How to Select the Right PPC Keywords

Professional search engine optimization specialists are more likely to tell you that the keywords you use for your online marketing campaign can either make or break your overall online business plan. Why? Keywords act as the nerve center of practically all paid search campaigns. These keywords either pull or drive off potential customers who visit your site or simply do their search in various search engines.

A recently published article in Search Engine Watch likens a keyword list to a garden - where the website owner is the gardener. The entry emphasized the importance of planting the right keywords at the proper time in order to yield wonderful results. It also suggested that website owners carefully select keywords and be on guard. Unnecessary keywords, according to the author, has to be culled out so that what remains are the thriving ones.

Here are five tips that will help you get better yields than weeds when selecting search words/ keywords for your paid search.

1. Research.

Knowing that keywords are critical to the success of your marketing campaign, be careful not to take selection lightly. Consider seasonality, competition and geographic variance. Use online tools such as Google Insights to help you learn and understand the new keywords that are being searched on. This tool provides a good sense of new variants that you you can add to your list and possibly help you get ahead of your competitors.

2. Find the right match.

Make it a point to use the right keywords so that your campaign is on top of the list the moment consumers start searching for something on any of the popular search engines. Also take advantage of search query report to comb through other keyword variations that will help you gain additional insights for your business.

3. Consider the customer's search experience across devices.

Take note that search queries can come from a wide array of devices. Studies show that 10 to 15 % of search volume comes from mobile phones and tablets. Given this fact, it is important to remember how consumers search differently with the use of various devices.

4. Experiment and try using new Google Betas.

Bear in mind that change is the only thing that is constant within search. The most searched keywords today may no longer work in the next few weeks or months; the most popular keywords tomorrow might not be in any of your lists today, so you might as well review your lists and make sure you have what most consumers are currently looking for. Get the most out of the world wide web by using keyword targeting enhancements.

5. Keep going.

Remember that everything within and about your online marketing campaigns keep changing - including your customers and algorithms. With that in mind, NEVER forget your keyword list. Review your search and discover which keywords really work and pull out those that do not seem to bring in customers. Never be oblivious of the current data from your campaigns.

How to Select your Keywords

Online business owners and blog enthusiasts need to know that having a website or a blog is not at all enough. There is a need to invest some time for search engine optimization of the site. And this ideally starts with choosing and incorporating the right keywords into your web contents.

Apparently, it appears that search engine optimization itself is an overwhelming process. This, however, is generally manageable - provided you take it all one step at a time. In fact, you can do the SEO on your own, or if you want it, get an expert to do the task for you.

Take note that having an insight to keywords that are relevant to your site is but the beginning of an entire SEO process. This step is generally referred to as a sanity check that offers site owners a glimpse of how people search for a keyword and how you should expect your product or service to be found. This way, you avoid wasting time and resources trying to focus and optimize your site for search words that online users are actually not using to find your online business.

Let me share with you five simple steps in selecting the ideal keywords for your site.

1. Kick of with your own brand name.
This is supposed to be your first concern: to make sure that your own site comes first when online users start searching for your brand.

In case you don't rank well in your own brand name, try to modify your keywords and see to it that you use terms that are strictly associated with your brand such as brand-specific product names or your management teams' names.

2. Generate keyword suggestions.
Turn to keyword suggestion tools such as those used by business process outsourcing companies for a list of recommended keywords. Select a handful of keywords from the list. Also it is important that you include a range of head terms and long-tail keywords.

3. Identify your competitors.
Identify your competitor's target KWs and incorporate their homepage URL to your keyword suggestion tool.

4. Be specific with your KW list.
You need not include all suggested KWs provided by your suggestion tool. In this case, choose search words according to relevancy to your site, competition, search volume, and current status. As much as possible, pick out at least 10 keywords per search engine optimization campaign.

Remember to include keyword phrases you are already ranking for. This way, you know you are already on your way.

Always consider the global monthly searches and competition of each keyword you choose. Ideally, you should go for those that have low competition and at least 1,000 monthly searches.

5. Run an SEO campaign on your target keywords.
Intensify your quest in making it to the top of the results pages by regularly monitoring keywords and measuring the kind of traffic you are generating from them.

Characteristics of an Ideal Offshore Outsourcing Solution

Are you looking for an ideal offshore outsource solution? If your answer is yes, then here are some pointers that will help you find a business partner you can hire. These pointers are basically the characteristics of an ideal offshore outsource solution:

No Minimum Commitments. Offshore agreements should not contain minimum or revenue commitments. Instead, business owners should negotiate for a tiered discount schedule that leverages volume discounts for improved utilization and speed. The offshore outsourcing firm should be responsible in earning its client’s business based on performance and not on pre-negotiated commitments.

Termination for Convenience (without material early termination fees). Ideal outsourcing deals should allow companies to terminate contracts even before the end of the term and should not require the business owner to pay a significant termination fee. This way, scuffles are avoided – regardless of the cause of the termination. There can be various reasons to terminate an outsourcing deal. Performance, cultural issues, distance, and other areas are only some of them. The outsourcing firm, of course, can almost always fire back and demand to be compensated for stranded costs like the cost of hiring dedicated outsource staffs to fill the positions, severance and others. But then again, entrepreneurs can be savvy enough to argue that stranded costs are generally not material. In this case, entrepreneurs who decide to terminate deals before the end of the term can only pay for actual stranded costs but not for expected profits and lost opportunities.

