You already know that to make sure your prospects and customers find you on the Web, you need a well-designed site that’s also search engine optimized, and that paid search is an additional layer that can drive further traffic. However, you may not realize that in order to retain or improve upon your search ranking, you need to regularly monitor, track, and analyze your search results—and adjust your search strategy as necessary.

So, why is that?

1. Search engines are always … searching. Each of the search engines crawl your site on their own schedule to check content, relevance, and recentness of updates—all of which affect your ranking. Do you regularly post recent news and press releases? Have you considered adding a consistently updated blog?

2. Search engines change their algorithms. Search strategies that work for one algorithm may not work as well when that algorithm is adjusted. Of course, the search engines won’t publicize when they make those changes, so you need to be ever vigilant for changes in your ranking. Headers, tags, and content may need to be revisited. A page signature may also help.

3. New sites are constantly being added to the mix. With the Web constantly expanding, there’s always a chance that a new site may launch that will compete with your site for search traffic. If you see a new site that’s enjoying attractive rankings, be sure and review their SEO tactics and consider how you might adapt them to your site.

4. Your existing competitors aren’t sitting still. Chances are, your competition will work to update and improve their sites and rankings. Without continually monitoring your position in the search results, and making adjustments, other sites could overtake your position.

5. There’s more to search than a text listing. In addition to your position in natural search results, be sure and maintain your presence in the local map listings. You need to continually monitor and adjust so that your competitors don’t push you down, or off of, the results. Add keywords, services, and content whenever you can.

6. Google isn’t everything. Yes, Google has 70% of the Internet’s total search volume (as of this writing). But you shouldn’t ignore the volume generated by Yahoo and Bing. And don’t assume that if you are performing well in Google, you have all the bases covered. Different search sites will give you different rankings both in organic listings (since they’re using different algorithms), as well as in paid search results. So closely monitor your performance in each of them.

7. Keyword search volume varies from month to month (and week to week, daypart to daypart). Your paid search program, including budget, keywords, and parameters (matching specs and dayparts) should be adjusted on a regular basis. A budget that works well in one month may be insufficient—or excessive—in another.

Those are just a few of the reasons you don’t want to “set it, and forget it.” If you do, you may not see an immediate decline in your rankings, but you definitely will over time.  So, make sure you protect your website investment. Give it the attention it—and your search strategy—require.

1. Creative targeting: Start by using precise, relevant copy in order to better qualify your prospects—regardless of other targeting tactics you might use. This type of targeting also tends to rank higher in paid search listings.
2. Content targeting: Since most health care products or services reach a narrow segment of the population, you may choose to sponsor either a page or a section of one site or a group of sites that have a specific type of content. While costs may be higher on a cost-per-thousand (CPM) basis, the results are usually worth the investment.
3. Geo-targeting: Serve your ads exclusively to the territories you serve, where you see potential, and/or where you have need. Target by country, state, zip code, or designated market area (DMA), along with other geographies.
4. Demographic targeting: Whether it’s self-selection or through an individual site or network of sites, you can identify and reach those that specifically fit your demographic(s).
5. Techno graphic targeting: Advertisers can place ads based on the manner in which Web users connect to the Internet and Web pages—from the speed of connecting computers, to the operating system being used by those computers, among others.
6. Daypart targeting: With this method, messages can be pinpointed to reach consumers at relevant, predetermined points of the day when they are most receptive.
7. Centrographic targeting: This type of targeting considers the culture and population characteristics of a defined geographic area, while combining the latter with demographics, psychographics, and technographics.
8. Contextual targeting: Unlike content targeting, your ad will be served adjacent to articles on topics related to your product or service. This option is available for both text and display ads. Don’t forget to avoid potentially inappropriate content by using negative keywords.
9. Behavioral targeting: By monitoring and mining for behavioral patterns based on the sites visited by a Web user, you can target content to this user in the future.
10. Re-targeting: If you had a visitor at your site, but did not see the conversion you were looking for, you can continue to serve ads to visitors on other sites that they visit—either until they convert or once they reach a frequency cap.

Targeting tactics will naturally vary depending on the product or service you offer, as each has its own specific set of needs. Ultimately, appropriate targeting is the most efficient way to reach your target online—and only your target.

In anticipation of the New Year, I began making mental notes over the past month about predictions I had for the marketing world in 2010. But chances are that many already have the same ideas as me. So rather than list a host of these, I decided instead to create a compilation of 10 articles and posts—each with its own “top 10” list of 2010 predictions around a particular marketing-related topic.

In other words, I’ve subtly outfitted this post with nearly 100 projections for 2010! Here they are in no particular order (with the exception of the first, of course). Drum roll, please!

