most mediums lack this ability, so to appreciate blogging as a whole, you should embrace the fact that this wonderful medium has the ability to create relationships regardless of where you reside. In fact, thats what makes Social Media so attractive and widespread.

To engage in the blogging community and reap all the benefits, I suggest that you take a step back and read what others in your industry are writing. (For ideas in your industry, you can check out our Business Blogging Directory) I think you will find that there are many inspiring writers that share your same beliefs, but also may offer a different point of view that will sharpen your overall senses. If you come across such a gem, don’t click the back button. Instead, give a couple of cents as to what inspired you or why you firmly disagree to the thought in question. I’ve had the pleasure to meet many bloggers that simply have reached out from comments or e-mails that have eventually become business friends. These are the same kind of customer advocates that most businesses ultimately want to achieve, except that it happens in cyberspace and are actually easier find. When you do truly connect, i think you will find this to be an actualizing event because most of us are looking to “connect” through an entire lifetime.

The Best Tip for Great Comments That Build Relationships
Remember when you went on your first date and the best tip you got was “to be yourself?” Same thing holds true here. Great comments on blog posts come from the heart and not for any reason on that. If you are out just trying to build links to your website or get your brand noticed, I would suggest to find another avenue because your strategy is likely going to be short lived. Sure, you might get a couple comments past newer bloggers, but the ones that really care about what they write, know the difference between wanting a link or engaging in conversation.

Blogging is a great social medium. However, businesses that simply regurgitate press releases, articles, and other worthless junk are likely never going to get the bigger picture. If you really want to reap the benefits from blogging, look at it from a community point of view and i promise that great sustaining relationships will follow.

I typically get asked about once a week what pay per click management entails as more businesses are getting weary of where their management fee’s are going towards. This isn’t too surprising given the shear amount of companies entering the online PPC arena and want a piece of the action. However, sometimes I’m just dumbfounded by some of the crazy offers i hear such as “We’ll manage your PPC for only $200 a month…no minimum spend required!” If i was was a business owner working with an online marketing company, I guess I would wonder if these claims are true too as well as have some doubt as to how difficult PPC management actually was.

But the straw that broke the camels back for me, just happened a couple of weeks ago when i spoke to a rather large “phone company” that was offering to do PPC management for a guaranteed fixed price per click…which was of course was lower than what one of my clients was paying. What made it extremely difficult to stomach was the fact that the offer wasn’t based on performance, but rather clicks with no gauge to measure the quality of legitimacy of the traffic. But even worse, they proceeded to tell me that they were able to buy it cheaper because of their company’s size and that they had “special arrangements” with the search engines to get better rates.

In case you are new to pay per click advertising, let me start by saying that the above statement is completely false. If you don’t believe me, call major search engines and them yourself. Additionally, pay per click bid rates are not just a function of how much you bid, which also shouldn’t be the cornerstone of your management strategy in the first place.

To put it simply, PPC Management encompasses one goal and that is achieving the highest ROI output given a fixed input. Unfortunately for those that guarantee clicks or just manage bids, this is a difficult goal to achieve. Namely, PPC management entails the following additional important variables:

1. Campaign and account structure- a significant element in how relevancy scores are determined for ad groups and keywords (these are core drivers that reduce your cost per click under a fixed bid)
2. Website content- the next part of the equation and even more important in my opinion is your websites landing pages. Not only do they directly influence your PPC cost per click, but they have direct impact to how well your website converts. If your proposing PPC company is unable to create effective content for your PPC traffic to land to, that should be an immediate sign to steer clear and go with a company that really understands web marketing.
3. Web Analytics- web analytics are absolutely crucial in determining your PPC advertising strategy is effective. Not only will it allow you to precisely measure your action rates, but it will also allow you to identify poor performing traffic that the engines cannot provide.

I’ll argue with any search engine marketer that managing PPC is still one of the most difficult mediums online. Be very weary of firms that offer the inexpensive rates just to get your business without making any claims to fame in regards to results. Lastly, when it comes to PPC management, there is a significant amount of knowledge and skill at work. If you are planning to do it yourself or hire a firm, be sure to familiarize yourself with the above key components and gauge capability accordingly.

When in social or networking events, I’m usually asked what I do for a living, which is kind of a tricky question to answer. If I reply that I work for an “Internet Marketing company”, I usually get a glazed-back look of mixed understanding. So naturally I proceed to tell them that I’m the guy that invented the annoying pop-up or spam e-mail, which typically leads me to dodge a punch in the nose. (That’s a Joke…but not too far from the truth.)

