Yellow Pages & Internet Marketing Guru

Google Adwords Keyword Tool

2008-08-20T09:36:00.000Z

Google Adwords has updated their Keyword Search Tool which now returns approximate search volume statistics.

The secret of attracting traffic to a website is to carry out sound keyword research. If you build a website that reflects the actual terms that people type into search engines then you will have a massive advantage over your competition. It’s a hackneyed phrase but if you carry out the correct research you can “reverse engineer” your website.

If you sell widgets on line then an obvious keyword for you to use would be “widgets”. However, there will be a multitude of other associated search terms that you will need to know about to either include in your pay per click campaign or to optimise your web pages for. If you enter the seed word “widget” into the Google keyword tool then you will obtain a list of all associated search terms that have been typed into the Google search box.

Google’s new keyword tool will tell you approximate search statistics for the previous calendar month and an overall average.

It is slightly disappointing to have “approximate averages” from Google and not hard data, as there may be some grey areas in the results.There are many other keyword research tools available on the internet so it would be wise to compare the results with another programme before making decisions on which keywords to use in your internet marketing campaign. Keyword tools are usually purchased on an annual subscription basis.

Google’s new keyword tool has the advantage of being free and is suitable for SEO beginners.

Search Marketing or Pay Per Click Advertising: 7 Successful Steps!

2008-07-17T09:30:00.001Z

Pay per click advertising on the major search engines Google, Yahoo & MSN can drive targeted traffic to businesses websites cost effectively. Before you start pay per click advertising it’s important to learn the basics - so here are 7 steps to bring you pay per click success.

When you carry out a basic search on Google you may have noticed that the top two results on the left hand side are in a beige box that has a headline of "Sponsored Listings". In the right hand column there are also up to eight sponsored listings. These sponsored listings are pay per click adverts. If you click on these adverts then the business providing the advert pays for the cost of the click.

The ranking or order of the adverts is determined by a bidding system. The two top left adverts are ranked one and two and then the adverts that appear on the right are three, four and so on. Ideally you want to be in the top 10, so your advert will be shown on the first page of search results.

Business need to follow these 7 steps:

1.) Key words

Time needs to be spent in researching the actual key words and phrases that potential clients type into a Google, Yahoo or MSN search. If you don’t have a keyword associated with an advert then that advert CANNOT appear.

There is a disadvantage in having a very large selection of unrelated key words as there are “quality scores” in place on search engines that grade your advert and will display your advert in a higher ranking position if you meet their quality standards.

Quality Scores have been introduced to meet the needs of user by stopping irrelevant ads from appearing.

Some of the keywords will be easy to add as they will be logical ones but there are research tools that can tell us what was typed into search engines in the last calendar month. This is invaluable information. Sometimes the phrases and language you use in your business is not the same as your customers. A good example of this is the key phrase "clinical negligence". My research shows that in one month there were 928 searches for this phrase on Yahoo in the UK. However the phrase "medical negligence" was searched for 34,130 times. Which key phrase would you use in your pay per click campaign?

2.) Advert Development

Successful adverts have the keywords repeated in the title of the advert and on the landing page of the website. Searchers want to see a good match between an advert and what they typed in the search box. Multiple adverts pertaining to each of the key service areas of your business are better than one generic advert. For example if you are a solicitor then you need an advert for each key service area such as wills, probate, divorce etc. The description copy which follows the headline is also important in persuading people to click through to your website. It needs to be relevant to what the individual has typed into the search box so if you sell 10 different products you need 10 different adverts with 10 unique product descriptions to maximise sales.

3.) Landing Pages

Many pay per click beginners direct potential clients to the homepage of their website. This is usually a mistake; your visitors need to get to the part of your website that relates to their search. If a searcher is looking for an employment lawyer then they should be taken straight to the employment page - anything less and you risk losing your potential customer at this stage. Take the time to identify the most relevant landing pages.

4.) Call To Action

Once a potential client is on your page you need to give them a call to action such as "request a call back", “buy now” button or “ask a question“. You will reduce your chances of success if your landing page only says in small print "for further details call us on". Make your site interactive!

5.) Campaign Implementation

The next stage involves setting up an account with the appropriate service provider (Google, Yahoo and MSN); going through the bidding process for the key phrases / words you have identified and then initiating the campaign. Part of this will involve setting a budget - initially you may decide on a small amount - you can change this at any time. Google is the most popular search engine in the UK but it is unwise to ignore Yahoo and MSN as they still deliver large amounts of traffic.

6.) Campaign Monitoring

One of the major benefits of this form of marketing is that everything can be measured - number of times your ad gets shown, number of clicks to your website, new clients or sales resulting from enquiry etc. Thorough tracking will enable you to maximise the return on your investment.

7.) Management

If you find the prospect of setting up and managing a pay per click campaign too daunting then seek professional assistance. Apart from the cost of the clicks you can expect to pay a set up and a monthly management fee. Look for a “Google Adwords Professional” in your city or county.

Optimising for Search Engines – 8 Common Mistakes

2008-07-09T09:24:00.000Z

Search Engine Optimization can give a massive boost to your website’s traffic but make sure you learn the 8 common reasons why SEO campaigns crash and burn.

