Adwords and SEO tips?

December 27, 2008 4:06 PM

What do I need to know to start and run my company's Adwords and SEO campaigns?

Recommended resources? Tips, tricks and general advice? Case studies about corporate SEO/web marketing and advertising? Words of warning? Thanks!

posted by AceRock to work & money (1 comment total)

It depends on what your company's business model is. Are you selling a product or service?

Some suggestions from my experiences with Adwords (this information is a little dated):

• If you cater to a particular geography, make sure you use Adwords location targeting.
• Consider the keywords people you want to reach might use. If you sell shoes, for example, someone searching for "shoe store" or "where to buy pumps" is much more valuable than someone who just searched for "shoes."
• Also think about the people whose clicks you don't want to pay for. You don't want people who are researching the history of shoes for a report. Use negative keywords to exclude the "wrong" sorts of searchers.
• Try to find real data on the patterns of your actual customers' search habits. Check your server logs. A few years ago AOL released the search data on thousands of their users, which offered a rare insight into how their users searched the web (and how poorly AOL regarded their privacy).
• Time of day may matter-- if you're trying to reach a business, focus your spending during business hours.
• Look for search terms that your competitors have missed, you'll be able to get these clicks for less.

posted by justkevin at 5:56 PM on December 27, 2008