But in all seriousness, Internet marketing is loosely defined for most people in that they aren’t sure what it is or what it does. This becomes evidently clear in front of new prospects that want to know more about getting their business online and promoting their business into cyberspace. Even responses such as “We help your company get listed in search engines” or “we help customers find you online” is typically not descriptive enough for the guy that has been purchasing radio and yellowpage advertising for the last couple of decades.

This is unfortunate because the above phenomenon typically leads to general misunderstanding as to what one can expect when diving into online marketing…the so-called hottest advancements since television. So to benefit all, I thought I would take a stab at offering a more descriptive definition to marketing online for those who are unsure of what the web has to offer.

First, i would like to lay out the elementary components of the marketing mix (also known as the 4 P’s):

1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion

The main reason why I choose to spell out marketing in this fashion, is that many businesses that I have had the pleasure to meet with are only most concerned with the last variable “promotion” as the cornerstone of their strategy, when unarguably this is really only 1/4 of the marketing equation. I believe that this is significant point because most marketing problems rarely occur from this variable alone. I touched on this subject just a few of posts ago when i was discussing if search engine marketing was really marketing. In any regard, the message is simple. How you communicate, price, and place your products are equally as important as how you promote them.

With that said, here is what i believe to be the 4 key fundamental results of online marketing:

1. Increase or position branding & exposure
2. Generate Sales & Leads
3. Maintain or develop customer intimacy
4. Reduce operating costs

All of which utilize the 4 P’s of marketing in some capacity. (If you believe I have left something out, please don’t be shy.) Although you would beleive that generating sales or increasing leads would be the most important for any company, you can’t deny the importance of the other 3 as significant marketing outcomes that businesses also want to achieve.

Therefore, getting back to brass tacks, I would like to reply to those interested in what I do: “I help companies use the web to increase their exposure online, generate business, and stay in touch with their customers while reducing their overall costs.” All of which may not sound perfect, but I believe its the beginning of a solution to an age old marketing problem.

If you are considering advertising online there is something that you should know, not all advertising mediums are created equal. Search engine marketing, which is still one of the most popular forms of effective online advertising, has limitations. Namely, its a pull medium that works extremely well when a need is well identified. However, if you have a “world’s first” new product or service that is about to hit the marketplace, its likely that search engine marketing may not be the answer. So whats left to do?

Likely the most overlooked medium (and my personal favorite) is contextual advertising…aka display ads or lack for a better term banner ads. Contextual advertising was one of the first monetization models on the web. However when most people think about banners, they usually exhibit a negative connotation. If this sounds like you, I urge you to reconsider because contextual advertising offers several advantages over search:

1. Its not request based- contextual banners can be shown without having to enter keywords in a search box. This means that you are guaranteed that your ads will show to your chosen target market.
2. Its pushy- the fact that visitors will be in context when they see your ad, means that you can push a compelling message into your prospective audience.
3. Its Interactive- search engine ads are strictly text based and offer little or no creativity that meets the eye. With contextual display ads, you can enhance them with flash, video, audio, and creative design that will significantly increases the chance that your ad will get noticed.
4. It has targeting options galore- contextual advertising networks like 24/7 Real Media, Tribal Fusion, and Fetchback offer more than your typical demographics or site targeting. In fact, several offer behavioral and retargeting options that allow for pinpoint targeting to your target market.
5. Its affordable- typical contextual advertising rates are around $5CPM which means that you can purchase an enormous amount of inventory even if you are on a beer budget.

If you are considering entering the online ad landscape or have a search engine marketing campaign that isn’t performing up to par, contextual advertising presents a great opportunity. I’ll admit, its not for everyone…but then again, neither is search:)

I recently read an article from the Washington Post Blog stating that Google is putting end to an old prank “the Google Bomb.” If you are new to Google bombing, essentially its a technique that a group of collaborated website owners/bloggers do to get a website to rank for a specific keyword by linking to that site with keyword rich anchor text. Whew! That was a mouthful, but in case you are not entirely sure, perhaps the best example was when you could do a search in Google for “miserable failure” and George Bush’s bio was the first result. This was recently removed about a year ago, but it showed an important aspect to search engine optimization. Simply, links matter a lot when it comes to ranking a site.

I kind of miss the above example because it was a powerful demonstration to show prospective clients the power of linking and why search engine optimization is typically not a one shot deal. In any regards, according to Rick Klau, a member of the Google strategic partner development content acquisition team, Google now looks for these rings of links based on how fast they are built along with other factors. However, Bloggers and other web savvy individuals are already finding ways to work around this new algorithmic change.

It has been my experience that nothing is safe from hackers or pranksters and its likely that new Google Bomb will built given enough time. Regardless, i think its fair to say that Google still places high emphasis on linking and that building link popularity slowly is the best way to play the game for high search rankings.