When is the Best Time to Start a PPC Campaign?

Pay-Per-Click, or PPC Search Engine Marekting, is quite lucrative for Google and the other tier one search engines. The online market dictates competition which yields higher Cost-Per-Clicks. Some keywords could cost anywhere from $2.00 to an upwards of $82.00 per keyword phrase. It's pretty insane.  It does work to increase new acquisitions though.

What are the benefits to PPC? You can get your ad rotated right on page one of Google, Bing or Yahoo/MSN. If you run through your budget, your ad will find its way off the Search Engine Results page as quickly as it got there. If you are strategic in your efforts to market your NEW product or service, even remarket it, then you might find PPC is well worth the money. If you are a highly competitive business, you may want to consider running a small PPC campaign. The great thing about Adwords is you can target any geo location to rotate your advertisements. You will also see where every dollar is going as long as your tracking is set up correctly. Then you can decide if the Return on your Investment is there or not. If you don't have a decent budget to invest in PPC, then don't waste your time.  Try another marketing strategy that benefits your budget.


Once you set up your Adwords campaign, be sure to link it to Google Analytics for more robust metrics. You will be able to measure page views, unique visitors, bounce rate, and more. It gives you a great gauge for your performance and helps you optimize accordingly. If you are not too savvy with managing and optimizing online campaigns, definitely hire an agency to do it for you.  You will find it's worth a few extra bucks to pay an expert in the grand scheme of things.


After you get your name out on the web via PPC, it's best to work on a simultaneous SEO and social media/PR campaign to continue the legacy.

SEO -Too Fast or Too Slow?

It's always a challenge getting top placement on Google.  Many like to think their sites magically make it to page one without any hard work.  There is a secret sauce we like to use for our clients in order to get them page 1 ranked.  Typically we provide a competitive keyword analysis to get you started, and let you know which keywords you should be targeting for your business.  Then we do our thing and Voila! Your site will start to make its way up the ranks.  Part of the success is attributed to the hundreds of SEO tools offered online.  It's definitely finding the right combination of tools and implementation to make things happen.

Let's be real, how long should you expect until you start to see results and moving up the ranks? Depending on how competitive your keywords are will determine how much work needs to go into the back-end.  Sometimes you can go from page 2 to page 1 in Google in a few short weeks; sometimes it's days.  If you are targeting a bunch of highly competitive keywords, it might take a few months before strategy lends itself to Rockstar placement.

Also pay attention to your sitemap; as you make updates to your site, your sitemap will change, and it's important to update it with Google.  There are a plethora of Google webmaster tools to aid in getting things done when it comes to sitemaps, blogs, tracking, and more. When designing a new website, you must implement SEO tactics from the get-go. Don't wait because it's that much harder when you have to implement after you launch.  The web design is everything as long as it's SEO friendly.

If you are employing all possible SEO efforts and you don't see any viable results, it might be time to contact a professional.  SEO is more than fixing some onsite metadata.  Keep that in mind and know that the value of good placement means everything as new visitors to your site equate to conversions.

TOP 25 - June 2011 Edition - Charlotte Twitterati™

This month’s Top 25 is brought to you by Pro GFE Calculator™ - title insurance rate calculator

CGR Creative is excited to bring you the second posting of our Charlotte Twitterati. The Charlotte Twitterati is our monthly index of the Queen City’s most influential citizens. Each month we present an updated list of the top 25.

Last month we had over 8,000 page views from all over, coming to check out Charlotte's TOP 25. So keep up the great work, and we'll continue to recognize those individuals who are spreading positive influence to the masses.

Top 25

1.  Jeff Elder - @jeffelder - 123
2.  Donna Maria Coles Johnson - @indiebusiness - 122
3. Quote Of the Day - @quotetheday - 119
4. mommywords - @mommywords - 116
5. Uncle Bob Martin - @unclebobmartin - 116
6. Chris Harrington - @chrisharrington
7. Jeff Gluck - @jeff_gluck - 114
8. TweetMyJOBS- @tweetmyjobs - 114
9. Brandon Uttley - @brandonuttley - 110
10.  Robert Enriquez - @roberte - 108
11. Mysty Wuori - @mysticle - 107
12. Osfoora - @osfoora - 107
13. Charlotte Observer - @theobserver - 104
14. Brad Williams - @chrisharrisnfl - 103
15. The Android Site - @theandroidsite - 101
16. Genevieve Jooste - @GenevieveJooste - 100
17. Lauriana Zukowski - @laurianaz -99
18. Sandy Salle - @hillsofafrica -99
19. Discovery Place - @discoveryplace - 94
20. Marc DeCaria - @MarcDecaria - 93
21. SPEED - @speed - 93
22. Denny Hamlin - @dennyhamlin - 92
23. Scott Speed - @scottspeed - 91
24. Bite of Charlotte - @biteofcharlotte - 89
25. Jeff Gordon - @jeffgordonweb - 89

How We Calculate It
The Top 25 is determined by combining individual scores from Klout.com and PeerIndex.net. We get the initial list from the top 50 listed on TwitterGrader.com and WeFollow.com. We create a list of all the names and then look at their Klout and PeerIndex scores. The composite totals give us the monthly Charlotte Twitterati.

