Sales from the EDGE
Back Issue #005
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Sales from the EDGE Issue #005
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Sales from the EDGE
Issue #005 February 12, 2000
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>From time to time, the EDGE publishes important updates that
you need to SELL on the Net. Most "latest and greatest" Net
marketing and sales developments simply waste our time.
Today's "hot new technology" is tomorrow's "whatever
happened to... ?"
Occasionally, though, something comes along that STICKS.
When that happens, the EDGE cuts through all the "white
noise" of Web marketing. It explains each important new
development and outlines clearly how you can best take
advantage of it.
SALES FROM THE EDGE is sent *ONLY* to MYSS! owners.
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>> SITESELL NEWS
1) We're getting close to selling out this print run of
MYSS!. Unbelievable, and thank you all for your extremely
kind words.
Yes, the *REGULAR* printed price is as "ridiculously" low as
the Electronic Version's price...
... only CAD$45 (US$30). But, for existing owners, as
promised, there's an additional $10 discount.
Here's the special DISCOUNT URL that I have set up for you...
https://secure.sitesell.com/order_special.html
I sincerely hope you enjoy the Printed Version every bit as
much as you have the Electronic Version. :-)
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2) New Products LEAP into the New Millennium
Watch for the first. It's coming... February 29, 2000.
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3) If you have not yet joined the 5P Program, do it now.
This program will grow income for affiliates exponentially,
as we add one new product per month throughout 2000.
But, and it's a BIG but...
If things progress according to plan, we'll be closing the
5P Program to new applications, just like Net Detective has
done. At that time, affiliates' equity and income will
appreciate substantially.
When that happens, don't say that I didn't warn you. :-)
More info at...
http://www.sitesell.com/affiliateprogram.html
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>> THIS ISSUE'S TOPIC
Today, there is enough evidence and experience to suggest
that you add the following to your "A-List" of
traffic-building tools!
1. Open Directory -- covered in EDGE, Issue #003
http://www.sitesell.com/edge/backissues-003.html
2. RealNames-- covered in EDGE, Issue #004
http://www.sitesell.com/edge/backissues-004.html
(The day after this issue was released, RealNames suspended
their selling of generic words. Several Subscribers to the
EDGE forwarded this issue to RealNames. Think the EDGE
could be the cause of this? Nah... :-)
Watch this carefully. If RealNames ever re-institutes their
selling of generic words, its value to entrepreneurs will
once again plummet.)
3. GoTo.com -- This issue is devoted to GoTo.com.
Next issue, we publish an original, powerful and
cost-effective step-by-step improved "Phase III Gateway"
approach that will build traffic cost-effectively for you
throughout 2000 and 2001.
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GoTo.com
http://www.goto.com
GoTo.com charges you "per-click" to your site -- *you*
decide how much to pay for each click by bidding against
others for the same word. Bidding starts at a penny. You
can bid for as many keywords as you like (must be relevant
to the website).
Last issue, we mentioned how this was almost the exact
opposite of RealNames, where you pay US$100/year to buy a
RealName. So your RN goal is to get as many clicks as
possible to your site for your FLAT FEE of $100.
With GoTo.com, however, you almost want the opposite.. as FEW
clicks as possible. Why?
Because you pay for each click!
Now, you don't really want as FEW clicks as possible... you
want as FEW OFF-target visitors as possible. So gear
everything you do to maximizing on-target visitors for the
least amount of money.
Bottom line strategy?...
1) Bid for hundreds of ON-target keywords, especially the
less-obvious ones which will be quite cheap to buy.
Unfortunately, obvious, popular keywords have become too
expensive. I’ll tell you this -- there’s no way I’m paying
$5.00 for popular keywords -- not unless I’m selling a
product that has a profit of $500 and I have a 10%
Conversion Rate!
2) Write your Title and Description so that *ONLY* your
target market clicks (since each click costs you). A GoTo
searcher who reads your Title and Description should clearly
understand what she'll get if she clicks. If it does not
interest her, she'll give you a pass. Which is EXACTLY what
you want when it comes to GoTo.com.
That's GoTo 101. Now let's take the advanced course.
-----
GoTo.com is *NOT* your normal search engine. You actually
have to pay to get your site listed. Ridiculous? Not
really...
Think of GoTo.com as another advertising media. Use it
wisely, and you'll turn your advertising dollars into
handsome profits.
With GoTo.com you basically bid for search term positioning.
Each time someone clicks through to your site via the link
on GoTo.com, they charge you the amount that you bid.
Bidding starts at a penny. You can bid for as many relevant
keywords as you like.