1. Public relations
2. Social media (generic)
3. Social media (specific)
4. Online marketing
5. Digital marketing
6. Web design
7. Wireless
8. News media (minus 2)
9. Personal branding
10. Tech terms (out with the old)

Do any of these predictions resonate with you? If not, I’d love to hear yours.

Before we say adieu to 2009, I leave you with a humorous Huffington Post piece on this year’s top 10 PR blunders. (Note: #1 may be a sensitive topic in this joint). Best wishes in the New Year!

- Sharon Harper

1. Creative targeting: Start by using precise, relevant copy in order to better qualify your prospects (and also rank higher in paid search listings)—regardless of other targeting tactics you might use.
2. Content targeting: If your product or service reaches a narrow segment of the population, you may choose to sponsor either a page or a section of one site or a group of sites that have a specific type of content. While costs may be higher on a CPM basis, the results are usually worth the investment.
3. Geo-targeting: Serve your ads exclusively to the territories you serve, where you see potential, and/or have need. Target by country, state, zip code, or designated market area (DMA), along with other geographies.
4. Demographic targeting: Whether it’s self-selection or through an individual site or network of sites, you can identify and reach those that specifically fit your demographic(s).
5. Technographic targeting: Advertisers can place ads based on the manner in which web users connect to the Internet and web pages—from the speed of connecting computers, to the operating system being used by those computers, among others.
6. Daypart targeting: With this method, messages can be pinpointed to reach consumers at relevant, pre-determined points of the day when they are most receptive.
7. Centrographic targeting: This type of targeting considers the culture and population characteristics of a defined geographic area, while combining the latter with demographics, psychographics, and technographics.
8. Contextual targeting: Unlike content targeting, your ad will be served adjacent to articles on topics related to your product or service. This option is available for both text and display ads. Don’t forget to avoid potentially inappropriate content by using negative keywords.
9. Behavioral targeting: By monitoring and mining for behavioral patterns based on the sites visited by a Web user, you can target content to this user in the future.
10. Re-targeting: If you had a visitor to your site, but did not see the conversion you were looking for, you can continue to serve ads to that visitor on other sites they visit—either until they convert or once they reach a frequency cap.

Targeting tactics will naturally vary by company, as each has its own specific set of needs. Ultimately, appropriate targeting is the most efficient way to reach your target—and only your target.

- Colleen Bogart

Once limited mainly to teenagers and college students, social media networks are catching on fast with the adults. Engagement by adults with Internet access grew from 8% in 2005 to 35% in 2008, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Why should this matter to your business? Nearly 120 million Facebook users log on at least once a day, and close to 30 million of them access Facebook on mobile devices. Also those with major purchasing power, ages 35 and up, represent the fastest-growing demographic. There are more than 100,000 small-business pages and 300,000 total business pages on Facebook. There’s a good possibility that these same users are engaged in other forms of social media such as reading blogs and product reviews and sharing videos and photos, as well as following their favorite brands on Twitter. That’s a lot of digital influencers conversing, sharing, and engaging with fellow, like-minded influencers. The bottom line is that your customers and prospects are spending time online and you should be there to engage in the conversations with them because if they’re not talking about your brand, they’re probably chatting it up about your competition.

Big brands like Dell, Starbucks, Coke, and Pizza Hut are profiting heavily through their social media efforts—and now smaller business-to-business brands, colleges and universities, health care providers, and not-for-profit organizations are making huge strides in reaching their audiences through social media as well.

At Martino Flynn, our job is to put a strategic plan in place for our clients to help them sort out and identify the most logical and effective social media platforms for their business. Many clients already know how powerful social media is for them on a personal level. Make the transition and see how powerful it can be to enhance and strengthen your reputation and brand.

— John Marianetti

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
- John Wanamaker, U.S. department store merchant (1838-1922)

Mr. Wanamaker likely meant that half of his spend didn’t reach his target audience, or that when the advertising reached his target, it did not elicit the desired response. Wouldn’t it be great if we could tie all of our advertising spending directly back to results—and immediately at that? Well, that has become quite possible with search engine marketing (SEM), which is expected to grow tremendously over the next few years.

More people are online than ever before. Their primary activities include researching products and services via search engines like Google or Yahoo. You know that these folks are in the market because they’re already seeking what you’re selling. In other words, they’re self-selected. Now, you just need to be sure to deliver your message when they’re receptive to it.

Use a one-two punch.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one aspect of SEM that enables your site to rank higher naturally when a prospect searches one of your keywords. By measuring site traffic and sources prior to—as well as after—SEO, you can measure the volume of traffic attributed to the search engines—and your SEO.

