Redfox has been helping a number of our clients attract new business via pay-per-click advertising for the last few years and thought it was time to get the certificates! And collect them we did! 

We are proud to annouce that Redfox Media is an AdWords Certified Partner and individually Lance and Stephen both passed the Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam, which is the first exam required to become certified. They both finished within 1 of the 2 allocated hours for the exam, scoring excellent marks!

Later that day, they both went on to sit the Search Advertising Advanced Exam and again achieved excellent marks. Congratulations!

Having team members personally certified was the last requirement need for Redfox Media to become a AdWords Certified Partner. The Certified Partner program is a globally recognised stamp of approval that means we are up-to-date with the latest developments in online advertising and has access to Google’s support network. You can find our Google Partner page (and therefore verify we are legit) by clicking the logo.

Building and launching an online business can be a very similar to preparing and bringing a child into the world. We spend so much time planning for its arrival, reading books, birthing classes, and employing health care specialists for the delivery.  It’s a very exciting lead up – there is a lot of excitement about how your lives will change once it arrives. So many new parents fall into the pitfall of planning for the arrival, the birth. But that is just a moment in time. It’s what happens next that you really need to be prepared for. If only you already had training & experience in child care! Unless you hire a qualified nanny, you’re now left to do it pretty much on your own - sink or swim.

I’m likening child birth to the creation and launch of an online business. We spend so much time in the preparation and launch phases and, we don’t look forward to what we need for its future. When that website launches, just like a child we can’t let it go off into the big bad world on its own, we need to continue to nurture it. We see it time and time again, clients with a gleam in their eye at the thought of their website; so much change and opportunity. Once it launches it's expected to go from crawling to leaping and bounding all on its own. Building it is just the birthing stage; it’s the ongoing commitment, and I mean commitment that goes in afterwards that makes your website work for you and your business. Unlike new parents, you don't have to sink or swim; luckily you can go full speed ahead with the right people and the right vision.  

Let’s look at it from another angle; once you have your new glossy, fabulous website, there are two paths it can go down: 
 

1. You have an online specialist who is highly capable, hard working and passionate about what they do, not only are they going to help you maintain the site, but optimise it for ongoing technological advancements, improve the customer experience and foresee the needs of your online store (if you have one). You may also have a marketing specialist who is strategising to do whatever it takes to ‘lead the horse to water’. You'll have an evolving strategy of how to lead new visitors to your website and convert them in to customers.

2. Well the other road – is when you’re website is left under minimal supervision and expertise. You may have some level of support – to put out any technological fires and update information; however not only is the financial investment not there, neither is the human investment. You’ve got the bare bones but you don’t have fully-fleshed qualified professionals who are passionate about your business and your success.

A lot of businesses fall into the trap of not seeing the true value of their online business. It comes down to just that, in the hands of the right person; that bright, shiny new website can be an investment. Or left in the hands of a less visionary person, what was a new, sharp website, after it’s initial sheen, has been left unattended, unnoticed and very soon in the need for a major overhaul.  Yep, you’re back to where you started - back full circle into planning the refresh of your website. Can you believe you’re back here again? You didn’t see it coming did you?  

What is required to plan, create and produce a new product or service? How about a successful product like your Apple iPhone or a TV advertisement?

The answer may depend on the company, resources, etc but generally we know if it’s going to be a success then yes, it’s going to take time and a range of skilled personnel. Behind any successful business endeavour there lies skills, knowledge, creativity and some might say some balls! You need the EQ and IQ to run the program; from strategic planning, market analysis, project management, technical capability assessments, etc. All the right components, working together through the planning, development and execution stages. Every person and every component, working cohesively to deliver an end product that see's dividends for your business and for your customers.

The same process goes into how we build your website. We go through the exact same stages that you go through when devising and delivering a project or launching a new service. Because each website is a new product; it needs to deliver on all the requirements of the client (you), it needs to meet and exceed its business goals and it needs to totally define itself beyond its basic, primary functionalities. Take a look at this fun, interactive poster from visitmix.com. It encapsulates well what we've tried to put into words.The blood, sweat and tears of website development.

Today all we hear about is content.   How valuable it is, how it can create business, and build customer relationships.  We need to maintain a steady stream of fresh content to keep our websites engaging and high on Google searches, market and build our business via blogs and create captivating content on a whole plethora of social media sites to seek new customers and maintain rapport with current customers.  The amount of sheer content needed to keep your business ahead of the competition is overwhelming. 

So what are your options for creating content?

One option is to create internally.  This is a huge task.  It might seem easy to write a blog or post comments on a social media site.  But if you’ve taken pen to paper you will know, it’s not as easy as it seems.  Not everyone is a writer or wants to be one.  Even if you are a subject matter expert, doesn’t mean you want to write a blog.  You might write a brilliant blog, but you can’t just write one.  Blogs need to be consistently interesting and scheduled regularly.  How many times a week are you going to blog or is the question, how many times do you want to write a blog?  How about monitoring and responding to your blogs comments? 

