A previous post here covered average click-through rates for email newsletter advertising, email campaigns and website banner ads. It's surprisingly difficult, however, to get meaningful data on the average click-through rate (CTR) for Google AdWords ads. On the B2B side, I'd place the average Google AdWords CTR in the range of 0.9-1.4%. As noted, DoubleClick provides fairly reliable data across those media. This discussion on Webmaster World reports various experiences: 0.6%-1.2%,

Where can you find the best resources to help pass the AdWords certification exam? What factors should be taken into account when developing a new AdWords campaign? How can the Google AdWords search-based keyword tool be used for competitive research? Discover those answers and more here in the final installment When is it time to drop or rewrite an underperforming ad? Top 10 Resources to Pass the Google AdWords Exam in a Week by SEOptimise Richard Fergie provides a helpful list of resources to help with the Google AdWords certification exam from the AdWords blog, O'Reilly

Before embarking on a serious search engine marketing (SEM) program, it's critical that your website is designed to take full advantage of the increased traffic. With that in mind, here are some of the best articles and blog posts from 2007 on website design considerations and action items. 20 Ways to NAVIGATE to Higher Conversions by Internet Search Engine Database Writer Stoney deGeyter details how elements Landing pages are important of course, but not every SEM visitor will convert immediately—some will want to check out your site to learn more about your company, products and/or services first.

Google AdWords: Keyword Tool Enter a search phrase, and this Google tool will display related keywords along with advertiser competition and search volume; average cost per click and ad position by bid amount; and global search volume trends over time. Finally, Backflip is still my favorite tool for organizing marketing research, and Free Essential Tools for Blogger Blogs from Quick Online Tips is a must-have list of tools for business blogging. ***** Terms: Larry Chase, WDFM, best website marketing tools, top search engine optimization tools, keyword help The portal for Internet

Keyword / Key Phrase Development: look at multiple sources—your existing site content, competitors’ websites, industry trade publications, relevant blogs, and the keyword suggestion tool in Google AdWords—to develop your long list of key word and phrases to use in your SEM campaign. Write at least two different ads that point to the same landing page, then in Google AdWords and Yahoo Sponsored Search, turn on ad optimization so that your more effective ads are being shown more frequently. Search engine marketing (SEM) can be a powerful lead generation source, or a complete waste of money.

While Google AdWords certainly isn't the only option for search engine marketing, it's by far the biggest. Search marketers need to get AdWords right before expanding campaigns to Yahoo! Even features unique to AdWords often "migrate" to other services over time, so search engine marketing (SEM) mastery begins with AdWords. Search Marketing , MSN AdCenter or Ask SponsoredListings . Here are a few of the best blog posts about AdWords from last year, covering topics such as getting results from the content network, using the conversion optimizer, and reporting.

It's critical, when starting work on a new website, to develop a list of the most productive keywords and phrases to work into the content and structure of the site. The list doesn't need to be long; 15-25 phrases is sufficient unless you are working with a very large website. Next, run your initial list of phrases through a keyword tool in order to 1) determine the relative search volume of the terms on your initial list, and 2) identify high-potential related search phrases. It can also be a useful exercise for existing sites from time to time; content changes, search patterns change, and a minor content and SEO face lift may be just the thing to reinvigorate traffic growth.

This post focuses on interesting observations and helpful advice pertaining specifically to Google AdWords, the largest SEM platform. In Google AdWords, Bidding Wars Are a Thing of the Past: Beat Your Competition with These 4 Tactics by PPC Hero Post demonstrating how tactics such as keyword group optimization, writing relevant ad text, and designing relevant landing pages can save you from over-bidding on keywords. by Traffick Blogger The last post here presented some of the best articles and blog posts on general search engine marketing practices. Techniques that Always

At the core is SEO—simply making your website "findable" through organic search to buyers who are looking for what you offer. Since Google is the dominant search engine , it's AdWords search program is the place to start. Once the program is fine-tuned and results are maximized there, SEM efforts can be expanded to the AdWords content network, then progressively to Yahoo Search Marketing , Yahoo's content network, MSN AdCenter , and finally One way to think about designing a B2B technology web marketing plan is as a series of layers, like an onion. Working out from

I've talked to dozens of business owners who feel like they're tried everything only to wind up with a handful of website visitors each month, a mailing list of a couple of hundred people, a blog that makes them feel like they're talking to themselves and a sense that social networking is a total waste of time. This may seem obvious but think about at what we pay attention to when it comes to internet marketing: How well does my website rank? My blog gets a lot of hits for search phrases like “eMarketing what works and what doesn't� and “internet marketing best practices.� I have a mental picture of the people using these search terms as nomads wandering across the desert that is the internet searching for answers they're probably not finding.