Go see for yourself now. Do a search at GoTo.com for a
keyword that is important to your business. See where it
says, "Cost to advertiser: $_.__)" These are what
advertisers pay whenever someone clicks on their links.
You'll see that each rank lower costs less, of course.
If you do a search for a keyword and you don't see any price
listing, that means no one has bid for that word yet. The
entire bidless search results (and those that appear below
the lowest bid) are powered by Inktomi (which also sells its
search engine technology to Yahoo!, HotBot, etc).
Don't be surprised to see bids going as high as $5.00, or
even higher. Money talks *loudly* at GoTo.com. To get top
positions, you either need to have...
BIG BUCKS
-or-
BIG SMARTS.
This issue of the EDGE will give you the SMARTS! It will
show you a step-by-step approach to getting maximal bang for
your GoTo.com advertising campaign. It's a bit heavy going
at times. But hang on tight... it's worth it. :-)
1. How much is a click-through worth to you?
2. Destination URL
3. Keyword Selection and Bids
4. Title and Description
5. Time to Blast Into Hyperdrive
6. Submitting Your Bids
7. Maintenance
8. Bits and Pieces
9. Conclusion
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1. How much is a click-through worth to you?
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Before forking out any money, always think of what you can
get in return first (sorry, I'm a mercenary guy here). So
ask yourself... if you pay GoTo.com $x per click-through,
how much profit can you get in return?
Confused? A little math will clear things up in a jiffy...
Suppose you are selling a digital product (i.e., zero
incremental per-unit cost of production) at $50, and you have
a 1% conversion ratio, i.e., you make one sale for every 100
visitors. So one visitor is worth $0.50 ($50/100), and that
is the maximum amount you should bid at GoTo.com for each
keyword. We will call this your BID CAP.
----- SIDEBAR -----
To find out your conversion ratio, check your website stats.
If you're promoting an affiliate program, find out if such
information is available from the affiliate stats page.
Your conversion ratio is the best starting guide to
determine your BID CAP. The CAP is just an estimate, and
should be refined along the way.
----- SIDEBAR -----
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2. Destination URL
--------------------------------------------------
Isn't the destination obvious? Not necessarily...
If you only sell one product, yes... it's obvious -- just
direct visitors to the URL where you do your normal web
selling. Of course, I'm assuming you have Made a Site that
SELLS!. :-)
But if you sell many products, don't send every keyword
search to your Home Page. Send each one to your most
relevant product page.
If you have a large Web store with 500 SKUs, pick your most
important 50. Create a special page for each of those to
land GoTo visitors upon. It should contain solid content
all about that product, From there, the visitor can click
straight into the shopping cart. (Gradually expand this
program for all of your products.)
Even send some to your e-zine URL...
If you can't get them to buy on their first visit, get them
to buy on subsequent visits, or even get them to buy
something else! But there is only ONE way for you to do this
back-end selling -- you *must* first get their email
addresses.
----- SIDEBAR -----
If you are promoting an affiliate program, the 5 Pillar
Affiliate Report (the e-zine of our 5 Pillar Program) has
some detailed articles about affiliates using GoTo.com...
http://www.sitesell.com/affiliateprogram.html
----- SIDEBAR -----
You do publish an e-zine, right? You **must, must, must**
put up a subscription box to ask for your visitors' email
addresses! Once they give you their email addresses, they
are hooked to you, for life! (Or until they unsubscribe, of
course.) You can then send them periodic mails and continue
your gentle blend of sales pitch and content, week after
week, month after month, and year after year.
Getting the email address is your Backup Response.
----- SIDEBAR -----
The Most Wanted Response and the Backup Response are fully
covered in MYSS!. They are critical concepts. If you're a
bit hazy, take a few minutes off to read about them in MYSS!.
----- SIDEBAR -----
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3. Keyword Selection and Bids
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Now, the crucial step, and the most time-consuming one...
What keywords do you want to target?
For the sake of simplicity, I'm using keywords, key phrases
and search terms interchangeably with one another.
GoTo.com recently issued their new relevancy guide...
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/relevancy.jhtml.
Why the new guide? Because their search results have been
degrading! A direct result of advertisers buying up hundreds
and hundreds of irrelevant keywords to get more traffic.
GoTo.com is likely to go heavy on this one, so *MAKE SURE*
your keywords are relevant to your site, or it won't be
accepted by GoTo.com.
Here's GoTo.com global relevancy standard...
"Advertisers may bid on a search term if their Web site has
content that is clearly and obviously reflective of the
search term, and their search listing (the search title and
description) accurately describes why their Web site is
listed for the search term."