Search Engine Optimization is a powerful tool that can be used to increase the level of relevant traffic to your website.

Used correctly, optimisation is a fantastic way to boost your business. However there are some pitfalls to watch out for.

Take a look at a few of the reasons why SEO campaigns have failed and make sure you learn from their mistakes.

1. Bad Keywords – Make sure the text on your website is uncomplicated and reflects what your company is about. You need to be sure that people searching for your website will use your terminology, and more importantly, know what it means. Common mistakes include making keywords too specific, using technical jargon which only fellow professionals can understand and generalising terms so they become generic and bring in the wrong type of person.

2. Page format - Good optimisation takes into account the format of your webpage. Make sure your sections are placed in a logical way which draws customers in. It's also important to have enough page content. As a rule of thumb look to write a minimum 200-300 words on each page of your site. Don’t forget that websites are for humans not search engine spiders.

3. Don't forget to build links – Part of a good optimisation campaign includes building links from other websites into yours. In simplistic terms the more people who link to you without you offering a reciprocal link, the better your rating will become. Link building is perhaps the most important aspect of Google optimisation and can help to push you to the top of the page.

4. Work with a reliable internet marketing company – Some SEO consultants will use illegitimate means to boost your website and give the impression that you are receiving more hits. This can be done by using multiple names, owning shadow domains or by guaranteeing rankings with obscure keyword phrases which are not relevant to your business. Make sure the company you use explains how they will be getting more hits on your site. The concepts relating to SEO are fairly simple. If the company you use is being secretive about their methods make sure you find out why.

5. Consult a professional - Unless you are a specialist in SEO you should consider consulting with a reputable company. A professional internet marketing consultant who cares about his or her work and is dedicated to making your site a success can easily save you from the blunders that could cost you time, resources and money.

6. Do some market research - Make sure the words you use are relevant to the business you want to receive. Several proprietary keyword research tools are available. Wordtracker, for example, is an extensive tool that allows you to find popular search terms, the frequency with which they are entered into search engines, as well as the amount of indexed sites that are competing.

7. Monitor and maintain your internet marketing campaign – After successfully optimising your site, check back and make sure your rankings are being maintained. This is also a good method of checking who your competition is. If you don't want to check all your keywords manually there is automatic software available such as Google's web API.

8. Keep up to date – The most effective SEO campaigns are changing all the time. Make you sure you, or your internet marketing specialist, are continually keeping up to date with progressions in the marketplace. This can include staying abreast of blog pages, newsletters, forum postings or case studies.

Yellow Pages Spine Adverts Available By Book

2008-07-03T13:00:00.000Z

You may have noticed the new adverts on the outside spine of the Yellow Pages directory. These box adverts were previously sold as a national package by highest appropriate bid but will now be available by book.

A 10% discount is available on 2 -3 spines and a 20% discount is available on 3 or more. 2008 costs begin around £2,500 and reach up to £5,500.

Yell.com’s Netreach Opportunity

2008-06-24T13:44:00.000Z

Netreach provides a comprehensive method of increasing the exposure of your business.

For £150 per year the Netreach feature can be applied to the following Yell.com products.

Priority Adverts with a web link feature

Priority Adverts (with no web link)

Priority Advert Yell.com information pages

Yell.com site builders program

Local sponsored listings

Converting to Netreach will give your information an even greater level of exposure within other networks. Moreover, by staying relevant to your location and context, your message is honed to the right clients and is available at the right time.

Yell.com Pay Per Click Advertising

2008-05-02T12:25:00.000Z

There is no set price for yell.com keywords. You choose how much you are willing to pay for each click-through. Minimum bid is 20p. The more you pay the higher up the list you will appear, so, the advertiser who bids the most for a keyword will be shown first.

The pay per click listings will appear when a searcher looks UK wide (the default search) or specifies a county. The pay per click listings won’t appear if a searcher specifies a town or city.

You can set a daily budget to ensure you do not overspend and there is no minimum time or spend commitment (other than the initial payment which must exceed £50 - this will be offset against click-throughs to your site).

You need to specify a maximum price you are willing to pay for a click-through to your website. Suggest you start at minimum bid to see how you fare against your competitors.

Yell only charge you when someone clicks through to your site to find further information about your company. You are able to update your advert, keywords and maximum cost per click (bid price) as often as you like.

You can trial yell.com pay per click for 30 days and throw £50 at it to see what happens. You should duplicate the most successful keywords/adverts you have on your Google ppc campaign.

A 10% discount applies if you pre-pay the cost of your clicks through an appointed agency ie they would purchase £50 + VAT worth of clicks but invoice you for £45 + VAT. Strongly suggest you add a tracking 0800 number to the listing. You will be able to monitor click throughs to your website via Google analytics.

Internet Marketing vs Yellow Pages

2008-02-08T13:38:00.000Z

More and more businesses continue to cut back on their Yellow Pages advertising due to the increasing success of search and paid marketing on the internet.

This trend is reflected in Yellow Pages own market analysis, which shows a downward trend in client retention from 78% to 75% year on year. Interestingly, it is newer customers who are leaving.

