The playing field for Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is becoming more and more competitive. Even for highly niche keyword categories and geo-local search, the prevalence of PPC ads is growing.

There is one AdWords tool that can help your PPC stand out from the clutter. It is the ad extensions tool, and it can enhance your PPC ads for greater visibility and no extra cost.

Simply put, ad extensions are the expansion or extension of a standard text ad that displays additional information about the business or service being advertised. Ad extension can provide additional information such as a phone number or an address (call extensions and location extensions), product images (product extensions,) and additional links of the website (sitelinks extension).

The Power of Sitelinks

Sitelinks ad extensions are very becoming increasingly popular for PPC advertisers. These ad extensions allow you to have additional webpage links on a standard text-based ad. The unique aspect about sitelinks is that you can expand the size your ad by implementing these links, without having to pay any additional fees.

In addition to increased ad size and more visibility potential, some of the other benefits of using sitelinks in AdWords are:

* For broad keyword categories, sitelinks adds an extra level of specificity. So when bidding on a keyword like 'military uniform,' advertisers can add a few sitelinks for specific types of uniforms like 'Army uniforms,' 'Navy uniforms,' and 'Air Force uniforms.' This can significantly help for conversion optimization by sending customers to the specific products they are looking for.

* Sitelinks can make your ads more visually appealing (and sometimes more trustworthy.) Creative use of sitelinks to add a layer of credibility may include adding a link for 'testimonials' or 'reviews.' Think outside the box and really empathize what your target market sees value in while searching Google.

* Using sitelinks for local PPC is a great tool, especially if you have multiple locations in rather small geographic radius. Here you can add sitelinks for each of your locations to send users to the respective landing page.

Setting-Up Sitelinks in Google AdWords

So, how do you add Sitelinks ad extensions to your PPC campaigns? Log into your Google AdWords account and click on the campaign you wish to add sitelinks (keep in mind that you can only add sitelinks for campaigns, not specific ad groups.)

Go to the section titled ‘Show additional links to my site’ under ‘Ad extensions’.

Here you can list the URLs and names of up to ten internal links in your website, giving first priority to the most important links. Be sure to click ‘Save’ to activate the sitelinks.

Once a search engine user triggers your PPC ad, Google may include up to four additional website links (typically of the most relevant to the search term) along with the main link to your primary landing page.

It is also important to note that you must bid high enough so that your ad is displayed in the premium listings. This is typically the highlighted section, or the top three results of a competitive keyword category.

Start testing the waters with sitelinks in you Pay Per Click advertising efforts and starting optimizing your ads to be more effective in the SERPs.

Generating link popularity is one of the most effective techniques of search engine optimization (SEO). In addition to increasing your rank, SEO link building is also advantageous in that it brings in targeted Web traffic.

Earning links from credible directories brings your website out as being credible, trustworthy, and valuable. Directory links are completely "White Hat," and the links are typically inexpensive (if not free) to get.

In this post, we will highlight some of best directories for SEO link building.

Yahoo! Directory

This is a paid directory whereby you can list your website by category, location, and topic. It is one of the oldest and one of the most visited Web directories in the world. Yahoo! Directory is trusted by millions around the world and listing here enhances your credibility.

Once you are approved, you can do manual management of your listing over the Internet, you can request changes to your listing/s, you can update billing information, and you can view invoices. You will pay $299 per year for listing.

Business.com

Another good Web directory is Business.com. The Web directory allows you to list your business in over 65,000 categories, meaning it has highly refined categories. This Web directory is particularly helpful to B2B websites. Another advantage of the Web directory is that it usually attracts C-Level executives.

The Business.com directory is human edited, submission takes a few minutes, and approval is usually in a few days. You will pay $299 per year for listing.

Best of the Web

A cheaper option at $69.96 a year (or a $249.95 one-off fee) is Best of the Web (BOTW). This Web directory is advantageous in that it is frequently indexed by the major search engines which is ideal of organic SEO. Other advantages of BOTW include a 3-day evaluation, over 100,000 categories to choose from and a guide to blogs.

Google Directory

Google Directory, which is powered by Open Directory Project or ODP (also known as DMOZ), is also very effective for SEO link building. Listings are arranged hierarchically in sub-categories.

This directory is highly effective because it is owned and operated by the house: Google. This will establish good credibility in your site for its search engine rankings and overall organic SEO performance.

Other Directories to Consider

There are a number of other web directories that are effective for SEO link building. Many of these relatively cheap and some are completely free. Other top human-edited Web directories are GoGuides, Web Savvy Directory, Skaffe, MyLinkDirectory.org, The SEO King, and Jayde.