The key point? It must be obvious that your site is
**about** your search term, or has obvious links to it.
Let's call this the "ABOUT" test...
If you bid for the keyword "panda," your page must be
*about* pandas. Having a cute little picture of a panda on a
page that discusses wild life does not make that page
relevant to the keyword.
But it should be OK if you created a wonderful page all
about pandas. This page would conclude by leading into your
main site, and the navbar would of course present full-site
navigation choices.
Remember, GoTo.com is just like any other search engine. It
needs to give relevant search results to attract users. Or
surfers will stop using it. Plain and simple.
So put yourself in the shoes of a GoTo.com reviewer. Take a
hard look at your keyword, and your page. Are they
consistent with each other? Does it pass the "ABOUT" test?
Would *YOU* approve it if *YOU* were GoTo.com?
GoTo.com's new relevancy guide has some good examples on
listings that are considered relevant. Use them as
references...
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/relevancy.jhtml
If you're new to GoTo.com, I suggest that you start off with
about 50 search terms as a test to make sure that you are
doing everything correctly.
No point submitting thousands of keywords, only to have them
rejected. Once your listing has been approved, usually
within 3-5 business days, build up more search terms
gradually. If you already have an account with GoTo.com, you
will quickly hear if any of your search term falls short of
their relevancy requirement.
Ready to brainstorm your keywords?
-----SIDEBAR-----
We discuss several keyword-brainstorming techniques in
MYSS!. Now would be a good time to review those. We'll
cover a couple with specific applicability here.
-----SIDEBAR-----
First, open your word processor, text editor, spreadsheet,
database or any thing where you can jot down notes. Done?
Ok, let's get rolling!
Go to...
http://inventory.go2.com/inventory/Search_Suggestion.jhtml
This is the GoTo.com Suggestion Tool, and is extremely
useful to our brainstorming exercise.
Suppose you are offering web design services. Enter "web
design" and click "Find it." This gives you a list of all
searches that were done in the preceding month that
contained or were related to "web design", and also how many
times each search term was requested.
This is what you get (may change by the time you read
this)...
Count Search Term
20950 web design
15979 web site design
3749 web page design
574 web design firm
543 free web design
469 web design company
409 e-commerce web design
326 free web page design
245 web design software
207 web design award
Wow, you are in a highly competitive area! Tens of thousands
of searches have been made. Can you imagine the kind of
traffic you get if you occupy the top position? But it
doesn't come cheap...
Do a search for "web design" at GoTo.com. The top position
will cost you $2.53 per click! Sorry, this way exceeds your
BID CAP of $0.50 (we worked this out earlier in the first
section, remember?).
So what position can you get with $0.50? The 47th position,
which is listed on the second page. Take note, for the same
bid, GoTo.com works on a first-come first-served basis. That
is, your new $0.50 bid will appear at the end of all
existing $0.50 bids.
If you look carefully, you realize that you can easily get a
first page listing, without spending **much** more. If you
just increase your bid by 1 cent, you get the 38th position,
a first page listing. Remember, our BID CAP is just a
ballpark estimate. Be flexible. And be observant. 1 cent to
improve 9 positions and get a first page listing? It's a
steal!
Jot down the search term "web design" and the corresponding
bid of "$0.51" in your word processor (or text editor,
spreadsheet, database, etc.).
Let's look at the second relevant search term that our
GoTo.com Suggestion Tool has generated -- "web site design."
Now enter "web site design" and let the Suggestion Tool
churn out our second list of related search terms.
Count Search Term
15979 web site design
99 how to design a web site
90 free web site design
55 web site design company
50 best web site design
49 web site design services
44 web site design award
43 web site design software
35 web site design new jersey
33 design web site
This second list is slightly different from the first list
that we've generated. It is more *related* to "web site
design." Due to the similarity between "web design" and "web
site design," expect some duplication in both lists.
Repeat the same procedure. Do a search at GoTo.com for "web
site design." Good news! This time you get to sit at the
27th position with a $0.50 bid.
Continue with the second search term of your second list --
"how to design a web site." Good news, again. :-) The top
bid is only $0.11, way below your $0.50 CAP. You can now get
a top position at $0.12.
Make sure you note down all this information (i.e., your
search term and bid). You need them later.
The next term is "free web site design." Do you really offer
free design service? If you offer free trial design service
or something like that, you qualify for this search term.
Remember GoTo.com's relevancy guide that we discussed
earlier? We don't want to trick the search engines, or your
visitors. We only want *targeted visitors*.
Let's move on to the fourth term "web site design company."
Take a hard look at the search results. Yes, you can buy the
first position for $0.19. But wait, if you look closer,
you'll find something of real value...
