Keeping your website up to date is obviously important. Most business people, me included, think first and foremost about updating the content. Equally important is the need to keep your website platform up to date. If you don't, you run the risk of getting your site hacked, increased junk email, or worse. MORE

Most search engine mavens like to point that pay per click (PPC) advertising does nothing in and of itself to increase the organic search engine results on your site. True enough. You could easily blow through $500 in pay per click advertising over the course of a month by creating all kinds of simple keyword combinations to drive boatloads your way. If you do nothing else but sit back and watch the traffic -- and then shut down the PPC ads in month two -- you'll no doubt watch traffic levels return to their previous sub-optimal levels.

By the way, unless you get lucky, all those new visitors that you paid Google for  probably won't result in much new busines.

So is PPC advertising a waste of time? Not at all. Here are three reasons why your company should be running a PPC campaign no matter what your budget.

Reason #1 -- It forces you to enhance your content. While Google will not elevate your organic search standings as a result of visitor traffic generated by PPC, you now have a strong financial motive to enhance the quality and relevancy of your content. And that certainly will increase your organic search engine results.  If you take the time to improve your content for whatever reason, readers and Google will both be sure to notice. Site pages that serve double duty as landing pages from your PPC campaigns are a natural first place to start. Focus your energies here and you'll be rewarded with better business results on both the organic and paid sides of the house.

Reason #2 -- Some visitors will bookmark and return. Remember that $500 you spent so ineffectively on PPC advertising? Maybe it wasn't a complete waste of money after all. It's likely that at least a few people found your site through PPC, liked what they saw, and bookmarked you for later return. Those visitors may someday convert into buyers, and they might not have ever found you without PPC.

Reason #3 -- You learned your $500 lesson well, young Padawan. Those new to PPC often use simple and obvious word combinations to attract large numbers of visitors. Trouble is, PPC ads cost money, and large numbers of visitors (as you found out) don't always translate into large numbers of buyers. Too many business folks get discouraged at this point, never to return to PPC again.

Don't let that happen to you. SEO experts like to talk about the valuable "long tail" of search engine marketing. Basically what they're saying is this: The most obvious keyword combinations using the search terms most likely already sprinkled on your site rarely make the most effective PPC ads. While they may serve to increase traffic, sometimes in great numbers, they rarely convert tire kickers into real buyers.

Rather, rely on good old-fashioned organic search for the easy and obvious stuff. Take the time to craft keyword ads that are less obvious and more "out there" but still highly relevant to your business. Fewer people will find those ads. But those that do will be more likely stay longer, come back later, and eventually buy. What's more, your monthly payments to Google will be a whole lot less.

'Til next time. . .

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When I mention branding, you likely think of a logo, a color scheme, a general ‘look and feel’ for printed and online materials. Creating these designs often requires a specialist who is trained not only in branding techniques, but in visual design and the software available to implement these ideas. Writing, on the other hand, doesn’t always get such special treatment. Why? Because many businesses view writing as something that everyone can do, so why pay someone else to do it?

While it is true that everyone can write, this doesn’t mean that everyone should. This may sound a bit harsh, but let’s look at some reasons why it’s a good idea to entrust a professional copywriter with your printed and web collateral:

1. Allow executives and management to focus their attention on the areas for which they are most qualified. It can be tempting to want to do everything yourself, but if you are a CEO or other high level executive, you need to be able to dedicate your attention to what you do best – strategic planning, management, and keeping the company running smoothly. Entrusting the responsibility of conveying your company vision through writing to a trained professional gives you that much less to think about and that much more room to dedicate yourself to what’s most important in your position.
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I don't necessarily buy that Google can do no evil, but they've sure done something good in launching Google Webmaster Tools. Webmaster Tools is a great way to get lots of information about the traffic on your site. And like a lot of what Google provides, Webmaster Tools is free.

To get started, all you need to do is insert a single file in your root directory. Afterwards, you can check back at any time to get an instant read on what the Google crawler thinks about your site--and, by assocation, your readers in general.

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