Are any of you SEO's? Black Hatters? White Hatters? Internet marketers?

[jtplatnum]

As the title states. Are any of you up to date on the latest and greatest marketing crazes? I'm trying to market my newly finished classifieds site and I'm just not sure how to get it out there beyond word of mouth...I tried messing with that PowerLeadsPro thing (CL aggregator), but I must have a bunk copy b/c I couldn't edit email text and I'm not trying to spam anyone.

Obviously, being that it's a pet project I have very limited funds but any [serious] suggestions would probably help.

Any suggestions?

 

[crcballer55]

Have you tried using Google Adwords yet? There are also some good videos on Youtube. If you subscribe to those, it should give you some pretty good ideas.

More than anything though, you need to start some Guerrilla marketing. There are already dozens of classified sites out there, so either piggybacking off of someone else well known, or offering to list consignment items on the site so you have some inventory to display would be beneficial. More than anything though, the trust factor is going to be huge when getting your site off the ground. The reason ebay can charge the fees they do is because them & Paypal offer peace of mind in knowing you're covered if anything happens in the transaction. Craigslist offers that assurance because you'll have to meet the party in person. If you can provide some sort of reassurance while they're on the site that the transaction is safe (Google checkout or paypal?) and they are covered, then you should be good.

Bottom line, you need inventory. Even if it's old stuff, at least it's something that people can scroll through for a couple pages.

Probably more than you hoped for, but that's my opinion.

 

 

[futuremd]

How easy is this stuff? 

I've been considering starting an anonymous blog... 

 

[crcballer55]

How easy is this stuff? 

I've been considering starting an anonymous blog... 

SEO in itself won't do much for you. It takes a lot of social interaction and time to get it off the ground.

SEO is more than keywords. Other authoritative sites have to link to you along with placing 3-4% of the keywords you're targeting in the page and then back linking properly and having catchy titles. There is a lot more that goes into it, but those are some of the basics.

Anyone who claims they will get you on the front page is a snake oil salesman. There are no guarantees, just hard work, cleverness, and time.

If you guys want a good resource, IMSD on Youtube is pretty good. They're real estate focused, but they have some good tips on SEO & social interaction. SEO Moz is pretty awesome too.

 

[futuremd]

^  Whats your experience with this stuff? How does it treat you? 

 

[ggarvinxx3]

interested in this as well 

 

[crcballer55]

^  Whats your experience with this stuff? How does it treat you? 

Kicks my butt every day and I come back for more.

It's always a moving target since Google changes their algorithm about every year or two to get rid of the people trying to game the system. You could be on top one day and on the third page the next if they don't like you.

Besides keyword ranking, get other sites to back link into yours. The easiest ways are posting the link to your blogs on Google+, liking it on Stumble Upon, & linking to Digg & Reddit. Doing a video review or something like that on Youtube would be good too just so you can link to the blog on there too. Youtube & Google+ both have the most "Google Juice" for obvious reasons.

 

[mugzbo]

SEO, specifically Google Adwords, is more than keywords as crcballer says. Bidding tactics, clever ads within the character limits, using analytics for organic listings and targeting the correct display networks. Google's Adwords sales department is a pretty skeevy bunch too...I've been in a few meetings with them and they're continuously trying to drain your bank account by opening more accounts, campaigns that aren't in your best interest and their support team isn't so great. It all boils down to your connection to your target market and finding out HOW to fit it within their ad-character limitations. Other than text ads, Adwords has been trying to push their clients towards their newly developed and revamped display network and Google Shopping. It certainly has great potential to reach a larger market that goes beyond your specific audience but there are certainly no guarantees. Adwords is an excellent resource to measure how far you can go but results aren't immediate and guaranteed and every click will cost you even if it doesn't produce any revenue. That's where bidding tactics and gaining web traffic to have other companies advertise on your site might make you a little bread. It's all about experimentation, testing and knowing who you're planning to reach.

Once you're down with Adwords, Google analytics is a good next step although the technicalities of organic listings goes even deeper than Adwords. Fun stuff and there are plenty of resources out there but you can't just assume it's a step-in, step-out, one-stop-and-you're-done thing. Time, effort and continuously managing your campaigns will get you there in due time. Best of luck!

