FAQs

What Is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the position at which your website appears in the natural/organic search engine listings.
Usually the goal is to get your website to appear within the top 10 results when a popular keyword or phrases within your industry is searched.

SEO involves many different aspects, but can be split into two categories: on-site and off-site optimization.

On-site optimization includes inserting keywords into bodies of text, using meta tags and updating content.

Off-site optimization includes link building campaigns and webpage submissions.

Most of the time the focus is on optimizing a website for the Google search engine. Google provides the most traffic, and good optimization for Google generally results in high positions in the other search engines as well.

While the process of search engine optimization is usually very slow, when the desired results are achieved you will receive a consistent flow of targeted traffic from the search engines… all for free.

Why Are Google And Yahoo Search Engine Rankings Different?

Your website has been optimized. You go to yahoo and see your site ranked in position 7 for your keyword. But then see that it is ranked 21st in Google. Why is that?
Each search engine has its own unique set of algorithms that determine the relevance of a site and therefore, where it is ranked in the search results.

Because different search engines use different criteria to rank websites, there can be a slight difference in the ranking of some websites.

Google is usually recognised as the search engine with the most complex algorithms, making it the hardest to rank well for. On the flip side, if you can rank well in Google, most of the time you will also rank well in the other search engines.

In general though, a slight difference in rankings between search engines is completely normal and nothing to worry about.

Why Does Search Engine Optimization Take So Long?

Unlike PPC or traditional advertising, where results can be attained in a relatively short period of time, the optimization of your site for search engines is a long, ongoing process. So why does it take so long?

Search engines use complex algorithms to determine the rankings of websites… and it takes a while for them to decide whether the changes you’ve made to your site allow it to outrank others.

In the beginning, your results may minimal… if they are apparent at all. Usually it takes up to 3 months before even the smallest of results are seen.

That’s why it’s recommended that a search engine optimization campaign is implemented for at least 6 months. By this time results should become more apparent.

A lot of the time it also depends on the keyword you choose to target.

A general and highly popular keyword like ‘car’ is going to be very difficult to obtain high rankings for because the competition is so high. It can take years before you see any results.

Conversely, a more specific and less competitive keyword or phrase will make ranking highly in the search engines much easier. But if the keyword/phrase is TOO specific, you may not get many people searching it… and therefore not much traffic.

The key to successful search engine optimization is to find the middle point between a highly competitive keyword and a low traffic, key-phrase. You want to optimise for a keyword which has little competition and high traffic.

What is link saturation?

Link saturation is quite possibly the most important factor in determining the search engine rankings of your website. Many times it can mean the difference between first page rankings and 10th page rankings.
Link saturation is the measure of how many links are established between your site and other sources. These can include, but are not limited to: related industry sites, unrelated industry sites, information sites, blogs, press release/news sites, and search engine feeds.

The goal is to have as many relevant incoming links as possible (links to your site) – while controlling your outgoing links (links away from your site).

Before we finish, notice how I mentioned ‘relevant’ incoming links a few paragraphs above? That’s because not all links are seen as equal by search engines… and the more relevant they are to your site, the more valuable they are.

(Also, the more popular the page that the link came from is, the more the link is worth. But this concept is beyond the scope of this article.)

Link saturation is a key factor in determining search engine rankings, and definitely something you want to work on to acheive high search engine rankings.

Why Is Search Engine Ranking So Important?

High search engine rankings are just about the best way to drive traffic to your website. They send you a constant flow of targeted visitors to your site each day… and for free. But first, exactly what is search engine ranking?
In simple terms, search engine ranking is the position that you hold in the search results for any given keyword.

For example, go to Google (or any other large search engine) and search for something. You will notice that all the results are numbered.

Rankings are determined by a wide range of criteria, and vary slightly between the different search engines. But some of the main variables that affect rankings include, but: your title and meta tags, keyword density, age of the content and site, link optimization, use of alt-text… and most importantly, link saturation.

The process of increasing your search engine rankings is known as ‘Search Engine Optimization’, or SEO for short.

It involves modifying and tweaking your website to optimize it according to the factors which determine search engine rankings (some of which are mentioned above).

The goal is usually to get into the top 10 results for a chosen keyword.

How difficult this is depends on the popularity of the keyword, and how many competing sites are trying to optimise for it.

What Is PPC? Pay-Per-Click Advertising Explained

Pay-Per-Click (PPC for short) advertising is one of the most popular forms online advertising. You have most likely seen hundreds of examples around the web without even realising it.

Probably the best thing of all is that it is available to both large and small business (and works just as well for both!).

With PPC, you may gain the attention of consumers that are specifically interested in your product or service… based on listing rank, relevance of your website content and keyword selection.

It’s a unique system in the world of advertising in that your costs are not determined by a flat rate – but by the number of people that click on your ad (hence the name pay-per-click) and therefore visit your site.

The most common type of PPC advertising is found in search engines. Each and every time a visitor searches for the keywords you are targeting, your ad is displayed on the side of the regular search results. When a person clicks on one of your listings and is sent to your site, you are billed a small charge by the hosting search engine.