If you are reluctant to cut your Yellow Pages advertisements then at a minimum you need to track the response of your ads, so that next year you can weed out the poor performers and begin to invest in the necessity of the internet.

If you can't measure it you can't manage it.

Yell.com Local Banner Advertising

2007-12-06T11:52:00.000Z

Yell.com has introduced Yell Local Banners which are a moving graphic advertisement that appears in a prominent position right at the top of the Yell.com search results page.

They are named "local banners" as they are displayed to people searching for local businesses eg “solicitor London”, which would trigger the banner being shown at the top of the search results.

Only one Local Banner is available for each classification and coverage area, increasing the chance of your business being seen and clicked on.

If you are advertising in the old Yell.com banner scheme then you currently share your slot with more than one advertiser. Therefore, on 9th November 2007, through a random selection mechanism, one business name will be selected from the list of interested parties for each classification and combined coverage area.

Google Launch Video on Pay Per Click in the UK, Ireland & Canada

2007-11-21T16:41:00.000Z

After successful test runs in America, Video Units in partnership with YouTube are set to start over the next several days for English-language publishers in the UK. They are shown on Google AdSense which is an advertising medium that can be added to your website and in return you earn commission for visitors clicking on the adverts.

AdSense for content automatically crawls the content of your pages and delivers ads that are relevant to your audience and your site content—ads so well-matched, in fact, that your readers will actually find them useful.

AdSense for search allows website publishers to provide Google web and site search to their visitors, and to earn money by displaying Google ads on the search results pages.

Video Units are now available to be shown along side the above text based adverts and are embedded, customizable video players. You will be able to show videos from Google’s YouTube content partners and choose those videos by category, individual YouTube partner, or have video automatically targeted to your site in the same way the text based adverts work.

This is primarily advertising that enables you to earn extra revenue from relevant, non-intrusive ads that accompany the videos when your website visitors click on them.

BT is launching BT Web Click

2007-11-14T09:35:00.000Z

As an alternative to BT building their very own search engine to compete with the likes of Google, Yahoo & MSN with Paid Sponsored advertising they have opted to enter the market place with BT Web Clicks.

BT is soon to be launching BT Web Clicks which is a search marketing service on local and major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN & their 12 partner websites) with a fixed price of clicks/leads to choose from. Pricing depends on the nature of your business and how many clicks you choose to receive.

BT Web Clicks includes management of your sponsored ads and a monthly report showing clicks and keyword statistics. You fix your budget; they write your ads, then their automated systems connect directly with the search engines to bid on keywords and upload your sponsored links. In essence Pay Per Click advertising from BT.

They have a 4 Tier pricing system ranging from £20 per month - £300 per month for 20 clicks per month depending on how competitive you keywords are. For example: “Indian Restaurants” keyword is in Tier 1 and would pay £20 per month for 20 clicks and “Mortgages”, being more competitive, would be in Tier 4 and would pay £300 per month for 20 clicks.

The minimum contract term is 12 months, after which you may cancel without penalty at any time and payment is by Visa debit card only or Visa & Mastercard credit cards.

Hull Colour Pages Redesign & Re-launch their online Directory

2007-11-14T09:33:00.000Z

Hull Colour Pages have redesigned and re-launched their online directory. The new site offers keyword targeted advertising in the same way Yell.com and Google provide. The Hull Directory services Hull and surrounding areas, getting over 300,000 hits per month. It also offers over 1,300 classifications and six different types of advertisement options, with prices starting from £100 per year.

In addition the improvements include a new interactive section for users' comments and views on businesses and their services, FREE buy-and-sell ads, and a local events listing.

Christmas Spending Online in 2007!

2007-11-13T15:15:00.000Z

With 86% (27 million) of the UK’s population visiting a search engine in Feb 20061 and 70% of internet users using a search engine to find a “local” service1, the time is now to market your business online.

As the busy Christmas period is fast approaching, there is much preparation to be done by businesses for the annual surge in consumer spending. Pay Per Click advertising on search engine’s like Google, Yahoo & MSN are essential elements of this preparation. Retailers consistently rate search engine marketing as a primary online sales driver, and a fundamental part of the online marketing plan.

2006 CHRISTMAS SHOPPING STATISTICS2

• Christmas is the most significant event in the UK's retail calendar
• 60% of annual turnover between November and January
• Consumers spent £7.6 billion online in the 10-week run-up to Christmas
• Online sales soared close to £1 billion a week
• Each person will spend an average £390 on Christmas gifts, up 18% on 2005

Opening a Pay Per Click account is quick and easy, management of the account is the tricky bit. Consulting Internet Marketing specialists is recommended in order to have your adverts up and running in time for the winter spending.

If you already have your PPC campaigns up and running here are some quick tips:

1.) When possible, adjust the message throughout the season and be sure to coordinate the message with other promotions on your website. For example: offering a free gift with purchases, free delivery & shipping and online Sales.

2.) Adding seasonal keywords to match what potential customers will be searching for this time of year. For example if you sell aromatic candles online and your original keywords are: candle, scented candle, candle holder, waxed candle, floating candle, etc you should add the keywords Christmas candle, snowflake candle, Santa candle, seasonal candle, gift candle etc.

