Guest Blog Post by Ron Durant, CEO of e-NERTIA Marketing

With the end of the year at hand, it is crucial for companies to analyze their performance and formulate plans for the future. All business sectors need reviewing, but online marketing is particularly important, as firms attempt to discover which parts of their advertising portfolio were effective and which need to be improved upon going forward.

Pay Per Click marketing should be audited and the traffic data thoroughly combed. Issues that require consideration include the success of specific keywords and their sales conversion rate. Understanding the composition of the target market is extremely important too, so that keywords and online marketing tactics can be changed accordingly. A careful review of the statistics will reveal new openings in the areas being targeted.

Marketing is only a worthwhile investment if it grows revenues for a company, and that is especially true of online marketing options. Conducting an annual audit will reveal which parts of an online marketing program were successful and which were not. By examining marketing data individual keywords and settings can be isolated, and their effectiveness can be tracked against other factors such as geographic location.  With this information a company can make an informed decision about how best to move forward, and about which parts of their marketing need to be emphasized, tweaked or discarded.

An end of year review may look like a complex and time consuming task, but the information gleaned can be invaluable for a company preparing their online marketing plan for the year ahead.

Guest Blog post by Terry Boddie, Agency Liaison Director at Marketing Media Management

For those working in online marketing, it is clear to see that Google changes a lot. This has a way of getting on some people’s last nerve. Many small businesses lost big the last time Google dropped them from a position in the top sites in search results. This was all because Google changes its algorithms periodically. This had the effect of making Google appear as if it was the bad guy, but there is more than chance when it comes to rankings.

Google looks at more than 200 different criteria when they are giving a webpage its rank. Those companies that use black-hat SEO practices are ever engaging in a war against a formidable foe. Eventually, they can expect to be found out by Google, and during the next change in algorithms, these particular businesses are sure to lose out to those that use only white-hat SEO methods.

The primary goal of Google is to put a stop to these black-hat SEO practices which artificially inflate a site’s rankings. It also wants to reward credible sites that follow the good SEO rules. Online marketing businesses that learn what these rules are and use them will rank high and continue to stay there no matter what.

One very effective technique for increasing the Google ranking of a site is the use of well-written, properly optimized content. This makes it crucial that one create a site which will provide a good customer experience. Another tactic is to include headline tags, place appropriate keywords within articles, use correct URL structure, and include information about the articles through your social media platforms.

It is essential for building traffic to show up high on Google searches. This provides the sales needed to prosper. However, using incorrect methods of getting there will only cause damage in the long run.