ONLINE MARKETING FAQS (AND MYTHS)
- Why should I care about search engine marketing?
- How important is web site traffic vs web design?
- Isn't SEO just about meta-tags and submissions?
- What is the difference between email marketing and search engine marketing?
- What's the difference between Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Pay-For-Inclusion (PFI)?
- What's a natural search?
- What is the Return on Investment (ROI) justification?
- Why is search engine optimization and marketing so important?
- How soon will I see results?
- What sort of guarantees do you offer?
- Is it true that we can get banned using online marketing?
- I'm a webmaster, Why don't I just do this myself?
- We are already using email and search marketing, but we'd like to improve our results. Can you help us?
Q. Why should I care about search engine marketing?
A.
- 1 Billion users connected to the internet
- Performing 625+ million searches per day (18+ trillion per month!)
- sing 9 major search engines, dominated by Google, Yahoo, and MSN
- Sifting through 70+ billion websites
- with millions being created each day
- Of which only 5% are visible to the search engines
- 90% of these users use search engines to try to find YOUR WEBSITE.
Q. How important is web site traffic vs web design?
A. No amount of web design will overcome the lack of traffic for a website, or lack of content on pages. With web analytics, we can determine how many users visited your website, what information they viewed, and for how long they stayed. The greatest challenge is being found and visited by relevant traffic. Once they get to your web site, the challenge then is to appear credible and encourage them to visit again.
Q. Isn't SEO just about meta-tags and submissions?
A. It used to be. Back in the earlier days of search, AltaVista used meta-tags to index a site with keywords in the meta-tags section of a page. Then you would submit it and have a reasonable chance of being listed. However, it was soon evident that this could be abused (with meta-tag stuffing, spamming etc) and was not very useful: users would visit a legitimate site and not find the information they were looking for. Google and other search engines currently follow an algorithmic criteria that makes the search experience much more relevant.
Q. What is the difference between email marketing and search engine marketing?
A. Email marketing is used much differently than search marketing. Email is a form of direct marketing that can be used for demand creation and as a friendly notification of the products and services you provide. Search marketing refers to advertising using pay per click (PPC) campaigns and/or organic search engine optimization. It is more efficient for acquiring visitors, and is based on the premise that the visitor is looking for what you offer.
Q. What's the difference between Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Pay-For-Inclusion (PFI)?
A. PPC is much like advertising and appear when you enter a keyword in a search field. Also known as sponsored links or recommended links, the advertiser pays a fee to the search engine every time their ad is clicked. PFI refers to paying an engine or directory to immediately be consider a website for indexing. Using PPC and PFI can significantly increase the number of visitor you get. FP i-Marketing are experts with both.
Q. What's a natural search?
A. Also known as an organic search, these are the search results that most people think of when they use a search engine. Unlike a sponsored link or a paid for placement, natural search results are presented as a direct result of the search engine's indexing and search algorithms. Usually you do not pay for a natural search listing.
Q. What is the Return on Investment (ROI) justification?
A. When using professional consultants, the justification is abundantly clear - without properly executed online marketing, your web site will only be a marketing expense rather than a marketing weapon. With professional online marketing services, the return on investment could payback in as little as 3-6 months.
Q. Why is search engine optimization and marketing so important?
A. For return on investment, search engine optimization and marketing is unsurpassed - it will deliver much larger numbers of new, qualified and targeted traffic to your website over the long term than any other marketing strategy. You can expect traffic to grow anywhere from 50% to 1000% after an implementation. One thing is for sure - without it done right, expect little traffic except from spiders attempting to index your pages!
Q. How soon will I see results?
A. It depends on your current status with the search engines and email lists. If your site is fundamentally search friendly, you could see results within a matter of weeks. And if your email marketing lists are current and in place, we can set you up in a few days. FP i-Marketing can speed this up with a number of strategies.
Q. What sort of guarantees to you offer?
A. As with all marketing initiatives, there is no guarantee with online marketing. Results depend on the company, its website, its offers, all in addition to the traffic that the website will experience. What we can guarantee, is our best efforts using professionals with state-of-the-art tools and processes. This will ensure you get the best results possible, and will we will back that up with unparalleled tracking and conversion processes.
Q. Is it true that we can get banned using online marketing?
A. Search engines view some techniques as an attempt to subvert their logic and as a result, may ban the offending websites accordingly. Also, poorly done bulk email marketing can get your company's email server banned. This can be worse than not having anything done. Professional online marketing will ensure that this doesn't happen to you!
Q. I'm a webmaster, Why don't I just do this myself?
A. Assuming you already have moderate to advanced knowledge of HTML, CGI scripting and some server side development skills, expect to invest at least 6 months of research and practice. Even then you may find the results mediocre and have wasted much of your time. As well, having technical skills is not the same as having marketing skills.
Q. We are already using email and search marketing, but we'd like to improve our results. Can you help us?
A. Yes, our 150+ clients and 200+ online marketing campaigns ensure that our expertise and experience will improve your company's online marketing capability.