Of course, your site will not always rank as high as you’d like against all of your keywords, but you can be sure that your prospects see your ad—and give them the opportunity to engage with it—by using a paid search. You do not pay for all of those exposed to your ad; rather, you pay only for those who click on your ad. Taking this one step further, you can also set up a trackable conversion that allows you to identify an actual lead versus an invisible visitor on your site.

Each of these online search tactics achieves a different objective and affords its own benefits. What’s important to remember is that search engine marketing is measurable, and with these straightforward online marketing strategies, you can be sure that you won’t be wasting 50% of your ad budget. Martino Flynn has delivered Return On Ideas (ROI)—and, ultimately, the more familiar Return On Investment—for many clients, and can do the same for you, too.

— Colleen Bogart

The reason this issue is currently top-of-mind for me is due to recent comments made by Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, at this year’s Cannes Ad Festival. You don’t need a crystal ball to speculate on the future of some of our most beloved advertising media. As Mr. Ballmer says: “All content consumed will be digital; we can only debate if that may be in one, two, five, or 10 years.” Thus, he eliminates the need for traditional newspapers, magazines and broadcast programs.

While that may be true, I will continue to be an advocate for the use of traditional media as part of an integrated brand strategy. Traditional mass media can be a great way to steer consumers to a richer online experience. The power of a well-crafted print ad or TV spot to pique interest and drive online inquiries for further interaction with your brand is still some pretty powerful stuff. So, while change may be inevitable, don’t toss that traditional media out like a dirty diaper—yet.

— Tim Downs

Apparently, moms were neither pleased nor impressed. Furthermore, this campaign was launched late on a Friday afternoon and left unmonitored over the weekend by the company. And the backlash that weekend was measured in millions of negative impressions within the social media world. And the Motrin debacle earned the top spot on the social media Darwin awards.

The Lessons Learned:
Test your campaign with a small audience—also known as the “disaster check.”
If you’re going to use social media, know that reaction times are measured in minutes and be ready to respond 24/7. Your target audience has the the power, so make sure you’re always listening.

Motrin is a fine brand, and if someone hadn’t been asleep at the wheel that weekend, the brand could have taken a gentle tap versus a big old black eye.

— Kevin Flynn

Most people think of email design and development as simpler than design and development for the web. In some ways it is; after all, an email is just one “page.” On the other hand, designers and developers like us have to make sure an email message looks consistent in all the popular places that people view email, and not only are there more email clients than web browsers, but they’re more segmented. Of course, one of the most popular email clients is Microsoft’s Outlook.

With the last version of Outlook, Microsoft changed its rendering engine, and basically took web designers’ options back to more than 5 years, forcing us to use old, tired, and downright poor techniques, and limiting what we could do designwise in an email. This caused an uproar in the design community and spawned the Email Standards Project, an organization that aims to standardize email rendering so that it’s easier for designers and developers, and thus if you’re a marketer or advertiser, less expensive for you.

The news is just out that Microsoft is planning to continue using their very poor rendering engine in Outlook 2010, the next version that is “in beta” (almost done but not released yet). Again, outrage has begun within the design community. I would like to invite marketers and advertisers to join us, to make enough noise so that Microsoft might just listen to its customers.

What can you do? Let your voice be heard with Twitter. If you have a Twitter account, visit http://fixoutlook.org/ and write a tweet about the project. As of this writing, 12,700 (and climbing quickly) individuals have already done so. There’s no question that Microsoft has the technology and manpower to fix this problem. They are choosing not to (I believe using a security issue as a scapegoat) and it’s costing you time, money, and creative freedom. Help us let them know that web and email standards are time- and money-savers for everyone.

- Frank Piacitelli

This is good news for companies and corporations that never delved into the video or broadcast world. Maybe producing a TV commercial was never an option because your target audience was too narrow or the media cost couldn’t be justified. But now you can produce that brand spot or product overview and distribute it via your website, through YouTube, and if it’s clever enough, through viral sharing by loyal fans of your brand. You know your customers are online. You know they’re viewing videos. Don’t leave them underwhelmed with static content on your company website. Engage them with the same rich media that they’re used to viewing online. However, I would highly suggest that you seek professionals when thinking about producing your video for scripting, production, and editing. Homemade videos are great for sharing baby’s first steps or when grandma falls off the lawn chair at the family picnic, but it’s important that your corporate video be as professional as your company.

By utilizing online video, you’ll learn that potential clients will be spending more time on your site and will become better informed of your products and services.

— John Marianetti