4 Ways to Avoid an Increase in Google AdWord's Price-Per-Click

Handling your own Google AdWords account can be an incredibly time consuming and confusing experience. Trying to generate leads while conforming to Google's ever-increasing standards at times, may seem like a guessing game. And without hiring a pay-per-click professional, most dentists are probably experiencing an increase on some level to their price-per-click, which is the actual price they pay to have any one person click on an ad when it shows up in the search engine results pages. Recently, the Google AdWords program has created a robot (spider) dedicated entirely to crawling web pages in order to evaluate their quality.

What does this mean? Well, pages not meeting certain "quality" indicators are sure to see a dramatic increase in their price-per-click. And, what may be more important, since Google is now spidering sites in AdWords, one may assume it won’t be long until they incorporate this data into their organic search results - perhaps favoring those who use the AdWords program over those who don't.

So what are the "quality" indicators in question? For starters, your contact information should be readily available throughout your site, not just the Contact Us page. A small blurb indicating your email, phone and mailing address needs to present - I would suggest on every page - just to be safe. Oh, and make sure your Contact Us page is highly accessible from anywhere.

It's a good idea to have a Privacy Policy page clearly linked from your home page. As a medical professional, you may have a good idea what to include on this page, but if you think you need some help, Click Here to get a good idea of what Google thinks is important. And please - DO NOT COPY A PRIVACY POLICY FROM SOMEONE ELSE! This may seem common sense, but you'd be surprised.

Try to cut down on the number of "404 Page Not Found" error pages for all links internal and external. 404's are bad for both the end user and the search engine spider. Most folks who run across one will immediately leave your site - and so will a Google AdWords indexing spider. If your site has many error pages and you don't know how to fix this on your own, then contact your webmaster or visit Page1Solutions.com for a free dental website consultation.

Create a Links page. Linking out to other "high quality" web sites within the realm of the dental industry tells the spider that you consider yourself an authority and would like to be recognized as one. Finding .org and .edu sites as well as any particular dental associations you belong to and linking to them is highly advisable.

Nathan Joynt
SEO Specialist
Page 1 Solutions

Choosing colors for your website

Colors can have a strong effect on your website visitors. A wrong color or the wrong mix of colors can impact how people view your site and navigate through it. On the other hand the right set of colors can effectively push a potential patient through a website to your intended goal.

Color is all around us and our subconscious emotions and reactions to them are worth noting. For instance bright colors tend to stir us up where softer colors tend to relax us.

When it comes to picking colors for your new website, logo or branding campaign, there are no definitive rules. Different things work for different people. They key is to identify what emotions you want evoked from a visitor due to the color you choose. In addition, depending on age, sex and cultural background, people will be attracted to varying colors. Traditionally, men look for strong, bold colors whereas women like to be surrounded by softer, pastel colors.

A good rule of thumb is to keep the number of colors on your site to a minimum, between 2-4, with one of those colors only used as an accent color. The accent color of your choosing should contrast with the rest of the site and drive the user’s eyes to a specific section of your site. A talented designer will incorporate all of the colors, including the contrasting element, and visual flow of the site to further drive your visitor’s eyes.

Below is a list of how colors can affect us in different ways:

Red - Passion, power, strength, attention-getting. Red is often a good choice for call to action items. Red can also invoke excitement, cheerfulness and warmth.

Blue - Confidence, truth, and professionalism. It can also invoke dependability, patience, cooperation, understanding, and loyalty. It is often associated with intelligence, trust and reassurance.

Green - Wealth, money, prosperity, health, nature, hope and growth. It can also come across as fresh and soothing.

Yellow - Purity and joy. Yellow, a warm color often represents sunshine, energy and happiness.

Black - Authority, committed, classy, elegance, serious, and sophistication.

White - Purity, perfection, fresh, and cleanliness.

The right set of colors can be very effective in driving your visitors and getting the results you want from your legal website.