 

[mugzbo]

Kicks my butt every day and I come back for more.

It's always a moving target since Google changes their algorithm about every year or two to get rid of the people trying to game the system. You could be on top one day and on the third page the next if they don't like you.

Besides keyword ranking, get other sites to back link into yours. The easiest ways are posting the link to your blogs on Google+, liking it on Stumble Upon, & linking to Digg & Reddit. Doing a video review or something like that on Youtube would be good too just so you can link to the blog on there too. Youtube & Google+ both have the most "Google Juice" for obvious reasons.

I've heard from Google's staff that the higher you set your budget, the higher your ranking goes. Keyword bidding does play a part but a small part. Overall, your budget, CTR, conversion rate and especially quality score will have Google keep their eye on your listings.

 

[crcballer55]

Kicks my butt every day and I come back for more.

It's always a moving target since Google changes their algorithm about every year or two to get rid of the people trying to game the system. You could be on top one day and on the third page the next if they don't like you.

Besides keyword ranking, get other sites to back link into yours. The easiest ways are posting the link to your blogs on Google+, liking it on Stumble Upon, & linking to Digg & Reddit. Doing a video review or something like that on Youtube would be good too just so you can link to the blog on there too. Youtube & Google+ both have the most "Google Juice" for obvious reasons.

I've heard from Google's staff that the higher you set your budget, the higher your ranking goes. Keyword bidding does play a part but a small part. Overall, your budget, CTR, conversion rate and especially quality score will have Google keep their eye on your listings.

Any idea what the tiers are?

 

[mugzbo]

I've asked them specifically about what affects the rankings and they just gave some ambiguous answer about how "it all plays into it" Typical car salesman explanation

I would assume daily budget, CTR and then quality score from what I've focused on. Quality score seems to matter the least...you can have a 5, even a 4, and as long as your destination URL pertains to the target keyword(s), it'll still get its impressions. Budget and CTR lets Google know how much you're willing to spend and if you get clicks and traffic, you're making them money. If you make that bread, so will they and they'll keep showing you for optimal impression/clicks (depending on what your focus is).

 

[jtplatnum]

so...for those of you that know about AdWords, can you explain AdWords in just a few sentences and what it means to someone with a VERY small budget? I've spent hours trying to figure out what the hell it is but I just don't get how it could even possibly begin to work for people with ZERO budget.

 

[crcballer55]

so...for those of you that know about AdWords, can you explain AdWords in just a few sentences and what it means to someone with a VERY small budget? I've spent hours trying to figure out what the hell it is but I just don't get how it could even possibly begin to work for people with ZERO budget.

type in a keyword you think people would use to find you. Then buy some of those words and set a daily budget.

If you're a small timer, try picking "long tail" terms. In other words, terms that would be very specific to your product. For instance, if you're selling shoes, DO NOT buy "jordan shoes" or "nikes". Your budget will be shot in 5 minutes and you'll be competing against companies like Footlocker & FA. Based on the terms too, it's not highly likely that the person clicking on that link would be a buyer as opposed to someone just looking for shoes.

Lastly, choose keywords with low search results and a low level of competition.

Hope that helped a little.

 

[mugzbo]

Just a little clarification on what crcballer said, when he says "buy" a keyword, you're essentially not purchasing the rights to the keyword but in essence, if you choose keywords that are very popular search terms, you're competing against big timers in your industry. You're not charged any money if people search for the keywords you have but if they click your site, you'll then be charged the amount of whatever you bid for each keyword. Google will track how many times your keyword is searched for, how many times your listing has been shown, and how many times they've been clicked on.

Like crcballer said, you have to consider how popular you think the terms are. Adwords has Exact, Broad and Phrase search terms. Broad and Phrase CAN be very successful but for starters, I would suggest Exact search terms first. When mining for keywords (and Adwords has a keyword-mining tool for you although I'd rely on my own wits than purely rely on it), think about the type of buffoons out there searching for whatever it is you're trying to market. Not everyone is smart, saavy, knows the industry, etc. Also think of the type of people you want clicking on your link.