3.) Monitor your results for better targeting next year.

With consumers consulting online stores & walk in stores equally, search engine advertising is an affordable way to bring in a substantial chunk of the seasonal cash rush, provided you know a little about what you are doing. PPC specialists can provide information to benefit your sales or offer management to create and operate your campaigns for you. Be quick, as the holiday season is rapidly approaching.

1 Nielsen/NetRatings February 2006
2 Source: IMRG

Google's Rapid Expansion

2007-11-09T14:39:00.000Z

Googlemania has invaded the financial sector. Shares in the internet don shot up past $700 only three weeks after hitting $600.

As the fifth-biggest company in the United States, (with Exxon, Microsoft, General Electric and AT&T left in front), Google has flown past IBM, Cisco, Inel, Apple and Hewlett-Packard.

What’s even more astonishing is that Google alone is worth more than News Corp, Time Warner and Disney combined.

Google and the Mobile Phone Sector

2007-10-14T14:42:00.000Z

Google is turning its attention to the mobile sector.

Analyst Jeffrey Lindsay views this as an excellent area for future business. “Mobile phones are far and away the largest potential opportunity for all online players, for online advertising and location-based advertising, so Google’s announcements in that space are highly significant,” he said.

Google are working alongside Verizon to promote mobile-based services on which search is as powerful as on the Internet. Although Google has avoided following Apple and creating its own handset, it is widely believed that this soon will be the case.

Google Products

2007-08-29T15:52:00.000Z

As you probably know there are several sorting options on Google Products.

I don't have any hard evidence but my gut feeling is that most people will go for the lowest price first option by the very nature of the product ie it is price driven.

There a lot of conjecture about the algorithm that Google uses if the "sort by relevance" option is selected. The consensus is that the number of click throughs you receive plays a big factor. In other words it's a little like the quality score Google has for its pay per click advertising programme.

This would seem to suggest that you have to lower your price to get a greater relevancy score and thus appear higher up the Google page.

You should also pay a lot of attention to Google Analytics and the information it provides.

Also consider setting up a Google Webmaster Control Panel and the analytics it provides from your xml feed.

New Version of Google Analytics Launched

2007-08-21T13:37:00.000Z

DBS uses Google Analytics to monitor the traffic and search trends for the websites it designs and optimises. At the moment Google Analytics is free.

Google’s new version of Analytics has been released bursting with new features and a fresh new design. This new interface retains much of the old version but now offers in links providing better report navigation. Though long time users who are used to the old interface should not fear, you will be able to use the old style interface for at least a month more and your old settings and configurations will not be changed.

Many of the new features include: Report emailing and PDF exporting, A Custom Dashboard enables you to view all the information you need in one place. Trend and Overtime Graphs are available which can compare time periods but not lose track of long term trends and with contextual help tips.

Pay Pal’s "expanded use number" for credit cards

2007-08-21T09:46:00.000Z

I have just upgraded our PayPal account at work to a business account. On the same day my payment ability by credit card was frozen, with no warning, due to PayPal requesting an “Expanded Use Number”. The problem is that there is not a button to click or link to request this number be sent to me.

Finally I have been found the URL: http://www.paypal.com/uk/mem-number to use to access the facility to request the expanded use number and PayPal earns £1.00 for the privilege of me accessing this.

I now have to wait 3 - 4 working days for the number to appear on my credit card statement (one month for those of you who have to wait for your statement in the post) and then give PayPal the number in order to use my credit card for payments. I would like to add that I have never received an email from PayPal UK regarding this until I just finished my complaint phone call to them and it states the following message for your convenience “* PayPal strongly discourages users from calling their credit card companies in order to obtain their PayPal Expanded Use Number before receiving their monthly statements in the post. If PayPal receives a complaint from Visa, MasterCard, or your card issuer regarding your account, your PayPal account may be permanently closed.”

Obviously the PayPal bosses forgot how to implement this in a user friendly fashion to its loyal customers on this occasion. If you have this problem use the link above for the corrcet access page.

BBC iPlayer

2007-07-27T13:48:00.000Z

The BBC iPlayer was launched today and allows licence holders to download most BBC television programmes on their computers and keep them there for 30 days.

However, once you start to view a programme you only have a seven day period in which to view it.

Channel 4 has offered a similar service for many months.

Some programmes like "Heroes" aren't available for download because the online broadcasting rights don't belong to the BBC.

Facebook holds out

2007-07-09T16:10:00.000Z

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation recently acquired MySpace while Google snapped up the video sharing site YouTube.

However Yahoo were rebuffed when their bid to purchase Facebook for $1.6 billion was turned down by its 23 year old founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Google recently put more blue water between itself and close rival Yahoo when it purchased DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. DoubleClick are the largest broker of internet banner advertisements.

Pundits anticipate a merger between Yahoo and MSN to check Google’s runaway growth.

High speed broadband - are you getting what you paid for?

2007-07-06T16:02:00.000Z

Some frightening statistics have been released by MoneySupermarket.com regarding high speed broadband.