Aaron Gerblich
Account Manager
Page1Solutions

Tips for Google

I recently read this in an e-newsletter that I subscribe to and think it makes some very simple and obvious - but good - points. Here they are:

"- Link exchanges for SEO [Search Engine Optimization] is a bad idea. There is a big difference between link exchanges for SEO and two sites that happen to exchange links. Using automatic link exchanges, having highly unrelated links, massive amounts of links regardless of the quality, etc should be avoided at all costs.

- Purchasing links is definitely a bad idea. Some argue that Google could never find out who is selling links. The fact is, though, that purchased links, at least at the most basic level, is extremely easy to detect.

- Thousands of links does not mean what it used to. Links must be related. If you want to see a significant effect, they should also come from highly trusted websites in a natural way. It is possible to be hurt by bad links.

- Obvious SE [Search Engine] spam, such as hidden text, redirects, etc will eventually get you banned.- Being a careful webmaster is important. Innocent and careless mistakes can and will cost you. Setting up a website with broken links, multiple URLs for the same page, poor navigation, etc will scream poor quality.

- Rehashing content does not work. Google wants one of two things: 1) completely original content, or 2) content conglomerated in a completely original fashion. This goes along the duplicate content filter that is talked about so much.

How do we know these things? Because Google has been open about what they are looking for. These are not theories based on observations; these are things that Google has discussed openly through employees, at conferences, through the tools they offer us. Unfortunately many webmasters simply do not want to listen.”

The author of the article is Mark Daoust who is the owner of Site Reference. Hopefully, his words of wisdom will help you too.

Dan Goldstein
Page 1 Solutions

Fun, Free Advertising for Everyone!

This site is going to be BIG! …maybe.

Wikimapia.org - http://www.wikimapia.org/

It is a cross between Wikipedia and Map Quest, where users can actually find places and provide descriptions of them. Going on a trip to New York? First go to WikiMapia and check our "New York Restaurant" or whatever else you're interested in.

Better yet, make sure YOUR business is on there so when someone searches Wikimapia for "Cosmetic Dentists in _____," etc., they are given directions to your business along with a description written by you!

We have already tried it out on Page 1 Solutions, just to give you an idea of what it looks like. If you go to where the wikimapia bar is, click on “search” from the drop down menu and type in “dental marketing” you will see the ONLY listing (at the time of this writing) is for Page1 Solutions. Yes, that is our roof. It may not be pretty, but at least we have views of the Rocky Mountains.

Fun, Free advertising… what more could you ask for?

Analyze Your Competitors’ Web Sites...

...Before Developing Your Own

Traditional search engine optimization is the most effective means for getting potential cosmetic dentistry patients to find your website. The reason for this is that “natural” top search engine result listings are more credible than sponsored ones (highly positioned natural listings tend to be viewed as a third-party endorsement).

If your dental practice is in a large, competitive market, chances are that in addition to extensive keyword optimization, you will need to use multiple web marketing tools on an on-going basis to become and remain competitive. But, if your practice is in a smaller market and you have a limited Internet marketing budget, a “Pay-Per-Click” campaign can still be an effective way to drive traffic to your website.

A quick caution: even if you decide to exclusively employ a “Pay-Per-Click” strategy, fresh, original and quality content continues to be of utmost importance since the Internet is being utilized increasingly by prospects as a research tool (do you recognize a consistent theme throughout this blog?). It is difficult to gain credibility as an expert in cosmetic dentistry among prospective patients if your web site is not a “go to” resource.

But regardless of how competitive your market is, as with any smart and effective marketing campaign, you first need to determine your budget, your marketing needs, an estimate of the return on your investment and a way to track results. The good news is that the Internet, more than other media, lends itself to the ability to track results. The way to determine your Internet marketing needs, on the other hand, is the same as for any of your other marketing endeavors: you must first investigate what your competitors are doing.

A good place to start is to generate a list of localized keyword phrases. This is an art unto itself and will not be dealt with in this article. The next step is to choose one of the four major search engines and do a search for one of your more important keyword phrases. Take note of which of your competitor’s websites are receiving favorable positioning and which appear under the sponsored listings. Do the same for three or four of your other top keywords. Then repeat the process with the other three major search engines (as of this writing, the four major search engines are Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask).