Check out the bids for the 4th and 5th listing -- 15 cents
and 4 cents respectively. Now that is a very wide spread!
Why? Because people are lazy, and they didn't do their
homework... Unlike you. :-)
If you just bid at 5 cents, you get the 5th position. That
is a good saving of 14 cents! Of course, you miss out some
traffic from the top position. But if you can craft an
interesting title and a compelling description, you more
than make up for it, especially if the focus of your product
and the target market are different from those ahead of you
(more on title and description later).
Here's a great little tool that spots the "bid holes"
quickly and accurately...
http://www.jimtools.com/gotocost/index.html
Bottom line --> Do your home work and be observant, and
you'll get better deals. :-)
Just repeat the same procedure until you're done with the
second list. Then, using the first list, generate the third
list, and the forth list, and the...
You get the idea, right? :-)
Tough work? You bet! But you don't have to do it all in one
go. Spread it out. Like I said, if you're just starting out
with GoTo.com, begin with just 50 search terms. Build up
your list gradually.
A few more tips. If "web" is in your search term list, make
sure you also include "web site" and "website" in the list.
Similarly, include "e-mail" if you have "email," "ecommerce"
if you have "e-commerce," and so on. Don't miss out such
related terms. They can greatly expand your list.
And forget about pluralizing your search term. GoTo.com has
a powerful pluralizing feature that does this automatically
for you. So the search results for "web design" and "web
designs" are exactly the same.
Still not enough keywords? Then try the JimTools Keyword
Research Tool at...
http://www.jimtools.com/keywords/index.html
This slick little keyword-generator will come up with a
whole bunch more for you! It searches the major search
engines for your keywords, then examines the meta tags and
page contents of the top rated pages to develop a list of
words that those sites consider important.
Combine these two tools together (GoTo's Suggestion Tool and
Jim's Keyword Research Tool) and you can easily generate
thousands of keywords.
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4. Title and Description
--------------------------------------------------
You pay for every click-through. So word your title and
description carefully -- weed out the "off-target" click.
Here's how...
Write your title and description so that they...
o *REALLY* relate to the keywords that you are bidding
o *REALLY* are relevant to your site -- you definitely
do not want to trick anyone to your site.
o compete effectively against listings before and after
you.
o shout "Click Me! Click Me!" But only the right customers
hear the shout!
Unlike other search engines, your bid is the only thing that
determines your search position in GoTo.com. Does that mean
you don't have to worry about working your keyword into the
title or description? Well, although your search position
will not be affected, your click-through rate will...
Based on GoTo.com's own research, including your keyword in
your title and/or description actually increases your
click-through rate, sometimes by as much as 50%. This is a
fact, so we shall use it to our advantage.
Let's continue with our "web design" case. You are looking
for people to sell your web design service to.
So your title (maximum 40 characters) might be...
"Looking for web design services?"
And your description (maximum 190 characters) could be...
"We provide a full range of services to cater to all your
web design needs. Affordable and professional. For a limited
time only, we give you a... "
Read the description and tell me honestly, are you keen to
find out more? Absolutely! Why? Because it's a real
teaser... But it only teases those looking for a Web
designer. Perfect!
-----SIDEBAR-----
Getting a click-through from GoTo.com is different from
getting a click-through from other search engines. With
other search engines, all you want is traffic, the more the
merrier. All click-throughs are free.
But with GoTo.com, you only want targeted traffic, because
you PAY for every single click-through. If you trick your
visitors with your title and description, yeah, you get lots
of traffic. But it's non-targeted traffic that does *NOT*
buy. All you get is a big GoTo bill!
Also, make sure you have a web site that really SELLS.
Otherwise you're just wasting your click-throughs, and your
money, and only make GoTo.com happier. :-(
-----SIDEBAR-----
Let's do one more example to make sure you understand
this important point...
Let’s say that you have bid a penny for “commercial
lawyers.” You want to...
a) Attract lawyers who want to sell their services through
the Web.
b) Repel people who are looking for commercial lawyers.
They’re looking for a lawyer, not for ways to sell their
legal services on the Web.
So your title (maximum of 40 characters) might be...
"Commercial Lawyer? Sell Your Services!"
And the description (maximum of 190 characters) could be...
"Are you a commercial lawyer? The Web is the perfect way to
build your business. Special commercial niche? Clientele
global in nature. Here’s how to use the Net to expand your
business."
Of course, your Web site should have a "law theme." And the
destination page should be about commercial law.
--------------------------------------------------
5. Submitting Your Bids
--------------------------------------------------
Ok, you have done all your homework -- keywords, bids,
title, description, and a killer web site that really SELLS.
