Yes, the click through rates on Facebook Advertising are low, when compared to other online marketing forms such as PPC or SEO. The global average for Facebook Advertising is about 0.038%. But there are things that can be done to buck the trend…

The reasons for the low conversion rate are firstly, because people don’t want to be advertised to when they are actively engaging in social activity. Secondly the advert may not be relevant to the people viewing it and thirdly because the ads themselves are not compelling.

Now, while the first factor cannot really be affected, we can have direct effect on the last two.
 
Relevancy is defined by those who view it, we can have control over this and if when ads were created they are targeted at people interested in areas similar to the product and service offering, it is made relevant. This should be left under review as it is likely that there are further demographic groups that may yield better results.

Regarding whether the ads are compelling enough, it is hard to say until you can see at least two weeks of data. It is important to continue to tweak ads based on user behaviours that appear. This will ensure that we get the very most form the Ads.

What I would say however is that with even a small sized budget millions of people can see these adverts. Now when you compare those figures to other marketing forms you would have to run an ad in a national newspaper, on commercial radio or television to get that type of exposure. Of course these mediums would be a great deal more expensive. So campaigns can be successful in that sense, large amounts of people can be aware of your company, whether they clicked on the link or not.

Also when we talk about click through rates and compare this to PPC or SEO it doesn’t seem like good ROI, however in the case of Facebook ads, the customer has already entered the sales cycle. Whereas with SEO and PPC they still need to move around the site to determine whether the site is relevant or not, before buying product or making an enquiry.

In simple terms, the ads are more targeted and more likely to convert.

Are you familiar with the ‘long tail search’?

It is an important factor incorporated into search engine optimisation, so:

What is it?

A brief explanation – Let’s say you sell ‘Dunlop Golf Clubs’. Would the search term ‘golf’ be a good term for you to target? Yes and No. Sure you would receive a high volume of traffic (if you achieve position 1 for ‘golf’). However, this is a hugely competitive search term, with 384,000,000 competing pages. Optimising your website for this search term could prove very expensive. Additionally, someone searching for ‘golf’ could be looking for a vw golf, a golf course, a golf lesson, the list goes on and on and on.
So it is important to understand the difference between a broad search term and the long tail beneath it.

Broad search term

A broad search term like ‘golf’ has 4,090,000 search queries in 1 month, so the shorter the search term, the more traffic; however the traffic is less targeted.

Long tail search term

A long tail search term would be more specific, for example ‘dunlop golf clubs’ has 1,900 search queries in 1 month. There will be many more search terms, like ‘nike golf clubs’ ‘wilson club clubs’ etc. All of these are more specific and when you add them all together, they can help to form your long tail search strategy.

Also, the advantage of the long tail search term is that it is more specific and it is more targeted. This means that the search engine user is further down the buying cycle.

See the broad search term and the long tail illustrated below:

In my next blog, we will talk about how it can help your business.

Ever wondered what the most popular UK websites are? Well wonder no more.

Below is a list of the 20 most popular websites (according to Hitwise) for the week ending 10/7/2010.

Interesting reading, I am sure you will agree.

Here are some very interesting figures released last week

According to The Daily Telegraph ‘An extra million Britons aged 50 or over have gone online for the first time in the past year, as older people become more confident with the internet.’ So internet users continue to grow.

It’s important to remember that every user if different, but we will start to see trends (in this age range) that will show an increase in search traffic relevant to the over 50’s.

Do you want to tap into this market and is it relevant to your business?

You do, great. So how do you tap into this market?

I would advise the following.

First, what are you looking to achieve. Perhaps you would like to increase your revenue, or are you looking to provide useful information to the over 50’s.

Second, how are you going to go about achieving your goals?
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If you are looking to sell products, it is important that you identify the relevant search terms. Terms that will be used by the over 50’s. Then you need to position yourself at the top of the search engines (Google etc) for the search terms relevant to the products you sell.

Perhaps you are looking to provide quality information to the Masses? One element that can help is Viral Marketing. This can assist in getting your message out there, by encouraging others to spread your words.

These are just a couple of online marketing tips showing how to get the most out of the internet. So, if you are looking to increase sales, or increase brand reputation, the internet can help. But have a structured plan, or speak to someone who can help with your online marketing….

…like Miromedia.

We are frequently having conversations with our clients about the amount of businesses that use the web. And the increase in business to business leads created by the internet. But internet user growth does not stop with business.

Here is an interesting statistic released this week, that may change your view on user behaviour.

‘The British internet audience increased from 36.9 million in May 2009 to 38.8 Million in May  this year.’

Now let’s drill down into these figures a little more, for additional information.

Internet surfers over 50 accounted for 53 per cent of the overall increase.’

Interesting info, I am sure you will agree.

Now that the internet is established as one of the fastest (if not the fastest) ways to get information on a myriad of different subjects. There really is something for everyone.

Seems you’re never too old to see the benefits.