This process can be tedious, but not far along into it, there is a good chance you will identify some of the same websites persistently getting favorable positioning. Needless to say, these are the sites of your principal online competition. These are also the sites whose success you will need to emulate and improve upon.

First you should re-visit your keyword list and try to identify relevant keyword phrases that elicit traffic and your competitors may have overlooked. Then visit the sites you identified as those belonging to your principal online competition and try to identify what makes them successful.

How much and what quality content do they have? Is it well organized? Who do they link to and who links to them (you can uncover the latter with http://www.linkpopularity.com/)? Are any of the incoming links from a blog or an electronic public relations article? Where and how often do their keywords appear? Are their keywords being used in the headline(s)? How about the title page? What design elements are being employed? Are they offering “no recovery, no fee” or other promotions? Is it easy to contact them?

Now look at the source code. What meta tags do you find, if any? Are the keywords being used in their images’ ALT tags? Are they spamming (hiding keywords not visible to the web user) or using other deceitful tactics? If they do, you may want to report the site to the major search engines, not only for competitive reasons, but also for the betterment of the medium as a whole.

After going through this exercise, you will have a much better idea what it will take to be competitive online in your market. You will also be better armed to ask questions of the search engine optimization team you may consider working with and to set a budget for your internet marketing campaign.

And after you revamp or begin your online marketing efforts, be sure to keep track of your competitor’s online performance. Your competitors’ tactics will likely change, and so will the rules of the game.

Jessica Espinoza
Page 1 Solutions

Increase Pay Per Click ROI – Landing Pages

Search engine marketing should incorporate both optimization-related results (free listings) and sponsored listings (pay-per-click advertising). Although more website marketers prefer 1st-page listings in the organic or natural listings, paid sponsor listings, which can become expensive, still offer a good ROI if done strategically. One element to increase your PPC ROI is to develop effective Landing Pages.

Expensive Paid Listings Demand ROI

Since you are paying for every visitor who clicks on your paid sponsor listing, the important point is this: PPC programs have to more than pay for themselves in order for your website to remain a viable marketing effort. To accomplish that, you need a well-planned, engaging landing page or pages. Otherwise, visitors, which you paid for, have to do work to find relevant information and won't hang around long enough to find or read your relevant pages. Thus, you have little chance they will contact you.

The Purpose of Landing Pages

Unlike sending visitors only to the home page of your website, sending potential patients to a landing page gets them to a target destination, without requiring them to make additional clicks. You will lose visitors with every click you require them to make. The key is to determine your most desired action (MDA) and design everything, including your headlines, graphics / images, text and layout to drive visitors to complete your MDA.
Ideally, keep each landing page limited to one MDA, since each landing page has a specific purpose. Extraneous information, overwhelming number of links/options, time consuming videos and an unclear calls-to-action are distractions. Having affiliate links, text links and unnecessary animations are other distractions that keep your visitor from taking your MDA.

Landing Page Design Principles

1. Your headline should accomplish the following objectives:
- Make your visitor realize they have reached the right page;
- Clearly state the most desired action and purpose of the landing page;
- Engage your visitor and encourage them to continue.

2 .Your headlines should grab readers and it should appear "above the fold" or at the top of your landing page. It’s the most visible, and thus, the most valuable area on your website.

3. Write your content using short chucks of text and single sentences. Try to surround it with negative space (white). Visitors generally start by scanning a page, rather than jumping right into reading large paragraphs and pages.

4. And because readers initially scan instead of intently read website text, utilize a lot of headers, sub-headings and bullet-point lists.

5. The lead sentence of each chunk of text should give the critical information you want to get across, if you want to engage visitors and get them to read deeper.

6. Promote an unambiguous call to action - Schedule your consultation, email a request for a telephone consultation. Leave no doubt what action is expected of the visitor. Calls to action can appear throughout the landing page text and a call to action should be the last thing visitors read.

7. Choose a type font that is easy on the eyes and very readable. Avoid script-style fonts and fonts with lots of curly-Qs that diminish the readability of your content.

Bill Fukui
Page 1 Solutions