The amount you pay ‘per click’ is dependant on how much you ‘elect to pay’ … but is also affected by a number of other factors which are beyond the scope of this article.

The key to successful pay per click advertising is to maximise your return on investment. If you are not careful, costs can get out of control.

How do PPC Campaign Management Services Work?

If you have ever tried running your own PPC campaign, you’d know how time consuming and stressful it can be… especially if you are new to the world of pay-per-click advertising. That’s where 3rd-party companies like Bullsai can help. But how exactly do they work?
Basically, we do all the work for you! We setup, manage, and optimise your whole campaign. Everything from researching keywords and writing ads – to managing the campaign daily and tweaking it for maximum results.

Why You Should Outsource Your PPC Campaign Management?

There are two key reasons why you should outsource your PPC campaign management to a specialist company – time and profits.
BIG Reason #1 – ‘TIME”

Pay-per-click campaigns take a lot of time to set up… and even more time to manage. And if you really want your campaign to be as successful as possible, you are going to be constantly managing it.

That’s where 3rd-party companies like BULLSAI can help.

We do all the keyword research, organise your bids and ads… and continue to manage your entire PPC campaign for you.

As a business and website owner, this gives you the time and energy to focus on growing your business rather than doing technical work.

BIG Reason #2 -PROFITS’

As explained above, a 3rd-party PPC company is able to focus much more time and effort on setting up and managing your campaign.

This means that your PPC campaigns are being constantly tweaked to give you the best click-through-rates and profit margins possible.

So as you can see, 3rd-party PPC companies are extremely valuable to your business and website, and are definitely something worth looking in to.

This allows you to focus on the results of your campaign… not on the daily struggles associated with managing it.

What is the one PPC Mistake That Can Cost Thousands?

Without a doubt the most common mistake people make when managing their PPC campaigns is in the selection of keywords. It costs advertisers thousands of dollars… so are you making this mistake?

A common belief among those new to pay-per-click is that the more popular a keyword is and the more traffic a keyword receives, the better it is – and that advertisers should pay as much as they can to rank high with that keyword.

However, this is the exact approach which loses business owners thousands of dollars, and leaves them wondering where the money they spend ended up.

You always need to remember that you’re paying for each and every time a person clicks on your listing, and that this can add up very quickly over the course of a couple of days.

For example, if you are paying high amounts for keywords that get thousands of searches per day, and over 80% of those visitors are just browsers – then it is highly likely that your daily budget will be consumed before you even receive one conversion. Even if you do manage to get a sale or two, the profit ratio is so slim that business owners find that it is not worth the effort.

So the key is to pick specific, less competitive keywords for your pay-per-click campaigns. While you won’t get nearly as much traffic as the more popular keywords produced, your conversation rates and profit margins will be much greater.

How can you increase Your PPC Profits With The ‘Long-Tail’?

The ‘long tail’ refers to the more specific and targeted keywords that are used in PPC campaigns. Learning how to utilize these long tail keywords can mean the difference between a profitable PPC campaign and one that sucks away your money in a heartbeat.

Basically, ‘long-tail’ is the exact opposite to bidding on high trafficked and competitive keywords. These keywords can be broken down and made more specific… and that’s where long tail comes in.

In any given industry there are hundreds, if not thousands, of highly targeted keywords that are derived from the more popular keywords. They have much lower traffic counts, and in most cases lower cost-per-click prices, yet produce much higher conversions and profit margins.

Why?

Because of how specifically they are related with what the user has searched for.

E.g. If a user searches for ‘used Callaway golf clubs’, they won’t likely be interested in ads about golf magazines. And even if they did click on your ad, they certainly won’t buy from you.

Many business owners continue to ignore these long tail keywords in their PPC campaigns because of the low number of click-throughs. It takes a significant amount of time to research and compile a list of long tail keywords, not to mention the extra time that is involved in managing them.

However, the conversion rates are still very high… and if you can collect enough long tail keywords, you will still generate considerable amounts of traffic – and profits.

A few long-tail keywords obviously won’t have any impact on your pay-per-click campaign, but online services like BULLSAI can collect lists of thousands of long-tail keywords for you.

What is the Crucial Difference between Branding and Conversion PPC?

When developing their PPC campaigns, many people do not take into account the difference between writing for ‘branding’ purposes and writing for ‘conversion’ purposes. Yet it has such a large impact on the results you will get, so knowing the difference between the two is crucial.
‘Branding-based PPC’ aims to make the large percentage of browser traffic aware of the advertiser’s company and their product. It focuses mostly on maintaining a popular public profile rather than on individual conversions.

This type of approach is usually reserved for companies who are leaders in their industry… and well enough established to afford the large amount of money required for this style of PPC campaign. Usually these are the types of companies that can’t afford not to be ‘at the top’ of search listings.

‘Conversion-based PPC’ is pay-per-click advertising which focuses instead on converting website visitors to buyers. It is a much more practical approach for smaller companies and individuals focused on individual conversions and profits rather than broad market recognition. The large majority of companies and businesses will use this style of campaign.

As you can see, understanding the difference between branding and conversion is crucial to ensure your PPC campaign is profitable and successful.

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