A while back I went over the basics of search advertising, or pay-per-click. These are still the best place to start, and can be broken down into four areas:

• Keywords: do keyword research, and use keyword groups to segment your audiences. Also use different match types to make sure you’re targeting the right users at the right times in their buying cycle, but not overpaying for lower-performance phrases.
• Ad copy: Use keywords in your ad copy, and prioritize the relevance of what you’re advertising (in relation to the search terms) over branding or your company name.
• Landing page: Make sure your landing page is relevant to your keywords, and ads.
• Performance Tracking: Know what metrics are important to your business; monitor and improve your campaigns over time through controlled testing.

But what if you’re already doing all that? Here are the next 8 steps:
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The whole idea of social media marketing can be a bit overwhelming. People are connected to each other more than ever on social media platforms, creating conversation about your brand and industry.

There are so many platforms, so many choices and so many misconceptions.

Companies that are smart and disciplined in all other areas of their business sometimes act irrationally due to their lack of expertise in this area.

Common mistakes include:

• Ignoring social media marketing because it is so foreign to them. Social networks and blogs are the 4th most popular online activities online, including beating personal email. 67% of global users visit member communities and 10% of all time spent on the internet is on social media sites. On a daily basis, individuals are talking about your brand, so companies better listen.

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Too often while browsing the internet we come across blogs with horrible spacing, font-sizes that are too big or too small, and line-heights that are non-existent.

I have created for you, a basic wordpress stylesheet that can be used as a stepping stone for any blog you wish to create.

Click here to download the stylesheet

The goal of this stylesheet is to provide an easy to understand stylesheet for developers who are installing a new theme.

Wordpress uses numerous default classes and enables users to apply many stylings with the WYSIWYG editor. All of these elements are contained in my stylesheet can be easily configured by changing margins, padding, or background-images. All elements in this stylesheet have spacing applied to the bottom of each element. This is essential for keeping consistent spacing throughout your blog!

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I attended a couple of great sessions this morning, most of which were focused on web analytics and how they can provide actionable data. Here are some key takeaways:

1. Keep your enemies closer, but keep your friends close too.

When you start an SEO campaign, the focus is usually on competitor research: what are your competitors optimizing for, where are they getting links, and how can you do a better job at it than them? But through Google Analytics you can also see what sites you are already getting traffic from. Well, a lot of the time, the users that come in through those referring sites ended up there because of a previous search query. Why is the referrer ranking, and what can you do to get your site on that SERP too?

2.  Exploring site search

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The BFM team is here at SMX, learning everything from the depths of duplicate content issues to the intricacies of web copywriting. Which is a great reminder that the easy part comes first: any small company can rank on page one for highly targeted searches, by following a few fairly simple steps.

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(photo source: Nima Badiey)

Mistakes are bound to happen! We all make them – but in life we try to avoid them. Sigmund Freud was once quoted:

“From error to error one discovers the entire truth.”

But when businesses are hard-pressed for time and money, mistakes are not an option. Even if you are a Fortune 50 company, you may be in greater danger to succumbing to SEO ignorance. Upper-level management may not understand what it is or why it’s even important. Here are five common mistakes to avoid at all costs:

1. Self-centered Marketing

Just because a landing page looks nice and has a lot of content doesn’t mean that it has any relevance. If your homepage is full of your “company”, chances are that relevance for your consumers as well as search engines is lost. Many companies make the mistake of adding too much of themselves on a landing page, without explaining to the user what they do, and how that will help the user. Make content relevant and straight-forward.
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(photo source: DavidErickson)

Websites are a complicated mix of art and function. Combining the power of programming and a tangled web of knowledge to connect with the art of graphic design, websites can run the spectrum from extremely artistic with little functionality to very functional while lacking artistic quality.

The goal for all sites should be to combine these 2 elements harmoniously to a specific application. Here are 5 important aesthetic aspects to remember when creating a worthwhile website:

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A successful website doesn’t happen by accident—it takes strategy and direction. Each website we make is different according to the needs, wants, and desires of each client. Many of our clients ask us about the foundational changes they can make to improve their website. Here are seven elements that have helped to improve their usability, online presence, and traffic—changes that you can apply today:

1. IDENTIFY YOURSELF

In today’s web-saturated world, it is imperative that you differentiate yourself from the millions of other web sites. By identifying what makes you different, you will attract individuals who will recognize your unique web identity, increasing the likelihood of repeat visits. Developing a memorable name, slogan or catchphrase can help in this as well.

On your Contact page, include your address and phone number and an easy-to-use contact form. This adds credibility to your site and lets the users know you are legitimate; this is especially important if you want your users to perform financial transactions, like an ecommerce website.

2. IDENTIFY YOUR MESSAGE

When a visitor comes to your site, there should be a clear and purposeful message stating what the site is and why it exists. By clarifying the main message of the site, you are creating a more informative and useful experience for the user. To help formulate your message, ask yourself these questions:

1. What is our purpose?

2. What makes us different?

3. Why should a user return to our site?

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(source: Jason Nicholls)

Many companies are at a point where their brand identity in an on-line environment is static in an era of chaos. Things that used to work now don’t. Traditional branding has always been built on out-branding the competition in an ever-increasing advertising clutter-filled environment, media fragmentation, and the seemingly limitless choices that are offered in just about every product category.

Why do some companies “get it” and some are being left behind in the dust? Why are Nike, JetBlue, and Zappos the poster-children for companies that “get it”, and how are they achieving their social media success? Why is transparency so important? Will these things have a positive ROI and how do you measure it?

We have to remember that social media is just one piece of the puzzle and a component of branding. The following are things you have to remember when trying to build a strong brand interactively:

Listen:

I’ve mentioned numerous times that as a brand you have to actively listen. Create ego-centric searches on as many social media platforms as you can—Twitter, Facebook, Google Blogsearch, Friendfeed, Technorati. Read blogs and people’s comments—understand what people are saying, and always ask yourself why. Why are people saying what they say?
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(This is a follow-up to the Affiliate Summit wrap-up from Monday.)

Everyone is guilty of committing a landing page design sin, including ourselves, the pros. That is why it is important to always be testing your pages by using Google Website Optimizer, for example.

What is a landing page?

Any page where traffic is directed to for some specific purpose – to prompt a certain action. The point of a landing page is to get the visitor to take your desired action. The visitors may be coming from organic search results, pay per click, email newsletters, banner ads, etc.

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