Google has made a recent change to the AdWords platform which could very well affect your Pay Per Click advertising performance. In accordance to this change, Google has announced that they are improving exact match and phrase match. Many advertisers debate whether the change is actually an improvement, or simply a way to make more money from savvy marketers who use AdWords.

Here is what Google is doing are doing: Exact phrase match used to mean that if an advertiser bid on [hair loss treatment] as an exact match, the only search query that display their ads was that precise keyword phrase. Now Google has changed the true definition of exact match to make it more flaccid. Now, "exact match" also includes close variations, such as singulars, plurals or misspellings. So bidding on [hair loss treatment] will still display ads based on searches like:

• hair loss treatments
• hair lose treatment

Why the Worry?

If you take a look at the buying cycle with respect to plural and singular variations in user searches, there are notable differences to keep in mind. A user who is searching "hair loss treatment" is seeking a solution or product to buy right NOW. An individual searching for "hair loss treatments" may be doing some research and getting a lay of the land for products or solutions to buy 2-3 weeks from now. There have been studies done that prove these differences in plural vs. singular search queries. This is big deal for PPC advertisers, and the changes Google has implemented could very well have an impact on impression share and overall ad spend. The good news is that you can opt out of the change.

How to Opt Out

In the Campaign settings, you will see this menu of options under the "Advanced Settings" toward the bottom:

By clicking on plus symbol next to “Keyword matching options” you are given the option to opt out.

By opting out of this new change by Google, the result may very well strengthen your advertising efforts. Even decent PPC advertisers (who fail to opt out) are going to begin realizing lower quality traffic. This will allow you capitalize on their mistake, and in essence, take advantage of the new AdWords change to exact match.

Please, let us know what you think of this new change in the comments below.

Many business owners are asking "How Do I Get My Business on Google Maps?" However, it is not so much Google Maps that they want their business on. It's Google Places.

There is intense competition for market share over the Internet since there are many players from all over the world, but a small business can compete with larger businesses by listing on Google Places. Google Places lists businesses, large and small, accompanied a map that is powered by Google Maps.

Most people use Google Places and Google Maps interchangeably, but Google Maps is a mapping software that services several applications, and the Google Places listings is one of them.

The Importance of Google Places for Local Businesses

You should strive to attain a top Google Places listing because this is a cost effective way of locally advertising a business. When people search for something using geo-modifier (or city in their seach query,) Google Places almost always appears in the first page of SERPs (search engine results pages). Google has strict criteria for ranking on Google Places and a placement therefore indicates to your customers/clients that you are credible and reliable.

You should, however, note that registering on Google Places does not guarantee appearance in SERPs when somebody searches a keyword you have used. There are two main Google Places optimization methods that you should try to increase chances of placement.

Google Places Optimization

You need to do proper keyword category selection for Google Places optimization. You will typically realize a higher ranking if your categories are very specific and relevany to your business. You are allowed to select up to five categories. Try to keep all of the categories you choose somewhat related. Google Places requires that you have one category from the Google Places hierarchy, and the rest can be customizable to your preferences.

Another way to achieve Google Places optimization is building citations. The Google Places page has a list of citations at the bottom of the page. These go by the name 'More about this place'. These citations are like SEO links, but they list NAP (Name/Address/Phone) information. Just like is the case with link building, the more the NAPs you have, the higher your ranking on Google Places will be.

Citations are your business's listings on different websites and directories, such as Yellowpages.com, Yelp.com, Kudzu.com. The most important tip here while building citations on other websites is to ensure that NAP is exactly the same on all websites. This is Google's way of referencing and confirming that your business is a legitimate place.

Also in the Google Places page is a description for your business. Here it is wise to include the keywords that you want to rank for. You may need to do keyword research to come up with the most appropriate keyword. You could use the Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool together with the Traffic Estimator tool for this. When determining traffic amounts, use 'exact match' instead of 'broad match' to get only the results of people who use the exact keyword as is.

Some of the keywords that your find may be useful for optimizing your own website for organic SEO. You may want to include these keywords in the Page Title, Meta Description, and page text of the homepage. Keep in mind, however, that you only want to optimized each page of your website for only a few related keywords. With that said, building out a few additional pages that focus on certain keywords targets may be a good approach for local search engine optimization.

Social media gained prominence in 2006. It has transformed how people interact and share content, as well as how businesses market over the Internet. One of the newest players in the social media world is Pinterest.

Pinterest is attracting people of all ages, socioeconomic levels, and education levels. The visual bookmarking tool allows people to create theme-based boards where they 'pin' images of things that they find interesting (thus the name). These virtual pin boards become bases around which conversations can revolve.

Pinterest is similar in the sense that it is a bookmarking tool with tagging being the major feature to Delicious, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Reddit. This can be beneficial for all types of companies, from retailers to providers of web design. It is changing Peoria web design in a big way in that it is now possible to browse content in a visual, minimalist way. Additionally with Pinterest, it is now possible to meet like-minded individuals and connect with them through the common interests we share.

