Category Archives: Search engine marketing

June 29, 20092 Comments

When should PPC be used to supplement organic optimisation?

Should money be spent on PPC rather than organic SEO? What about if it's public money?

I came across this post, written in January 09, complaining that the government's 'Change4Life' campaign website was being promoted in the paid listings, while its organic optimisation was being ignored.

However, checking the SERPS today, I see that the campaign website is now top of the Google rankings.

This probably illustrates the time lag between carrying out organic SEO and the results kicking in.

Using PPC to start off a campaign, while waiting for the natural indexing to happen, is a legitimate tactic.

May 28, 20090 Comments

eTips: beware the ‘sponsored link’ scammers

Here’s something that really makes my blood boil: unscrupulous companies screwing money out of small businesses by pulling the wool over their eyes. It’s not illegal. It’s just wrong.

Scammy practices give legitimate marketers, not to mention the internet, a bad name.

The only answer is education – and in the interests of spreading the word, here’s a tale of how one hard working, reasonably web-savvy business ALMOST fell for a smooth-talking, low-level web scam, the kind that no doubt works and is making a lot of money for someone (but not for its customers).