Charlotte, NC
According to TwitterGrader.com, Charlotte is the 27th most active city in the United States and 41st in the World. This is based on number of users listing Charlotte, NC on their Twitter profile.

Follow the Twitterati
http://twitter.com/#!/cgrcreative/charlotte-twitterati
Keep up with the Joneses by subscribing to our list on Twitter which tracks every member of the Twitterati in one group.

About CGR Creative
CGR Creative is a full-service advertising agency located in Charlotte's historic Southend area. We offer web design, graphic design, search engine optimization, printing

Who Did We Miss?
Do you have any recommendations for a highly influential, Charlotte-based user we missed? Please send us an email with your nomination and we will add them to the index. Send your message to  twitterati@cgrcreative.com

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter as well - twitter@cgrcreative.

CGR Creative's Charlotte Twitterati

Get the Code:

<a href="http://cgrcreative.blogspot.com/2011/05/introducing-charlotte-twitterati.html"><img _cdn="true" alt="CGR Creative's Charlotte Twitterati" src="http://cgrcreative.com/images/2011-Charlotte-Twitterati-clear.png" /></a> <br /> <br /> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://cgrcreative.blogspot.com/2011/05/introducing-charlotte-twitterati.html">CGR Creative's Charlotte Twitterati</a></span><br />

Introducing the Charlotte Twitterati™

May 2011 Edition

This month’s Top 25 brought to you by Fiberon Composite Decking.

CGR Creative is proud to introduce the first monthly installment of our Charlotte Twitterati.
The Charlotte Twitterati is our monthly index of the Queen City’s most influential citizens. Each month we will present an updated list of the top 25.

Top 25

1. Jeff Elder - @jeffelder - 117
2. TweetMyJOBS- @tweetmyjobs - 116
3. mommywords - @mommywords - 115
4. Chris Harrington - @chrisharrington - 113
5. Donna Maria Coles Johnson - @indiebusiness - 112
6. Mysty Wuori - @mysticle - 112
7. Jeff Gluck - @jeff_gluck - 111
8. Genevieve Jooste - @GenevieveJooste - 110
9. Osfoora - @osfoora - 110
10. Brandon Uttley - @brandonuttley - 109
11. Charlotte Observer - @theobserver - 103
12. Lauriana Zukowski - @laurianaz - 102
13. Sandy Salle - @hillsofafrica - 102
14. Uncle Bob Martin - @unclebobmartin - 99
15. Bridget Haymond - @bridgethaymond - 96
16. Discovery Place - @discoveryplace - 94
17. Denny Hamlin - @dennyhamlin - 94
18. Scott Speed - @scottspeed - 93
19. Jenna Fryer - @JennaFryer - 93
20. Marc DeCaria - @MarcDecaria - 92
21. Charlotte Bobcats - @bobcats - 91
22. SPEED - @speed - 90
23. Corey Anderson - @coreyanderson - 88
24. The Android Site - @theandroidsite - 88
25. Kathleen Hessert - @kathleenhessert - 87

How We Calculate It
The Top 25 is determined by combining individual scores from Klout.com and PeerIndex.net. We get the initial list from the top 50 listed on TwitterGrader.com and WeFollow.com. We create a list of all the names and then look at their Klout and PeerIndex scores. The composite totals give us the monthly Charlotte Twitterati.

Charlotte, NC
According to TwitterGrader.com, Charlotte is the 27th most active city in the United States and 41st in the World. This is based on number of users listing Charlotte, NC on their Twitter profile.

Follow the Twitterati
http://twitter.com/#!/cgrcreative/charlotte-twitterati
Keep up with the Joneses by subscribing to our list on Twitter which tracks every member of the Twitterati in one group.

About CGR Creative
CGR Creative is a full-service advertising agency located in Charlotte's historic Southend area. We offer web design, graphic design, search engine optimization, printing

Who Did We Miss?
Do you have any recommendations for a highly influential, Charlotte-based user we missed? Please send us an email with your nomination and we will add them to the index. Send your message to Will Lang - will@cgrcreative.com

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter as well - @cgrcreative.