Most broadband providers sell their packages according to speed which is measured in Mb.

High speed broadband companies aren’t delivering what they promised with only 20% of homes getting the speed they signed up for.

Perhaps the poorest performer is Sky – a pitiful 6% of their broadband customers achieved 16Mb speed in the Sky “up to 16Mb” package.

In defence of broadband service providers the quality of wiring in your home and business can affect broadband speed but the main factor is probably the number of people sharing the same connection in your area. This is referred to as the contention ratio.

Simply put the more people that share the signal the weaker it is – doesn’t seem to be stopping providers signing people up – does it?

Google announces 0% on credit card processing

2007-06-25T13:00:00.000Z

In a bid to gain a foothold in ecommerce credit card processing Google has announced that it will charge 0% on credit card transactions until the end of 2007. Google's main competitors in this area are WorldPay and PayPal. If an ecommerce website utilises "Google Checkout" then its pay per click adverts will bear the logo shown in the image.

Yellow Pages Rate Cap is scrapped

2007-06-19T15:38:00.000Z

Since the early 1990's Yellow Pages have had a rate cap on their price increases. This was initially put in place by the now defunct Monopolies & Mergers Commission. The cap the MMC decided on was equivalent to the retail price index (RPI) less 6%.

The RPI is calculated by Westminster and supposedly represents a basket of everyday products that you and I would buy - in layman's terms how much what you spend at the shops goes up.

When inflation ran at 6% the cost of Yellow Pages advertising therefore decreased by 2%.

The new rate cap will be RPI les 0%. In other words Yellow Pages adverts can now be increased up to the rate of inflation. Expect Yellow Pages to take advantage of this with rate hikes in the 2008 financial year.

Yellow Pages AGM

2007-06-18T08:34:00.000Z

Yellow Pages recently published their Annual Report for the 2006 financial year on their website.

Their business is now divided into print (Yellow Pages, Business Pages along with Yellow Pages in Spain and the US) and the internet (Yell.com).

The report confirms what we expected - a shift from print to internet advertising. Yell lost 12,000 customers who decided to discontinue printed advertising. Against their customer base this represents a small percentage (3.1%). 12,000 customers would fill half a stadium the size of Aston Villa. If 50% of the crowd walked out at half time you would expect the directors to sit up and take notice. I anticipate the response will be to continually increase the price of Yell.com.

Madrid Chamber of Commerce

2007-06-08T12:25:00.000Z

A client of ours who has a tile shop in Camberley, Surrey recently forwarded details concerning the Madrid Chamber of Commerce and Industry and their website www.exportmadrid.com. This is a legitimate website and will add free links to any UK business wishing to promote their company.

UK Internet Register

2007-06-04T13:12:00.000Z

A client of ours called MidUK Recycling is based in Lincolnshire and specialises in plasterboard recycling and gypsum recycling . They recently sent me a solicitation they had received from an outfit called the UK INTERNET REGISTER asking for £639 + VAT for a listing in their directory.

I did a little investigation and found quite a trail from this company. They have operated under several guises across Europe and specialise in sending out bogus demands.

The whole thing is very definitely a scam so take great care.

E-Commerce Launch

2007-06-01T15:40:00.000Z

May 2007 was a very exciting month for me due to the launch of an eCommerce website for Gas & Hire Limited. Their products include gas barbecues, patio heaters, tents and an extensive range of camping equipment. They are now available online as well as their two showrooms at Sheffield Outdoor Leisure and Chesterfield Outdoor Leisure. With so much involvement in adding their products I now have the urge to get out my summer pool loungers, garden furniture and even the caravan.

Solicitors Websites

2007-06-01T09:58:00.000Z

I am helping at my place of work in the development and promotion of a website for a firm of solicitors in Surrey. The project has gone really well and we recently handed the optimised version of the site back to the client. Our link building efforts will begin in earnest soon. Hart Brown are Surrey's leading solicitors with offices in Cobham, Guildford, Cranleigh, Godalming and Woking.

Microsoft Buying Yahoo, Rumours?

2007-05-09T11:24:00.000Z

Rumours have risen again regarding Microsoft being in talks with Yahoo over a merger between the two companies. It was only two years ago that the very same rumour first emerged but was swiftly dismissed as mere speculation.

Now with Google still dominating the online advertising realm, the idea of the merger seems to be in serious consideration as neither has made ground to combating Google's competition. Despite both companies readjusting their approaches and techniques it would seem that Google still has a stronghold on the market.

If the two companies were to merge there is little doubt that Yahoo wouldn't profit from the venture.

Another rumour that has arisen is Microsoft also planning to purchase 24/7 Real Media though a spokesman declined to confirm the speculation.

Google purchases Doubleclick

2007-05-04T12:39:00.000Z

Doubleclick are set to be purchased in a $3.1bn (£1.6bn) deal with Google. The deal, announced the 14th April 2007, will be the biggest for Google yet if it is finalised. What does this mean for the internet and it's advertising? Google's co-founder and president Sergey Brinn said:

"It has been our vision to make internet advertising better - less intrusive, more effective, and more useful,"

"Together with Doubleclick, Google will make the internet more efficient for end users, advertisers, and publishers."

