I think most of us do the basics with our SEM campaigns, grouping phrases and then those phrases with related ads (such as marketing: internet marketing, web marketing, and services: SEM services, PPC Services…). However a recent exercise I went through yielded big benefits.

Now let me preface this by saying I don’t advocate the use of click through rates to determine the effectiveness of an ad. I always look for some kind of conversion metric to use. You may be thinking that you don’t have a conversion metric, but even if it’s just measuring visits to your contact page, you need something to ensure that you are doing more then just getting people to your click on your ad. (more…)

I mention on my SEO page that having a descriptive URL is a good thing. In the example I say that www.huntsville-bike-parts.com is better than having www.bobsbikes.com. Why?? — You know that incoming links (sites linking to yours) are very important, perhaps equally important is the phrase that links the URL. When you have a descriptive URL, this link and phrase association are one and the same. 

For example, here I have linked the phrase Search Engine Marketing to www.marketing-ontheweb.com.

My name is John Allen and I am an internet marketing professional located in Huntsville, AL. I have worked for a wide range of companies and get routine questions from people looking for tips on SEO and SEM. If you are trying to get a website launched, you are welcome to post a question here and I will do my best to answer it. My goal is to chronicle the discussions so a larger audience can benefit from the answers.