Driving Traffic?

[eclipzed]

Is using Google AdWords/Adbrite Network the most effective methods to drive traffic to your website - But not in the single digits or even tens, but hundreds or more?

If you have used Google AdWords, what type of budget did you have and did it make an impressionable result to your business?

I want to advertise on either or both of these networks, but I am still scared of taking the risk and over spending.

Any advice fellow FS readers?

[Dartshop]

Adwords can be very benifical as you targetting specific people and qualified traffic.

It is very important to your costs that correct keywords and phrases are chosen, especially NEGATIVE keywords. It brings an instant stream of traffic and helps whilst organic traffice is being generated for new websites.

Meanwhile, focus on SEO for the site........this brings the best traffic of all, which is FREE organic traffic.

Im assuming that it is the Virtual Assistant site in your signature? Read up a bit on SEO, this will be vital in getting your site ranked and seen by the web users.

Cheers

[david.pagotto]

I agree with dartshop, SEO is by far the most beneficial.
It is very powerful if implemented correctly and can be done for free.

[small business marketing]

Free organic traffic is the only sustainable growth path, Adwords can give you great bursts of highly targeted traffic if done well, but it requires continual time and investment. That said, you can set a daily budget so you don't overspend.

I use Site Build It (SBI) to host all of my websites. They give you the tools you need to help move your website into the top ranked sites (over time - there is no fast ride).

http://traffic.sitesell.com/small-bu...marketing.html

In a recent study, 62% of SBI sites were in the top 3% of all websites (Alexa study). It is about $400AUS per annum and you get so much more than just hosting.

Here are a couple more links you can look at.

http://webhosting.sitesell.com/small...marketing.html

http://service-selling.sitesell.com/...marketing.html

http://compare.sitesell.com/small-bu...marketing.html

DISCLAIMER: I am an affiliate, but I am recommending this because it works!

[Aidan]

I agree that SEO traffic is the ideal solution IF you can get ranked for all the keywords that matter to you and therein lies the real challenge assuming the business even knows which keywords to target.

Most small businesses never reach that point because they simply don't have their own resources or budget enough for an SEO consultant to target dozens, hundreds or even thousands of keywords.

Adwords can be highly effective because you can target keywords with extreme accuracy, so pick the right keywords and you can do extremely well.

Personally I'd rather not be too dependent on organic traffic as search algorithms change frequently so after lots of effort maybe even reaching the top you can suddenly find you are back on page 3 or worse.

Many businesses use both approaches, with Adwords targeting the keywords they just cannot get organically or are waiting for their SEO efforts to bear fruit on.

[exstatic]

Hi eclipzed,

SEM (search engine marketing) is the new black these days and its what everyone who is anyone is talking about.. and I reckon it should now be a part of everyone's marketing campaigns for their business, and it looks like you know this as well

There are a few tricks though that some people dont know about, especially with AdWords, just paying a few bucks to have ads display isn't necessarily going to do you any benefit.. sure it might bring you traffic that is semi targeted, but what you want to do is buy clicks and ads that get your people who are looking to buy from YOU.

I hate paying for clicks that bring me visitors that dont buy my stuff.. conversions are our number one goal at the end of the day.

What some people dont know is that google scores your ad based on what your page says, so if you are advertising PA Services, but your website is a lawn mowing business, google will rank you extremely low in relevance, which means your paying for nothing.

So the key is to ensure that where your ad is pointing, and how your ad is written matches or is extremely relevant to the content someone is searching for.

So if I was advertising a home brew kit, I would want people searching for home brew kits to go to my site.. but would I put my ad as 'Home Brew Kits?' maybe.. but it wouldn't be my only keywords.. I would try something like brew beer at home, or how to brew beer.. then in my add I would have those words in the ad... and I would also have them on the page that is being advertised.. this would make the search engines happy..

Google likes relevance.. so I have given it a relevant search term to my ads, I have put keywords and phrases in that people search for, and those keywords match the content on my page.

I have also written a bit about this on my other forum - http://www.aussietycoon.com/showpost...62&postcount=4

So.. to answer your question.. You should do both organic and paid, the organic stuff will help your paid stuff rank better.. and cost you less money and improve your conversions, because the people clicking you ads actually want to buy your stuff.. because thats what they are searching for.

I hope that helps