You are ready...
Open your GoTo.com account. You only need to begin with a
deposit of $25, which will be gradually depleted with every
click-through.
Download the Power Advertiser Change Form at...
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/powerform.jhtml
This is actually an Excel template where you can submit a
large number of search terms for approval...
If you are not comfortable with Excel or you only have a few
keywords to bid (say, fewer than 20), use the Online Change
Request Form (below the links where you download the Excel
spreadsheets)...
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/adchange.jhtml
Remember the notes that you've made along the way --
keywords, bids, titles and descriptions? Just do some
cutting and pasting, and then submit your bids.
-----SIDEBAR-----
None of this is hard. Each step is quite easy, but there
*are* a lot of steps. If you learn faster with an
experienced person showing you one-on-one, take advantage of
GoTo.com's $99 Express Service. More info at...
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/express.jhtml
-----SIDEBAR-----
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6. Time to Blast Into Hyperdrive
--------------------------------------------------
OK, now that you've got your feet wet, you're ready to go
big-time.
The real key to success with GoTo is to work the fringes.
Brainstorm hundreds, even thousands, of lesser-searched-
but-relevant keywords.
Phew! Don’t faint -- just do 10 per day. In a month,
you’ll start to feel the build. This is a "the race goes to
the tortoise" affair.
Use the GoTo.com Excel spreadsheet template to accelerate
the process.
--------------------------------------------------
7. Maintenance
--------------------------------------------------
GoTo.com has a useful web-based account management interface.
It's called DirecTraffic Center...
https://secure.goto.com/s/dtc/center/
Use it to...
o add more money to your account (You can even opt to have
your account topped up automatically.)
o view online reports about your keywords
o make changes, including adjusting your bids in real time.
Due to the dynamic Internet environment, you need to
regularly update your GoTo.com listing to maintain a steady
flow of traffic. As you get more traffic and sales stats,
you may want to change your bid, title, description, and/or
destination URL to better suit your needs.
If you do nothing, I'm afraid your traffic from GoTo.com may
drop. As GoTo.com becomes more popular, its customer base
will expand and higher bids will be made. This only pushes
your listing position down. A lower position means less
traffic.
Of course, if GoTo.com's USER-SEARCHER base expands more
than its CUSTOMER-ADVERTISER base, the increase in searches
made at GoTo.com may make up for the reduced traffic from
your lower listing position. Only time will tell.
And if GoTo gets too expensive, there are several GoTo
clones ready to help you find cheaper solutions (more on
this below).
One word of caution...
Want to change a listing title and/or description WITHOUT
increasing the bid? Make sure your change is a substantial
improvement. Why?
GoTo.com ranks sites, for the same keyword bid, on a
first-come first-served basis. A re-submission, for the same
bid, will be considered a new submission. Once approved, it
will be listed right at the end of all other sites of the
same bid. Be careful on this!
--------------------------------------------------
8. Bits and Pieces
--------------------------------------------------
a) Additional exposures
If your GoTo.com listing is in the top 10 positions, it will
show up in meta-search engines such as DogPile.com. In
DogPile.com, it will be listed in the first page of results.
MetaCrawler.com also displays GoTo.com listings.
-----
b) Advice from GoTo.com
Please read these reports to maximize your results...
Ten Ways to Maximize Your Clickthroughs
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/tips/
Listing Relevancy Guide
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/relevancy.jhtml
-----
c) GoTo.com Clones
With the success of GoTo.com, a few other pay-for-clicks
search engines have surfaced. The notable ones, in
approximate order of importance) are...
RocketLinks (the most popular clone)
http://www.rocketlinks.com
Kanoodle
http://www.kanoodle.com
FindWhat
http://www.findwhat.com
SimpleSearch
http://www.simplesearch.com
OneSearch
http://www.onesearch.com
Should you advertise with them? They are certainly less
popular than GoTo.com, so bids are also much lower. But they
do not attract the same volume of traffic like GoTo.com, and
their customer service may not be up to par.
Advice about the clones? Since you only pay per-click,
follow the strategies outlined above and you should do fine.
--------------------------------------------------
9. Conclusion
--------------------------------------------------
This is probably the most cost-effective advertising on the
Net today. Take advantage of it while it lasts. The key for
the "rest of us?" Work the fringes...
If you have never made it to the top placements in other
search engines, you will certainly do so at GoTo.com. Now
that you have the full scoop, the rest is up to you.
Good luck! :-)
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Ken Evoy, M.D.,
President of SiteSell.com
(c) and ™ SiteSell.com All rights reserved.
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