Google were not the only company interested in the purchase, there have been reports that Microsoft, Yahoo and Times Warner were also considering their own bids for the well established company.

Who Are Doubleclick?

Doubleclick was founded in 1995 and since then has risen to become one of the biggest companies providing online ad serving advertising for many big name clients. Including Coca-Cola, Motorola, L'Oreal, Palm, Visa USA, Nike, Carlsberg and many more.

Well blogger me!

2007-03-29T17:14:00.000Z

We are excited that our clients are taking on board the latest technology and embracing the concept of blogging.

A client of ours that owns a security guard company is using a blog we have set up for them as a newsletter on their site.

Instead of printing and distributing hard copies of an A3 size newsletter our client can log on with a user name and password, start typing, push a button and the article is able to be read by the world!

Yell.com rates due to increase on April 1st

2007-03-28T14:09:00.000Z

Yell.com are are set to increase their rates on April 1st 2007. We believe the increase will be in the region of 5%.

If you book yell.com advertising through DBS you will receive 10% off the yell.com rate card value which will offset any rate increases.

To qualify for the discount you need to book through DBS and pay before publication. We would invoice you rate card value less 10%.

Yahoo unveils new Panama pay per click management at E-Business Expo 2007

2007-03-21T12:10:00.000Z

I attended the E-Business Expo 2007 yesterday at the East Midlands Conference Centre. One of the keynote speakers was Richard Firminger - regional sales director of Northen Europe for Yahoo! He unveiled the new "Panama" management system for their pay per click marketing. Although many of its features looked excellent this upgrade is long overdue and only serves to bring it in line with it's major competitor - Google Adwords.

A feature which is sorely need for pay per click advertising agencies is a central managment console where all clients can be viewed at once. At the moment it is a laborious process to log on to each account individually. Yahoo in the USA provide this feature. When will our "tiny little island" be deemed worthy to receives this feature we ask?

Yahoo is also slow to provide monthly reporting statistics and even slower to provide receipted invoices. Hopefully the upgrade will address this.

One staggering fact that emerged is that it is only 7 years since Google took on their first employee in the UK. This demonstrates the phenomenal growth of internet marketing in the UK.

Yell.com agency commission

2007-01-27T21:20:00.000Z

Yell.com weblinks have proved to be a good investment for our clients producing a low cost per enquiry as opposed to traditional printed directory advertising. We have the expertise to show you how to maximise your results from yell.com.

DBS receives a commission on all yell.com advertising that it places with Yell.

We are happy to offer clients a 10% savings on the yell.com rate card value on the following conditions:

* The yell.com advertising is booked directly through DBS
* The yell.com advertising is paid for in full at the time of booking

If you are interested in buying yell.com advertising at 10% less than you could buy it for yourself then please contact us on FREEPHONE 0808 144 1808.

Points to bear in mind
----------------------------
Yell.com advertising differs from other search engine advertising in that it provides a complete address and phone number in its search results. We have found that many searchers will ring the phone number in the yell.com listing rather than clicking through to the website.

It makes sense to monitor the response you get from yell.com. If you can't measure your advertising how can you manage it? Many of our clients have taken our advice and monitor the phone calls they receive from yell.com by assigning each yell.com listing an 0800 number. We can provide the 0800 numbers at a reasonable cost of zero set up, £2 per number per month rental and call charges of 4.5 pence per minute. You can call us to reserve a freephone number on freephone 0808 144 1808. Find out more information on Freephone 0800 numbers

If you place your yell.com advertising through us we can also explain how to measure the click throughs from yell.com weblinks to your website by using a special piece of code that we insert on your behalf.

We would send you regular updates on the traffic you receive from the calls and clicks that your Yell.com listing produces. Take a look at a sample report

Domain Registry Of America

2006-12-13T11:34:00.000Z

Just received a letter in the post from ‘Domain Registry of America’ (DRoA), urging me to pay them for renewing some of domain names. The paper, with a London address on the back, looks like a bill and tries to scare the reader with “Your registration will expire on Jan 19 2007. Act today!”

If you receive one of these don't pay it - it’s a scam. There is no need for me to renew now, and certainly not with DRoA. We manage our own domains but I can imagine this trick works quite well with people who have no clue how the system works.

My research shows this company has been fooling people since at least 2002, as the Domain Registry of America, of Canada, of Europe and of Australia.

If you have any doubts please feel free to fax domain name renewals to me on Fax 01522 811655.

Yell.com sponsored listings

2006-12-08T16:55:00.000Z

I received a call late on a Friday afternoon from the senior partner of a well respected law firm on the South Coast. A representative from Yell Ltd. had visited him and offered him sponsored listings in four classifications for a cool £12,000.

The partner asked me if I thought it was worth the money. Yell.com listings vary from normal search engine results in that they contain the phone number and address of the business in the listing. This means that a lot of people don't click the weblink icon and visit the advertiser's site. Think about it - you are looking for a plumber in Sidcup on yell.com. You see a list of plumbers phone numbers - all based in Sidcup - so what do you do - that's right, you ring them. We have encouraged our clients to place unique phone numbers in their yell.com listings so they can keep track of the response on a monthly basis. We can also insert a small piece of code via Yellow Pages portal website which identifies if the click to a client's site comes from Yell.com.