The Art of Pinterest

The pin boards you create are divided into several themes namely Music & Books, Art, History, Cars & Motorcycles, Architecture, Design, DIY & Crafts, Food & Drink, Gardening, Geek, Education, Film, Hair & Beauty, Holidays and Home décor. Others are My Life, Humor, Kids, Women's Apparel, Outdoors, People, Men's Apparel, Pets, Wedding & Events, Photography, Products, Science & Nature, Print & Posters, Sports, Travel & Places, Technology and Other. Pinterest also features infographics and notes for people to better understand the content that is viewable.

Women are particularly well suited for Pinterest. They can share pictures and form friendships and conversations around such themes as Women's Apparel, Kids, Hair & Beauty, Wedding & Events, Health, Home Décor, Design, DIY & Crafts and Food & Drink. As of January 2012, 70% to 80% of Pinterest were women.

Pinterest has several advantages for ecommerce stores. Being a social bookmarking site, any ecommerce blog that has Pinterest will be optimized for search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) is important in that it leads to a higher ranking in the SERPs (search engine results pages).

Being a social media site, Pinterest can help attract a niche market that shares the same interests as your blog. This is particularly important if you are using your blog for ecommerce marketing purposes. Pinterest is easy to use and those who visit your blog will not have a hard time signing up and viewing images.

Human beings are visual creatures and you could therefore use the images to pass your message across a lot better. You can have do-follow links in your images. These will bring you targeted Web traffic and they will help in your SEO campaign. You can include an 'about' page in the website and you can place a link to your blog for greater inbound marketing potential.

Depicting the Characteristics of SEO Links SEO (search engine optimization) is one of the most effective website promotion techniques. Link building has become a serious channel to greater SEO success. However, for link building to work to its potential, it must be "White Hat" (ethical) and focus on relevant, targeted Web traffic. This implies that in SEO, not all links are equal.

Inbound Links

Inbound links, as the term suggests, are links pointing towards your website from another website. These links are advantageous in that they tell website crawlers that your website is an authority in its niche. Search engines use inbound links from authoritative sites to determine ranking in search engine results pages.

You should, however, ensure that the inbound links to your website are do-follow links, since no-follow links do not add value to your link building campaign. Your inbound links should have a keyword-targeted anchor text if it is to add SEO value to your website. In essence, the link should send visitors to an optimized page that you are trying to get ranking in the search engine.

Ideally, you want quality inbound links from trusted websites. Some of the most powerful are .gov and .edu websites, as well as links from other high PR (PageRank) websites. Also important is the contextual relevancy, or the relation the content has to the link.

Outbound Links

The other major category of links is outbound links. As the name suggests, these are links pointing away from your website towards another website. It is believed that Google rewards behaviors that help deliver more targeted and meaningful results and outbound linking therefore leads to search engine optimization. Even if this is not your main motivation, outbound links are still advantageous in that they help Google crawlers know what the website you are linking to is about.

It also helps in the building of goodwill among other websites. This increases your chances of getting a quality inbound link later on. As is the case with inbound links, the value of keyword relevant anchor text in these links cannot be overstated. Such anchor text helps Google crawlers better identify the website you intend to link to. These links are reader-friendly and they open in new browser windows. You should strive for links in high PR websites.

Internal Links

You also need keyword relevant anchor text in your internal links. Internal links are links you use within your website and they are important since they help Web users in navigation. Indicating what each link will lead to will help Web users find their way around your website.

It is important to keep know these types of links, whether your are doing some SEO on your own, or are investing in a SEO link building service.

Do you use any special link building techniques? Let us know in the comments below.

QR codes are modern 2D barcodes that are readable by most smartphones. Their value in modern business applications is high, but their usage is scattered as businesses are yet to understand how well to utilize them. Nevertheless, if you can embrace them effectively, your business would enjoy expandable benefits.

QR codes are essentially links that can take a smartphone user to just about any webpage, coupon or promotion. Below we highlight some of the most effective applications that your business can utilize QR codes.

Curiosity Pull

Since it is a new technology to most people, using them would create curiosity, which might captivate people into scanning them and hence land into your page. You can further spur interest by adding images or using them in multiple applications such as business cards, t-shirts and on other applications. QR code promotions are great way to market that offers endless creativity.

Social Sharing

Since QR codes can be used as links, or URLs, you can utilize them to post special offers to individuals once they scan them on the social networks. This would expand your market, as people would tweet their friends and hence expand your business visibility.

Tracking Print Media Marketing

You can embrace the QR codes to track the effectiveness of your offline marketing. You only need to create a tracking URL and then embed it in the QR code. Although it is not going to be a perfect measurement, it would give you an overview performance of your offline mobile marketing efforts.