Today’s audience take in content like they breathe and exhale air.  Their reading and browsing constantly, their multi-tasking and checking out their favourite websites and social media sites while watching t.v, travelling and even when their out with their friends.      

There is also the factor of where is your time and expertise best spent?  Is it trying to write content or is it doing what you do best?  Running your business, managing your staff, basically the job you do that makes your business what it is.  Writing content is not just a matter of putting pen to paper.  It takes a fair amount of time – you need to dedicated time to research, read, plan and write.  And it has to be good.  There’s no point giving Tom, Dick or Harry the task of updating your Facebook site if they don’t have the ability to not just create content but to consistently create a long-term flow of quality content.  Quality.  Quality comes from not only who is creating the content but why.  Unless you have the creativity and commitment to write content then the content is basically going to suck.  Yes, suck. 

If content is king and we see it as a valuable commodity that drives our businesses then why don’t we see the true value of good, consistent, quality content? Why are a lot of businesses looking at the cheapest possible deal or giving the task to some ill equipped teen who’s only interest in social media marketing is being a fanatically Facebook user.  When we read something well written we appreciate it, just like a good novel or a well written and researched article.  The same goes for the content that will represent your business.  You know what quality is, you see it on other organisations websites, blogs and social media sites.  So why aren’t you going to do the same for your business?  Yes there are always compromises on what you can afford and what can be delivered. 

So what is the answer?  Think quality not quantity.  Carefully select what avenues are the best places to communicate with your customers and do it well, really well.  Don’t rush in and create business blogs and social media sites unless you are going to do what it takes to keep them fresh and ensure quality content keeps rolling in.   Make the commitment that the content you deliver to the worldwide audience will be the best it possible can be.

PPC - is a pay-per-click marketing campaign. Google AdWords is by far the most popular option for setting up a PPC campaign. You would already be familiar with Google advertising when you do a Google search, the ads at the top and to the right of your search results are all paid advertising. Google AdWords is one of the best ways of bringing highly targeted visitors to your website who are ready to buy whatever it is you are selling. It is one of the most cost effective ways to generate sales, drive sign-ups or whatever you need to grow your business.

So how does it work?

In terms of Google AdWords; where they appear and how much they cost are determined by Google, you and the consumer.

Let's explain - each company advertising through Google AdWords bid for a ranking; every time someone conducts a search there is an auction and the ads are ordered in terms of the highest bidder. However the highest bidder isn't the one who pays the most money per click, you will set a maximum bid but what you actually pay is just enough to beat your second highest ranking competitor. The highest bidder is actually the advertiser Google deems as 'the best fit' for that particular search.

Highest bidder - how do I win?

The highest bidder of a PPC campaign is not determined on price alone it is determined by the following criteria:

1) Click through rate (CTR)

This is where consumers 'vote'. Google rate your advert on the number of users who have clicked on it. The more people who click means that your ad must be relevant for that Google search.

2) Relevance

This is an area you need to be aware of when first creating a PPC campaign. Google looks at the keywords within the ad campaign itself and its relevance to the search. The more your ad relates to key words/phrases for your business, the higher the score. For a successful PPC campaign it is best to target a particular product or service. For example, if you were the Mars corporation, if you tried to cover all the different keywords for all your products e.g. Mars, M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, etc. into one ad, the ad text will not match all of the possible keywords and would not be relevant. If your ad is specific, they'll bring you more relevant results e.g.

Mars –Australia’s favourite chocolate bar

Great online deals.  Mars helps you work, rest and play

www.mars.com

3) Landing page quality

Again, this is an area you need to get right to get the best results. This is where Google wants to make sure they are providing the best possible searches for their customers (those conducting the search). Google want to ensure that their search results provide the best options and part of the criteria is ensuring that the customer finds what they are looking for from your landing page. You need to ensure your home page is a kick-ass website and has exactly what your customer (and Google) is looking for:

• Relevant, original content
• Minimum load times
• Transparency of what your business provides/does
• Simple navigation

As mentioned earlier ensure that your ad text and landing page for your campaign are specific. When providing a URL, direct customers to a specific product/services page. Your ad will be more relevant by taking customers directly to the information they want.

You may notice that we've highlighted the word relevance. This is the key to running a successful campaign. By being relevant and meeting the above criteria Google will increase what they call a "quality score", and in turn they will reward your campaign by lowering your PPC rate. This means you actually pay less for being in a higher position, regardless of the budget or size of your competitors.

It's easy to set up a PPC campaign; it’s another thing to get results. For more on PPC contact one of our marketing specialists at Redfox Media.