How to buy local search - With pay-per-click (PPC), a company pays a fee per keyword
for each time their search result is clicked.
Most paid engines, including Google and Yahoo, have instituted a bidding process, wherein companies wanting the same search term compete by paying a higher price than their competition for a selected word or phrase. The company’s listings are then displayed in the order of how much they bid for that position.
Google, however, factors in not only cost-per-click, but the click-through rate, rewarding those ads that are popular with searchers. Executing a paid placement campaign in Yahoo and Google alone will position your Web site in front of approximately 95 percent of the Internet search population. Both Google and Yahoo offer the ability to target localized firms by incorporating cities, states or regions into keyword buys. In addition, advertisers are able to target ads by a searcher’s IP address, whether by ZIP code proximity or latitude and longitude coordinates found on maps.
Internet yellow pages (IYP) users are statistically more likely to be buyers, compared with local search users who tend to include more researchers among their number. For example, 75 percent of consumers who use Verizon’s SuperPages contact a listing business; 45 percent of users buy.
Experts believe that to survive as a destination, companies on IYPs must display more than flat business listings and advertisers in their result sets. They must better discern user intent. They will need rich business descriptions, product and service summaries, maps, coupons, payment types, user reviews, and ratings.
Most IYPs now use highly structured categories with simple business contact information provided by traditional direct marketing data providers. Two leaders in IYP advertising are: www.superpages.com, and www.yellowpages.com.
Pay-per-call advertising debuts - Some believe that if someone’s on the Internet, they probably will want to click to a company, learn more about it, and then call. If pay-per-call is coupled with a decent landing page for companies without their own Web sites, the dealer can include a coupon and company logo. The call format solves a problem for the millions of businesses that don’t have a Web presence, but still want to be found by online searchers.
When people are motivated enough to pick up the phone and call, they are often closer to making a purchasing decision than people who simply click through on a sponsored listing. Furthermore, phone reps can answer questions and overcome objections more quickly than most Web sites.
America Online (AOL) is spotlighting pay-per-call ads in search results, giving them top billing over paid search listings. But pay-per-call ads (priced at $2+ per call) are generally more expensive than pay-per-click advertisements.
Dealer cost per contact - According to Kelsey, the cost per contact generated by a print yellow pages reference is just over $1. Paid search ads average 43 cents. But the cost per lead for Internet yellow page listings, according to Kelsey, is estimated at 14 cents.
The acceptance of search as an interactive marketing option has prompted a number of companies to develop tools and metrics to measure and analyze search performance. These tools and processes, called search analytics, are based upon marketing parameters such as reach, frequency and impressions, and have been used for years in the direct marketing industry.
Marketers are using these factors to improve their campaigns by changing their keyword selections for natural or paid placement, adjusting content and testing landing pages and ad copy to monitor return-on-investment (ROI) indicators against search term visitor information. For instance, Google offers “free analytics” with AdWords buys.
Local search engines and Internet yellow pages have grown and become more sophisticated, offering new services to water treatment dealers wanting to generate and analyze low-cost leads in their targeted marketing areas.