So, to recap, we can track exactly how many responses come via yell.com - because we know the cost we can let you know the actual cost per enquiry. With sponsored listings weighing at around £3,000 per annum it clearly takes a lot of hits to bring the cost per enquiry down to a reasonable level.

It always surprises me that clients don't do a competition analysis. The rep offered a sponsored listing in the "wills" classification. On inspection the classification only contained two entries. A free line entry would have stood a good chance of getting enquiries. A weblink at £300 would have been placed at the top of the listings. Why spend £3000?

The Yellow Pages Guru gives advice to small businesses on Yellow Pages and Yell.com

BT Announce New Discounts

2006-07-18T16:23:00.000Z

The BT Phone Book have rolled out a new offer as detailed below:

1st ad purchased – 75% discount

2nd ad purchased – 50% discount

3rd ad purchased – 25% discount

Additional ads – full price

Business A-Z – 75% discount.

The offer is not fixed in any way to the home directory, you can apply the discounts to the 3 highest cost ads in your programme.

Forgive me for being cynical but it looks to me like they are intent on growing their directory as fast as they possibly can in an attempt to compete toe to toe with Yellow Pages.

If you are tempted by the offer then we highly recommend monitoring the performance of each ad in The BT Phone Book (and indeed any advert) by assigning a unique Freephone 0800 or an Area Call number that will give your ad a local look.

As always if you have any questions then please contact us. DBS is a reputable Yellow Pages Advertising Agency.

Alternatively post your comments below - we'd be delighted to hear your views.

Home Information Packs - new Yellow Pages heading

2006-07-18T08:59:00.000Z

If you are a solicitor who is involved in conveyancing you may be interested to know the following:

Yell have added the new classification headings:
HOME INFORMATION PACKS
HOME INSPECTORS TRAINING

These changes are effective as follows:
Yellow Pages - October 2006 publishing directories onwards
Yell.com 24th July
118 247 24th July
Business Pages - January 2007 publishing directories onwards

We are happy to offer our advice on this matter.

David at DBS - Yellow Pages Advertising Agency

BT introduce size and seniority to the Phone Book

2006-06-01T18:36:00.000Z

From now on in The BT Phone Book the position of display ads will be chosen first by size and then seniority. The bigger your ad and the longer the amount of time you have advertised with The BT Phone Book then the closer to the beginning of each classification your ad will appear.

The size and seniority approach has been used in the US for many years. The downside is that it could be said to spark off size wars in order for businesses to maintain a dominant position.

My feeling is that The Phone Book is under pressure to grow its books as quickly as possible in order to be a serious competitor to Yellow Pages. Businesses may think twice before reducing their BT Phone Book ad sizes.

As ever, if in doubt, speak first to a reputable
Yellow Pages Advertising Agency.

2006-01-24T17:51:00.000Z

Yell.com search listings are very different to those provided by say Google, or Yahoo in that they provide the address and phone number as well as a link to your website.

Yell claim that as many as 90% of searchers on yell.com do not click through on the weblink but dial the number contained in the advert on the screen in front of them.

It's relatively simple for us to insert some code invisible to the searcher that would identify the click throughs from your yell.com advertising ie

www.yoursite.co.uk?source=GuildfordConveyancingWeblink

A computer only reads up to the question mark. Therefore we can put some code in that tells us where your website visitor came from. This will show up in your web stats on your own website. The code above would tell us that a visitor to your site came via your Yell Weblink for Guildford for Conveyancing. The code on the right will appear in your web stats which we can show you how to obtain.

The aim is to monitor the response to your advertising.

To do a thorough monitoring job it would be logical to insert a unique 0800 number into each yell.com weblinks.

If in doubt contact a reputable 0800 number company or a yellow pages advertising agency.

Yellow Pages weblinks

2006-01-01T11:29:00.000Z

Yell.com weblinks are sometimes perceived as expensive at £430 per Yellow Pages area. If you buy a display ad in classified section of BT phone book you get a free weblink. That's a classy inbound link that search engines will like. The larger the ad you buy the higher up the list your weblink goes. I am settling for a 25mm ad in Mid Lincs May 06 book at a cost of £176. From yell.com stats we know half the people will call from the listing rather than clicking on the weblink. I am going to monitor precisely my listing with an 0800 Freephone Number that I won't use anywhere else. This will tell me exactly how many enquiries it generates. This method works for any advert. I can advise you on set up of 0800 numbers for monitoring. I can also point you in the right direction to make a booking with BT. If you are interested in yell.com weblinks then I can give advice on getting them cheaper by splitting the 10% discount available to advertising agencies.

For further advice on this subject contact a reputable yellow pages advertising agency.

Yellow Pages prospects threatened in UK by competition enquiry

2005-12-19T15:34:00.000Z

Yellow Pages or Yell as it is now known, may be under threat from the Competion Commission in the UK where its Yellow Pages dominate the market with printed directories.

