Hi All....Since this is basically three separate topics, this could easily turn into a HUGE topic for discussion (but with me, any topic turns into huge discussion, as many of you know!) LOL We've used PPC advertising with Google AdWords for over a year with tremendous success. Using '06 data, comparing Google vs. Yellow pgs. ONLY, Google PPC made up about 60% of leads vs. 40% from yellow pgs. Comparing Google to Ylw. Pgs. AND all other forms of marketing media, Google resulted in about 35% of leads. Leaving the yellow pgs. out of the equation and comparing all forms of internet marketing ONLY (whether it be PPC, generic/organic searches, directory listings, forums, etc...), Google encompasses only about 15%-20%, Yahoo! the same, MSN 'Nil as we're still working on that, 40% or so from generic/organic searches, and about 20%-30% from directories, links, etc.... All told, yellow pgs. now generates only about 15%-20% of leads vs. all other forms of marketing, yet still costs more than ALL other forms of marketing media - COMBINED!
Now, how does one best keep track, not only of lead generation from internet, but conversion of a lead to actual "Hot Prospect" (i.e., a site visitor who actually contacts you for a bid) or, better yet, conversion into an actual customer? That's where website Analytics comes in, this case specifically, Google Analytics. Not only is it touted as the best FREE analytical program out there, we found that to be true for us. It's built on the old Urchin analytics software, which from what we can see, is the most thorough and informative. It's kind of a pain to set up and understand, but does provide you with a lot of useful information, like knowing who's visiting your site, where they come from, where they land on your site and where they go next. Also, you can matrix into the analysis if they contact you or if they convert to a sale. Google's analytics is almost a must if you use ANY form of PPC, not just Google PPC, but all the other major PPC search engines such as Yahoo! and MSN. Hope this helps some of you out. The most important thing to remember to get good results from the net, without getting "flustered" over all the tech. stuff, is to get a good website up and running, optimize it FIRST, then get it in the search engines and buy some PPC ads, in that order. It's the PPC ads that will automatically get you higher in search results (remember, no matter how good your site may be, it's pretty much useless if it isn't on page 1 and within the top 10 results!). The average searcher will click the top 3-4 sites and if not satisfied with results within approx. 20 seconds, will move on to the next. PPC also will help you get the Page Rank you need for Google placement, which nearly all other search engines rely on to help formulate which page goes where. Mark, Director of Operations, The Cleaning Lady, Inc. www.cleaningladyinc.com