SnapHawk Blog

Google has rolled out a new preview function for organic search results which allows users to view a portion of the landing page without actually visiting the website; they simply need to click the magnifying glass icon next to the search link.  The preview tool highlights text related to the user’s search input, making it easier for a user to quickly compare search results and decide which page looks most useful. The new feature will undoubtedly affect website traffic, but whether for better or worse is a matter of debate.

One of the crucial fundamentals to Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is implementing an effective strategy for optimizing your keywords.  An effective keyword strategy will help your Web site appear near the top of the results page when your potential customers are searching for a product or service that you can provide.  Here are five basic keyword strategies that will have a huge impact in helping potential customers find your Web site when they need to.

1)    Use Google’s Keyword Tool. This tool allows you to analyze competition and get an idea of the cost-per-click (CPC).  It also gives you the opportunity to find highly-searched keywords or phrases that have little competition.

Think how your behavior has changed. Looking up a telephone number... Yellow Pages, online search, or mobile phone? The Yellow Pages hard copy is significantly smaller than it was even 2 years ago. Need information about a customer or a competitor. Where do you go? Shopping for a product or service. Where do you go?

The shift has happened from offline marketing to online marketing. Newspapers, television, radio and magazines have lost substantial segments of their audiences. Consumers and businesses have shifted their behavior from traditional offline to online and this shift will continue at a rapid pace...

As more and more companies continue to migrate to the Internet, many feel the need to increase their digital presence.  One common method to achieve this is through Search Engine Marketing (SEM).  Companies like Google make it seem relatively easy to start and run a campaign internally, but truly running an efficient campaign takes a high degree of knowledge and understanding that your internal employees might not have.  Below are five reasons why it’s better to have professionals run your SEM campaign.

1)    SEM campaigns require constant monitoring. Running a campaign is a time-consuming job.  Marketers have to constantly be on the lookout for what works and what fails, and make changes accordingly. To truly be effective, a SEM campaign has to be dynamic. Constant monitoring should include continuously bidding for keywords to market your Web site most effectively and cost-efficiently.

You could have the best Web site in the world, but if people can’t find it, no one will see it.  The art of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves tweaking your site so search engines like Google display yours higher than others on the results page, making consumers more likely to go to your page.  One of Google’s best kept secrets is how exactly they determine which pages get displayed first, but certain proven changes will undoubtedly help your site.  Below are five guidelines to begin optimizing your webpage.

All businesses need search engine optimization (SEO), whether they are large financial corporations, chain restaurants, or local yoga studios. In fact, whether you are rolling out your mat or rolling out your new marketing campaign, some of your strategies could use a little overlap.

•    You want to be flexible. Successful SEO tactics should incorporate a plan that allows adaptable Web page design and malleable site structure, so that quick changes can be made to your layout, image settings, and general content as your company grows and expands. You want to shape your site to fit client needs and readers’ attention. What’s more, you want to be open-minded about incorporating the results you discover from tracking tools such as Google Analytics into your pages. Your site, like your company’s model, strategies, and human-driven potential, should remain a flexible entity. Just ask any yogi you know: he or she didn’t learn to pull off a stable headstand or a stellar scorpion pose by sitting around on the couch; stretching, not stagnancy, proved to be the key!

Utilizing its expertise in windows office, Microsoft‘s Advertising Intelligence is a great tool regarding keyword research and creation. The short story is, it could save you huge amount of time (compared with tools provided by Google) and still provide notable insights.

As a certified Microsoft adCenter member, SnapHawk would like to share some of the experience in using this great tool.Now, let’s play around with it using some live examples.

Popular keywords

Popular keywords allow you to rank the keywords in the selected category by impression. You will see what are among the hottest topic in a certain category. For example, if we want to generate potential keywords for an education client.Wesimply click the popular keywords -> vertical category content list and then choose the "college/university" category. Here is the screenshot of the keywords represent people's interest in college education...

Aside from the obvious differences (one is organic and one is paid), Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click have one very important and often times overlooked difference. With Pay-Per-Click, you control the landing pages visitors will see. With Search Engine Optimization, spiders control the landing pages.

As a marketer, you will want to provide the most relevant landing pages for your visitors so they don't hit the back button immediately after arriving at your website. Pay-Per-Click seems like it would work well with customer turnout for specific products or services, sales, discounts, special offers, etc. that would require strategic landing pages.Search Engine Optimization seems more effective for visitors looking for a wider range of information on a website rather than specific pages within the website...