Concept 1 – Search Engines
The first important concept I really found interesting was about search engines. Search engines are special Web-based programs that index the Web and allow people to find what they are looking for. For example, if you want to find the nearest Subway in your location. You would go on a search engine and type ‘Subway near Squirrel Hill’. The result page would show you all the Subway’s in your location and nearest to your location. There are differences in the ways various search engines work, but they all perform three basic tasks: they search the Internet or select pieces of the Internet based on important words, they keep an index of the words they find, and where they find them and finally they allow users to look for words or combinations of words found in that index. It is important to know how a search engine works because it allows a marketer to understand the types of keywords and other searchable phrases that will be helpful in making a website more accessible. Without this knowledge, marketer might be using the wrong keywords for their website and would not get traffic on their website.
Concept 2 – Pay per Click Advertising
The second concept from the text which I really found interesting and helpful was pay-per-click (PPC). It is a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Search engine advertising is one of the most popular forms of PPC. It allows advertisers to bid for ad placement in a search engine's sponsored links when someone searches on a keyword that is related to their business offering. For example, if you bid on the keyword “Custom stationery”, your ad might show up in the very top spot on the Google results page. Every time your ad is clicked, sending a visitor to your website, you have to pay the search engine a small fee.
Illustration of PPC (source: eMarketing Textbook)
As mentioned earlier, each search engine requires the advertiser to enter the keywords for which their advertisement should appear. This list of keywords determines the search queries for which the advertisements could appear. Google has four kinds of match types: Broad match, Phrase match, Exact match and Negative match. Broad match means that your advertisement will appear for the keywords you have entered, as well as search terms that contain your keywords and any other words in any order, as well as some variations of your keywords. For example, if you have chosen pink pajama as your keyword, your ad would appear in searches like – pink pajamas, striped pink pajamas, soft pajamas etc. In phrase match, indicated in quotation marks would appear only for search terms that have your keywords in them, in the same order, though other words may also be in the search term. Exact match, indicated by square brackets [exact match], means that the advertisement will only appear for search terms exactly the same as the keywords selected. And finally, negative match, indicated by using a dash in front of the keywords (-negative), means that your advertisement will not appear in searches using that word, no matter what other words are used. The main benefit of PPC for marketers is payment for results. Rather than taking out a print ad, where returns on investment are difficult to measure, PPC allows advertisers to pay only for the clicks they receive. This makes investment spent in this way both valuable and highly effective.
Is this kind of advertising really effective and profitable? Because I have never clicked on these ads and always ignored them!
Skill Set – eMarketing
I had never been exposed to eMarketing before and this was an eye opening experience as how important it is to have a website even if it’s a small business or service and how marketers use information available online to market and attract customers. During our first week team assignment I learned a lot about online market analysis and what goes into building an effective PPC campaign. It involves researching and selecting the right keywords, to organizing those keywords into well-organized campaigns and ad groups, to setting up PPC landing pages that are optimized for conversions. I also learned how to do a current market analysis of a company, what tools to use in order to get information, such as; Google Analytics, Backlink, Page Rank etc.
Reflection
I have learned a lot of new skills during this last week and hope to get a lot more on global marketing. I have understood how important it is to have a website no matter how small your company is and ways to attract traffic on your website. I have never blogged before and found it challenging; I feel it’s mostly for the writers. ;) But I’m sure I’ll get better as each week passes and look forward to the upcoming weeks and challenges ahead associated with global marketing!
The first important concept I really found interesting was about search engines. Search engines are special Web-based programs that index the Web and allow people to find what they are looking for. For example, if you want to find the nearest Subway in your location. You would go on a search engine and type ‘Subway near Squirrel Hill’. The result page would show you all the Subway’s in your location and nearest to your location. There are differences in the ways various search engines work, but they all perform three basic tasks: they search the Internet or select pieces of the Internet based on important words, they keep an index of the words they find, and where they find them and finally they allow users to look for words or combinations of words found in that index. It is important to know how a search engine works because it allows a marketer to understand the types of keywords and other searchable phrases that will be helpful in making a website more accessible. Without this knowledge, marketer might be using the wrong keywords for their website and would not get traffic on their website.
Concept 2 – Pay per Click Advertising
The second concept from the text which I really found interesting and helpful was pay-per-click (PPC). It is a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Search engine advertising is one of the most popular forms of PPC. It allows advertisers to bid for ad placement in a search engine's sponsored links when someone searches on a keyword that is related to their business offering. For example, if you bid on the keyword “Custom stationery”, your ad might show up in the very top spot on the Google results page. Every time your ad is clicked, sending a visitor to your website, you have to pay the search engine a small fee.
Illustration of PPC (source: eMarketing Textbook)
As mentioned earlier, each search engine requires the advertiser to enter the keywords for which their advertisement should appear. This list of keywords determines the search queries for which the advertisements could appear. Google has four kinds of match types: Broad match, Phrase match, Exact match and Negative match. Broad match means that your advertisement will appear for the keywords you have entered, as well as search terms that contain your keywords and any other words in any order, as well as some variations of your keywords. For example, if you have chosen pink pajama as your keyword, your ad would appear in searches like – pink pajamas, striped pink pajamas, soft pajamas etc. In phrase match, indicated in quotation marks would appear only for search terms that have your keywords in them, in the same order, though other words may also be in the search term. Exact match, indicated by square brackets [exact match], means that the advertisement will only appear for search terms exactly the same as the keywords selected. And finally, negative match, indicated by using a dash in front of the keywords (-negative), means that your advertisement will not appear in searches using that word, no matter what other words are used. The main benefit of PPC for marketers is payment for results. Rather than taking out a print ad, where returns on investment are difficult to measure, PPC allows advertisers to pay only for the clicks they receive. This makes investment spent in this way both valuable and highly effective.
Is this kind of advertising really effective and profitable? Because I have never clicked on these ads and always ignored them!
Skill Set – eMarketing
I had never been exposed to eMarketing before and this was an eye opening experience as how important it is to have a website even if it’s a small business or service and how marketers use information available online to market and attract customers. During our first week team assignment I learned a lot about online market analysis and what goes into building an effective PPC campaign. It involves researching and selecting the right keywords, to organizing those keywords into well-organized campaigns and ad groups, to setting up PPC landing pages that are optimized for conversions. I also learned how to do a current market analysis of a company, what tools to use in order to get information, such as; Google Analytics, Backlink, Page Rank etc.
Reflection
I have learned a lot of new skills during this last week and hope to get a lot more on global marketing. I have understood how important it is to have a website no matter how small your company is and ways to attract traffic on your website. I have never blogged before and found it challenging; I feel it’s mostly for the writers. ;) But I’m sure I’ll get better as each week passes and look forward to the upcoming weeks and challenges ahead associated with global marketing!
Chandrika - I'm glad you're embracing the challenges with a positive attitude! Can you also share with us some of the questions you have regarding this week's materials?
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