For many clients, launching a website is only the beginning of an unfolding initiative to attracting visitors, customers and other target audiences to a new website. ISL can help bring valuable traffic to your site with search engine optimization, marketing, and advertising services. We know how to optimize existing websites for search engines, create and run online search marketing campaigns, and build banner campaigns that lead to custom landing pages or websites. We have run dozens of these kinds of campaigns in a number of industries, and have also run specific initiatives like custom sweepstakes for Fortune 500 companies.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Most websites today receive more than half of their traffic from organic search engines. Almost every website project ISL undertakes starts with SEO research and analysis. Our search engine optimization services extend from site analysis and optimization recommendations to building sites based on search engine behavior. Whether building a new website, or optimizing an existing website to improve performance on the major search engines, the first step is keyword research and analysis. We use a variety of tools to understand the quantitative search landscape for a given keyword and market. The initial research results in a strategy that can include everything from optimized code and content formatting to design, content development recommendations and link acquisition strategies.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search engine marketing (SEM), sometimes also called search engine advertising, involves bidding on a select group of keywords on a cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand (CPM) basis on a search engine. The actual cost-per-click ranges from a few cents to a few dollars depending on the popularity and competition among other advertisers for specific keywords. ISL can execute against a strategy or advise other developers on best practices. For paid campaigns we set-up the necessary accounts, populate the ad campaign with the keywords, craft compelling text ads, and can manage the entire campaign spend on behalf of a client.
SEM offers a great tool for businesses to access customers or prospects searching online everyday. Most of these paid search providers, such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, also offer ad impression and click-through statistics, conversion tracking and other tools that allow advertisers to gauge the success of campaigns as they unfold. CPC advertising campaigns are easily monitored and adjusted to ensure the strongest results based on keyword performance and costs. Paid search engine placement allows a website to quickly rank at the top of the “sponsored links” section on search engine results pages (usually in the right column). It also allows the placement of advertising on site networks or even specific websites that support an advertising network. We have also advised clients who prefer to run their own campaigns and done the necessary research to inform those campaigns.
For both paid and organic campaigns, we report regularly on performance, competition, new developments and best practices. We help clients ensure that their sites remain on top of the organic and paid search spectrum as needed. The beauty of search engine adveritising is that precise, quantifiable costs and results are at the fingertips of advertisers and service agencies.
Banner Advertising Campaigns
Banner ad campaigns usually involve:
- Banner ads, whether static or using multimedia like Flash
- Landing pages or paths that let users accomplish the campaign objective once they have clicked on an ad
- Potential personalization of campaign to target users
For example, on one campaign the referring site passed to us the geographic location of the visitor, and we showed them retail locations in their zip code area. A hallmark of that campaign was to combine online and off-line objectives. Or we could read the referring site path, and based on knowledge of users from that property, present them with a different landing page.
We have created sweepstakes campaigns where users click on a banner ad, and when they come to a client site, they enter their information on a special landing page. Daily winners can then be chosen at random, or user information stored for later prize drawings. We have adapted sweepstakes campaigns to meet privacy requirements for children under 13, who cannot enter email addresses, and needed an alternate way of being informed. We are well-versed in the legal requirements and procedures for these kinds of campaigns.
Please contact us to discuss your advertising campaign needs.