Yell operates under a price cap which limits price increases to six percentage points below the rate of inflation - a formula that at current inflation rates means the company actually has to cut prices each year.

The commission is is due to issue a final report on what should happen to sanctions - due to expire next spring - until the end of June 2006.

Yellow Pages have never been known to offer discounts to a yellow pages advertising agency as part of their pricing structure. Some yellow pages advertising agency experts feel this may change.

As for yell they have concentrated heavily in investing in the US where half of its profits will come from in the future.

If the rate cap is discontinued then Yellow Pages advertisers in the UK should monitor their advertising with 0800 Freephone Numbers or UK Local Phone Numbers (sometimes known as areacall numbers or freephone 0800 numbers.

Yellow Pages versus The Internet

2005-12-02T22:30:00.000Z

To most companies, advertising in Yellow Pages is the unshakeable cornerstone of their annual marketing spend and they would not even consider cancelling it.

Surely Yellow Pages is established, recognised everywhere and enjoys strong distribution. It’s expensive, but is there any alternative?

A moderately sized quarter of half page ad is looking at 3 -5K a year. A whole page? That can be anything from 5 to over 8K for the year. There’s no negotiation; take it or leave it - and that’s with the regulators on their back capping and indeed cutting rates by 3.4%.

How surprising is it that more and more of my clients are cutting back expenditure on Yellow Pages advertising? Not surprising at all really. If you think about it, search is not new and it has played a major part in marketing activity for decades in the form of phone books and directories.

Effective search engine marketing simply takes this a giant step further, unlocking as is does the incredible introductory potential the web medium provides between supplier and consumer to connect and do business.

This trend is reflected in Yellow Pages’ own market analysis, which shows a downward trend in client retention from 78% to 75% year on year. Interestingly, it is newer customers who are leaving.

More than ever it makes sense to measure the response to each adverts with
0800 Freephone Numbers or UK Local Area Phone Numbers.

If you can't measure it - you can't manage it.

What should I put in my Yellow Pages ad?

2005-11-24T11:48:00.000Z

Yellow Pages ads are viewed by people who have all ready made a decision to buy.

Don't emphasise why your product or service is needed but rather why it should be obtained from you.

Consumers need and want two types of information from Yellow Pages adverts.

Firstly, they need to know why they should purchase from one company and not another.

Secondly, they need information that facilitates making their purchase ie they need to know how to make the purchase or have a call to action.

If you really focus and see things through your customers eyes then your Yellow Pages ad copy should virtually write itself.

If you are really stuck try talking to a reputable yellow pages advertising agency who will be able to give you guidance.

Colour in the UK Yellow Pages

2005-11-21T13:03:00.000Z

The use of colour and how Yellow Pages charge for it is pretty unbelievable.

The book is now printed on white paper (think about it - you can't have white ink)

Yellow Pages charge more for white in your adverts - 40% in fact. A full colour ad will cost a whopping 75% more.

But, Yellow Pages actually have to take an extra step to print a yellow coloured ad ie they overlay white paper with a yellow ink. However the yellow ads are cheaper than white ads!

Our surveys show that colour in the Yellow Pages is not the most important factor in selecting an advert. In fact, it is well down the list.

If you want more information about the use of colour in Yellow Pages contact a reputable yellow pages advertising agency for advice.

Yellow Pages sales patter

2005-11-17T19:16:00.000Z

Yellow Pages sales reps often argue:

"It'll only cost you £800 a year to move up to the next largest ad size and ad colour. Don't you believe that the increased sales you'd obtain would more than offset that expense?"

This is a bad argument for a number of reasons....

It assumes that the business generated by your original ad pays for itself

It assumes that you make a 100% profit on each sale (nice work if you can get it)

It assumes that the use of £800 for additional Yellow Pages advertising would generate more business than would the use of the same £800 in another media

Nonetheless I see many of my clients putting all their eggs in one "Yellow Pages" basket without obtaining effective proof that their adverts are working.

The secret is to monitor the response to each and every advert you place.

If you can't measure it you can't manage it.

If you need advice or guidance about this topic try contacting a reputable yellow pages advertising agency.

Positioning policy

2005-11-09T14:30:00.000Z

I have noticed over the years that many of my clients are totally unaware of positioning strategies that may cause them to fall further forward in the Yellow Pages classifications they advertise in.

It is considered an advantage to be at the front as potential customers tend to start their search classification there.

Interestingly many of the Yellow Pages sales reps know this vital information but don't pass it on.

For more information on this topic contact a reputable yellow pages advertising agency.

Yellow Pages advertising strategy

2005-10-31T15:47:00.000Z

In my work as an advertising consultant one of the most frequent comments I hear from clients relates to the amount they spend on Yellow Pages advertising.

The problem seems to be that while the ads work the cost of the ads is so high that they are disappointed with the return on their investment.

The issue is not just the cost of an advert.

You need to be able to measure the response to each individual advert.

If you can't measure it you can't manage it - a measure of your response will give you the cost per enquiry which is the "magic" figure.

For more information on this topic contact a reputable yellow pages advertising agency.