Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Bus572-1 Organic Search Results, Pay Per Click Advertising, Knowing Your Niche, and Knowing the Controversy



Organic Search Results, Pay Per Click Advertising, Knowing Your Niche, and Knowing the Controversy


The chapters discussed different types of search results.  They highlighted organic search results (which are returned results based on algorithms) and paid search results.  The paid search results are also called paid per click advertising.  The good thing about organic search results are they are returned based on keywords that are included in your search, they are also returned in order based on relevance or score of helpfulness.  Organic search results are often much more helpful than pay-per-click advertising because they can be much more specific to a “long-tail” search.  Also pay-per-click advertising may return a very broad and unspecific result with a general landing page (one would have to sift through their web –site to find the desired product).  Of course for every positive reaction, there is a negative reaction.  For every opportunity that the internet provides to find helpful information and good information there is someone who is searching for information that can harm others as well.  This was showcased with the Boston Marathon Bomber and several other recent terrible acts.  

Pay-per-click advertising was also discussed at great length.  Pay-per-click advertising will return an advertisement that is based on certain combinations of words or specific key words that are used.  Also, certain advertisements will not be returned based on phrase used.  Pay-per-click advertisements are good for those who need to get their name out quickly and are willing to pay as much as it takes.  Pay-per-click searches can be time specific and area specific in order to target a certain group of customers and control costs.  Once a budget has been reached, the advertisement can be turned off.  Pay-per-click advertisements can be negative for the consumers in that it could help a company to corner a market and decrease competition.  When a company is able to pay any amount for a “click,” they can severely reduce the amount of traffic that their competition sees.  This causes a reduced amount of completion and an increased market share, which can decrease price and customer service competition.

These chapters teach one the importance of knowing what is necessary to appear in each type of search result.  These chapters helped to highlight the importance of content on the web-pages and the amount of traffic that views.  It also helps to show the importance of using pay-per-click advertising in the beginning in order to help establish reputability.  Once reputability has been established, it may be possible to lessen the amount of money that is spent on pay-per-click advertisement.  As a manager or owner, it is important to know the status of the web-site, the traffic that is being received, what is necessary in order to boost your rating and “search-ability.”  It is also important to know the type of marketing your competitors are using and the niches that set one apart from their competition.  By knowing one’s niche and unique selling points, one can differentiate between competitors by including those key-words.

The current algorithms and tracking that Google and other search engines use has been controversial of late.  This is because using cookies, web-sites track your behavior and can target specific marketing to you that may not necessarily be based on a search that you have just completed on their web-site.  I have recently turned off the ability for the computer to remember where I have been and store that data.  I am interested in seeing if the ads that appear on web-pages that I see change.  I am also interested in seeing more specifically what steps can be taken to help boost the score that increases visibility on organic searches.