Finding your website online.

Is your website “Lost at Sea”?

Berkeley Logic has been helping clients advertise on Google for several years. We really don’t see a better way to reach people in today’s online marketplace. In a recent meeting with a client, he told me, “All I know is that I need Google and they are sending me the majority of my business.” Truth be told, they are sending about 80% of the traffic to his website. This in essence, is like putting people right in front of your display windows in the traditional brick and mortar business model.

A metaphor I like is about a boat being lost at sea. If your website is out there in cyberspace, how would you find it? What does it look like? Are there any recognizable features that set your ship apart from the other floating debris? The best way to find your boat, or in this case your website, is to adorn it with recognizable characteristics. Your ship needs a flag or a tag that sets it apart. Your ship needs an identity that makes it a destination for the people who want to find you. After all, isn’t that what advertising is all about? Connecting your business with the people who want your goods and services!!! Advertising is about creating a connection between the shopper and the shopping cart.

Websites are the new navies of cyberspace. There are hundreds of thousands of websites are out there in the cloud floating around, but do people find what they want? That’s Google’s Game!!! They have made a bounty of a business out of finding, linking, and localizing websites. They do it through the Google Search Portal, and they are the predominant Search Engine. Through both Organic and Paid (CPC) searches they put websites with relevant content in front of consumers.

Google recognizes these cyberspace websites by the tags and flags they carry. You need to have a well-developed and optimized website, but that is just the beginning of the journey. Indeed your ship must be sea-worthy. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the term that ensures your boat can float. There are several tricks in the trade, but taking a no frills approach to Search Engine Optimization is probably the safest route. Google has a keen eye for recognizing flags. If your ship carries too many false flags, it may get tagged as a pirate ship. Few people want to do business with the pirates. And Google has secured its reputation on steering clear of scurvy websites.

Once your website is afloat, and has been optimized for the search engines, your ship should qualify for numerous organic listings. Organic listings are the results that Google shows in the main body of a search query. The better optimized your website is, the better your organic results should be. All websites should be optimized for organic results, but in today’s competitive marketplace, paid advertising is often the skeleton key.

CPC or “Cost per Click” advertising is the way website owners pay Google to put flags on your ship. Indeed Google has the longest flagpoles in the industry and the “Cost per Click” Navy carries the most flags. That’s what we do. Berkeley Logic works as an agency that buys flags from Google and links them to your ship. The last thing we want is for our clients to be “lost at sea.”

How many flags should your website carry? How big a flag should you fly? What ocean are people looking for you in? What ocean are you looking for new customers in? These are the types of questions that an online advertising consultant should be asking you. And of course, what is a reasonable budget, and what would you expect to see in terms of website traffic.

Google Adwords is a service that is truly geared to fit every size business. Whether your business wants to allocate five dollars a day or five thousand, Google Adwords allows you to make bids, set budgets, do Geo-targeting, etc. I can hardly think of a business or enterprise that wouldn’t benefit from some sort of CPC program. If you think that a paid Google Adwords campaign may be right for your business, give us a call. We would love to talk to you about it.