Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a very powerful marketing tool that has the ability to bring a significant amount of increased revenue to a business. PPC done well should follow a 5-step plan for maximum effectiveness.

Step 1: Create an informative webpage
- Ensure there is a call-to-action on the pages that traffic is directed towards

Step 2: Generate a list of keywords
- Keywords that potential buyers would search
- Identify your negative keyword list
- Identify broad and exact match phrases

Step 3: Build your campaign
- Research bid prices on Google
- Write your Google AdWords advertisements

Step 4: Monitor your results
- Split test ads against each other to achieve higher click through rates

Step 5: Improve your performance
- Rewrite ads to improve click through rates
- Optimize landing pages to improve conversion rates
- Improve your ROI by adjusting bid prices

Driving Web visitors to a business web site has grown to be a fairly well proven technological procedure that performs very well. This does not mean that the process will be easy, but that we know enough regarding how it operates to do a credible job of delivering precise traffic in the right direction.

Converting Internet Traffic into a lead, or sale, still has quite a bit of art, as well as scientific discipline in the mix. One of the speediest means to improved revenue is a higher “conversion rate” on the traffic arriving on your site.

Of course, the very best of both worlds would certainly be increased Web traffic conversion, and greater targeted traffic as emphasized below.

The optimum method to accomplish this lofty objective is through a four-step process that leads to great success.

• You have to “Measure” – or define your objectives so that you can determine performance. If you don’t understand your target, how in the world are you going to recognize if you have hit it?
• You then want to “Experiment”. If you keep trying to get varied results while using the exact same techniques, you will never get to the place desired.
• “Test”. Sort of sounds like a bad word that flashes you back to your school days. You have to have the feedback which testing provides. Absolutely nothing else will be able to take the place of testing.
• Someone needs to keep his or her big baby blues on the winning prize, or be “Monitoring” the process at all times.

Imagine that you are converting at a 2% higher rate than what you are presently experiencing. That would make a great impact on the bottom line. I would like to invite you to check out how online targeted traffic conversion can positively impact your company. I would love to discuss it with you. Give me a call at 636-244-3684.

Rick Pickering, CEO of Alameda County Fairgounds, reports fantastic attendance numbers for the 2009 County Fair. Rick's team contacted WSI Webpro about 45 days in advance of the fair, and inquired about our ability to help them drive "pre-event sales online." We were very intrigued and made the choice to take on the project.

Since time was short we made a strategic decision to create a separate marketing site to receive the traffic that we were going to generate. Sales pages were created that featured a call-to-action, directing the visitor to the online ticket purchasing portal.


Through Google Adwords, and Facebook Ads, we were able to direct about 22,000 targeted visitors to the site in a forty-day period based on geographic and demographic criteria.

Overall attendance was up 20% over last year, which is pretty phenomenal in light of the declining attendances of most fairs throughout the US and Canada. Pre-event sales tripled over 2008 levels.

Rick Pickering stated, "Saying that we hit a "home-run" with WSI is an understatement!."

You can find the full text of Rick's testimonial on our testimonials page

When you are thinking about what type of content to write for new promotional strategies, always remember that the traffic is not the whole solution.

You must also convert your visitors to buyers. Always watch for ways to work with "emotional content"  since most people make their "buying decisions" when they are in an emotional state.

Your promotions need to make the visitor FEEL good. Consider at times where the use of humor might be incorporated or perhaps the warm fuzzy feelings produced by the tone of your writing. This is a secret that traditional advertisers have been using for years successfully.

Content provided by: John Alexander

- Ellen J Richards

“Blogs are now mainstream media,” said Richard Jalichandra, CEO of Technorati.

Wow, I can remember not too long ago when people tried to convince me that blogging was merely a fad and that it would soon evaporate like the fog on a moonlit lake. I'm glad I didn't listen to them.

Blogs take on many expressions, but in the end it is all about two-way conversations. People love to talk, and talking (typing) on the Internet is not going to go away. Astute business people are figuring out how to tap into the power of this communication. It looks as if they are succeeding.

Download the eMarketer document "Blogging Has Come a Long Way, Baby" for more information.

- Michael

Internet Marketing Research is an indispensable activity IF you wish to be effective with your Internet marketing activities. Most businesses appreciate if you are as close to "spot on" as possible when their campaigns are launched. After all, ROI has to be the driving factor. I invite you to read, "Your Website is a Living Laboratory - Drive Results Based on Internet Marketing Research".

- Michael

A Micro-Test or µTest if you prefer. We call it a µTest because that’s what it is. A very simple measurement of online results to see what works best for your business. Is it layout A or layout B? Headline 1 or headline 2? Font Y or font Z? You get the picture. If it can be changed or tweaked to improve the results, why wouldn’t you do it? You can get results very quickly and without an enormous investment. Do the math yourself. If you can increase your click-thru-rate from 2% to 2½ %, what effect is that going to have on your bottom line? No rocket scientist needed here, just a calculator (with an accountant attached to it if you like).

What can I measure?
You name it, it can be measured. I’m not even going to spend the time listing everything you can measure online, because it is really all inclusive. Instead I will list the things you can’t perform a µTest on:

What’s your favorite color? Who cares? If your favorite color is costing you ½% at the bottom line then it’s time to change favorite colors.

µTest it!

I’m sure you have heard of focus groups, the old school method of trying different approaches to ad copy through trial and error. Now consider that your entire audience can be your focus group and they are acting in real time. No more waiting for results. Some of the results will certainly surprise you, both for better and for worse. I hate small print on web pages (although that might have something to do with my eyesight as I get older). To my dismay, I just read the results of a Marketing Experiments (at least I think it was Marketing Experiments, I can’t find the article right now) report that indicated people are more likely to read smaller print and only scan larger print. Who knew? How many times do I have to say it? MicroTest, µTest, MicroTest.

- Daniel

What could be arguably more important than driving targeted traffic to your website? Even though that is the first step for an effective Internet Marketing campaign, besides the fact that the second step won’t happen until you accomplish the first. What is it that we need to grow our businesses? Conversion of the targeted visitor into a lead or customer/client! Dropping a visitor to your website on the home page is not going to get the job done. Landing pages are becoming essential for delivering the right message to the right target audience. Read how Landing Pages are Essential to Converting Visitors.