Length & Flexibility of Deal. A good BPO offshore outsourcing deal generally consists of an initial term of 2-3 years with two to four successive one year extension options. This way customers can actually choose whether to continue leveraging their expertise or not. The agreement should contain all terms of the deal, including the price.

Currency Options. Given the constantly changing value of dollars, business owners should decide on a currency payment structure that provides the best financial sense. More often than not, leveraging local currency is a beneficial option for offshore deals.

Key Personnel. Service providers should ensure that clients are provided with “key personnel” or reliable resources that an outsourcing company can turn to in case they need to conduct interviews for their projects. Key personnel offer companies more control over quality control of their dedicated outsource staff.

Intellectual Property Rights. Ideal offshore deals contain clear provisions on ownership of software or products being developed and should prevent the outsourcer from using the said software or whatever products for other purposes. These should not be provided to competitors. In all sense, appropriate disclaimers and provisions should be stipulated.

Meaningful SLAs. The agreement should contain service-level agreements (SLAs) that reflect expected performance levels from the hired offshore BPO staffs. It should be focused on areas that create positive business impact for the firm.

Outsourcing Management Tips

Let’s face it: Not all outsource projects work as expected. There are times when companies do not get the right service or product they require from their outsource SEO staff. Take for instance those entrepreneurs who outsource their software development tasks. Many of these firms end up getting software that does not really work. On worse cases, these companies sometimes even end up not getting what they have actually paid for. These and many nightmares of outsourcing are only some of the many things that entrepreneurs wish to avoid.

In all these, it appears that many clients are reluctant to leverage because of several reasons. There are those who shuns the thought of getting in touch with an outsource SEO consultant because of fears that they might just end up with a bad offshore vendor. Many others deviate from the idea of leveraging competencies because the vendor might not be able to manage the work effectively. Others have these lingering worries about getting less quality service and products.

Online marketing who had already tried to leverage their expertise shares the following outsourcing management tips:

* Track milestones. See to it that you have a well-prepared plan that includes estimates and schedules. Make sure your selected vendor and your entire outsource SEO staff is aware of they so they know what to accomplish within each time frame. Hired parties should commit to the dates of completion of each milestone. Modify milestones only when necessary and when you notice your hired staff has a hard time meeting it.
* Track requirements. Check quality of products or services you require from your provider. See to it that these contain features you require.
* Regularly monitor outsourcing progress. Communicate with your hired third movers on a regular basis. Get in touch with them on a regular basis. Exchange emails and/or conference calls on specific days to ensure that operations are doing well and issues are resolved immediately.
* Keep building. If you leverage software design, see to it that a system is put in place to compile and build such project every time you check into the source file. This will help you address problems the moment they occur and will eventually help you avoid delayed software release.
* Test-drive. Require unit tests from your outsourced SEO consultant and staff. Create tests before you eventually ask them to implement the features you desire. This will help your hired parties understand better what you really want from them. Tests will also serve as your basis when checking for system functionality.
* Demand high quality service. This will help set high levels of functionality and quality for your end-users. See to it that all features you demand are well within each product.
* Collaborate with your SEO consultation services provider. This will help you resolve potential issues. While it is true that it can be hard to regularly meet with your outsourced staff especially if they are located in another continent or country, don’t fret. Instead, learn to keep in touch with them using technologies like the internet. Send emails or instant messages to address issues. Use online telecommunication tools like Skype, Yahoo Messenger or Google Talk for free.

How Get the Best from your Outsource SEO Staff

One reason why you might have come across this page is that you are searching for a reliable outsource SEO staff. Or it could be because you are looking for ways on how to take full advantage of the services your chosen provider is currently providing you. In either case, here are four tips that are guaranteed to help you get the best from your third party mover:

Do not underestimate your hired SEO staff. Search engine optimization professionals from most outsourcing companies are skilled and well-trained to provide a myriad of non-core competencies. Bank on this thought and do not be wary to give them non-core tasks so you could focus on more important functions. Hired third party personnel can handle not only data entry jobs but other back-office tasks as well.

Go for offshore training. If this is your first time to hire an outsourcing SEO services provider and you believe your hired staff requires training, provide the necessary training right at the staff’s location. Don’t think about coming over to personally provide them training. Instead, take advantage of technological innovations. This will not only save you time and energy but a large amount of resources as well. In case you are not fully confident with online trainings, ask a representative of your chosen provider to come over to your location and learn the ropes of your work. This representative can later go back to his own company, share and train others.

As much as possible, reduce the risk of downsizing. Just because you already plan to outsource does not mean you can already axe a large chunk of your existing employees. Given that you would want to cut down overhead expenditures, it remains the company’s moral obligation to consider the welfare of all in-house and outsourced employees.

Be particular with the quality of service you get from your selected outsourcing SEO services provider. Never overlook feedbacks from other clients or your offshore vendor. Also, do not be contented with testimonials posted on the sites of service provider. Instead, make it a point to demand for high quality output and impressive results.

Do not allow your hard-earned resources to go to waste. Get the most and the best that you can possibly derive from your SEO consultation services provider.