CGR Creative's Charlotte Twitterati

Get the Code:

<a href="http://cgrcreative.blogspot.com/2011/05/introducing-charlotte-twitterati.html"><img _cdn="true" alt="CGR Creative's Charlotte Twitterati" src="http://cgrcreative.com/images/2011-Charlotte-Twitterati-clear.png" /></a> <br /> <br /> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://cgrcreative.blogspot.com/2011/05/introducing-charlotte-twitterati.html">CGR Creative's Charlotte Twitterati</a></span><br />

Chief Creative Officer talks Social Media with LACC President, Dr. Edith Valladares McElroy

CGR Creative's Chief Creative Officer & Partner, Julio Colmenares to speak to Charlotte to Business Professionals

 
When: Monday, October 18, 2010 | 06:00PM - 08:00PM

Where: The Dunhill Hotel -237 N. Tryon St. Charlotte, NC 28202  Show Location map

What: Monthly CharlotteBP networking meeting.
See a list of people registered to attend.
The Charlotte Business Journal's Erik Spanberg tweeted today October 14 during the Charlotte Retreat in Pinehurst (twitter hash tag #cltplan)

"Keys for diversity include possible launch of chamber campaign to get companies to spend 10% with local small biz each year. #cltplan"

Dr. Valladares McElroy and Colmenares not only have their finger on the pulse of the Latin American business community in but Charlotte small business community period with over 2 decades of combined experience.
When asked to give a preview of his social media speech Julio said,

"What 'new media' means changes rapidly so the question becomes, "how can I keep current without going crazy or bankrupt?" The answer is simple, "Jump In!" Learning to swim requires that you get in the pool. You can research, compare, look to your competitor, etc. but eventually you must get wet. I want to teach small businesses how to take new media and promote their business"

Join in to what will surely be time well spent. 

The (Yes THE) CGR Creative Web Design Checklist: Part 1- Favicons

Good Website Design is Authoritative
The web is full -- full of more stuff than one person can read in many lifetimes.  How do you stand out?

Authority.

Authority is what makes a website stand out.
We have all seen websites that look homemade.  An authority site is polished. 

Polish is obtained in the details.

All polished authority sites use favicons.   You will be very hard-pressed to find an authority website that does not use  favicons.
Favicons are the little emblem that show at the top in your browser next to your website’s title.

In this image you can see the flame icon and the twitter bird icon on the tabs above. 
Favicons are subtle, but these small subtle steps are the difference between an authority site that wins appeal and a marginal site that gets the back button.
Be an authority.  Charlotte’s greatest web designers are standing by.
CGR Creative

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The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
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THE (yes "THE") CGR Creative Web Marketing Checklist: Introduction

Did you get an A in Web Marketing?

We are going to drop the knowledge on you beginning today in our new online series (no charge for awesomeness).

THE ( yes, "THE") CGR Creative Web Marketing Checklist.

This is the last check list you will need.  Why?  Because it is the most awesome checklist in the world.  We're talking about 20 pages long and two columns wide of little golden checkboxes to help you become the shining star of your little internet slice of heaven.

What about Cross browser functionality?  Navigation? Buttons? Privacy Policy?

Man.  We're with you!

And when we say, "We're with you" we don't mean, "We're with you."   We mean, "Put us on your payroll after you knock it out of the park!"   

You may want to get a biscuit to sop this up.  Definitely a napkin because this is going to be GOOD.

Don't worry, as long as you pay your electric bill, we'll wait...  Got it?  OK.

Part 1.   -  How to Pick a Kick-A...Awesome Domain Name and URL

What do you call yourself.  What do you do?  This is all huge.  Like, invent-a-time-machine huge.  Google "Credit Cards" and see what the first natural #1 result is after the paid and news items.  #2 is Visa and  #1 is not Mastercard.   That ranking is natural and the traffic is free.  You can see, even at $12 per click, there are more ads on this page than stormtroopers at the original Death Star opening (before the remix).   

Step 1

Figure out your #1 keyword.  What would you type into Google to find that so sweet special thing you have to offer.  Youtube and Facebook are one in a million.  Domains that exactly match (exact match) your keyword or have the keyword in them (phrase match) is the fastest way possible (period!) to get to the top of Google.  www.creditcards.com is not as powerful of a website as Visa.com nor do they have the same budget I can assure you.  This is so powerful that if ninjas would have known this fact they probably would have gone into web marketing instead of becoming ninjas. 

Check us out at The Hottest Advertising Agency in Charlotte NC for more information about web marketing!

Hit the Digg button (bottom right)!!  Fun things will happen.