You can also utilize the codes to help give your customers get discounts and give away in online store by scanning the code in your offline stores. You can find several tools to create effective codes for your marketing plans. Nevertheless, not all products are effective and worth your efforts.

Email List Segmentation

This is one of the most recent business applications and thus, majority of people who would sign up using this application are highly experimental in email marketing. They are also likely to be highly involved in social media and thus, you can utilize QR codes to drive traffic into your social marketing.

QR Code Software Review: QR Hacker

One of the major QR creator tool is QR Hacker. The tool is available for download from major downloading sites freely. It is compatible with Linux, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 7, and Macintosh OS X. The requirements for this application are internet connection and flash-enabled web browser.

This tool helps you to create Flash based web applications that enables you to encode URL, arbitrary text, VCard, phone number and WiFi access for Android devices. The tool allows you to pick the data that you prefer to use and then fill the data you want the code to contain. Once you input the information, you then click on the large Generate button for your code to pop up on the screen. The tool is designed to ease your creation process and give you flexible options.

The tool further makes it possible to change the background color, foreground color and round off pixels. You can also import logos and place them at the middle of the code. The tool is also designed to ease your code management. This is because you can save the code in PDF or image file. It is however necessary to ensure security of your customers by avoiding risky redirecting websites.

LinkedIn has recently release yet another set attractive updates for Internet marketers. These updates offer insightful tools in making the most out of user information and market data. With these new LinkedIn features, many marketers can better target their followers and improve their overall marketing strategies.

Targeted Updates

One of the recent LinkedIn updates is the Targeted Updates feature. When you set your personal statuses on your company page, anyone that you have been interacting with can automatically view your status. The targeted updates feature can automatically call the attention of those who can relate to a specific update, without having to wait for them to notice it.

So how does this update actually work? Company pages are expected to have at least one post administrator who manages the page. With the targeted updates feature of LinkedIn, the post administrator can automatically share important updates to a specific group of followers or audience at once. The admin simply needs to select a target audience which can be based on their company size, industry, function, seniority and geographic location.

Later after the update is posted, the admin can already have access to a number of data. This data shall include the number of targeted followers, the impressions, the clicks and the shares for that particular update. By being aware of this information, marketers can immediately see how their audience reacted and which ones considered your update to be relevant. This becomes a means to start a conversation wherein anyone can instantly share their impression and thoughts on a specific matter of discussion.

Follower Statistics

Another LinkedIn update is the Follower Statistics. This is an additional tab to your company page statistics, which simply shows your followers' demographics. The data will reflect the number of total followers you have, the number of recent followers for the last 7 days, and the average impressions and engagement levels of you LinkedIn updates.

Both of these LinkedIn features offer relevant information that can be used effectively to make more productive marketing decisions. With the Targeted Updates and Follower Statistics features, every company page can be built in such a way that will guarantee to attract a specific audience or group of followers.

With this information, you will know which updates should be shared to who and when. This will allow you to monitor the progress that you made in your company page. Furthermore, this will let you realize what actions you need to take in order to enhance these developments for the betterment of the company that you are promoting. If these features are used wisely, select content can be targeted to the right set of eyes, and thus your content and Internet marketing efforts may be more impactful.

The direction of internet marketing industry has been changing upon several global factors and trends. It is speculated that web marketers will soon start consolidating their niche specialties into more full-service providers.

Most marketers have been working in specific niche since years, but now clients demand a wide range of services offered under a single hood, this requirement has led to the concept of consolidation. Larger clients don't want their web services (such as website design services, search engine optimization services, content writing services etc.) spread out amongst many providers. Most clients want these services conveniently provided from a single source.

M & A Toward New Web Marketing Models

To meet the increased demands of customers, internet marketing companies have two options.

The very first option is to merge with other small companies offering different services and form a larger more viable company. This option shall be highly useful for companies that work in a specific niche.

The second option is of acquisition of small sized firms by large ones, this shall help large companies to get empowered with the skills and services lacked by them. With large enterprises we don't mean giants like Google or Yahoo. A large firm could be one that offers web design, web development, and software development skills, but lacks associated skills such as copywriting or SEO.

To get the two latter services under its list of expertise, the web design company can acquire one or two companies that offer such services. Simply hiring a SEO and copywriting expert won't be sufficient for the large scale business of the acquiring firm. In one way or the other, internet and search engine marketing companies may have to change the way they work. Different approaches can be used for merging with different small companies; it can even be collaboration between two companies working in different parts of the globe.

A number of European and American firms have collaborated with small companies of good caliber in Asia; this helps them to get expert services at a very small cost.

The release of Google Engage for Agencies offers a wealth of resources for Internet marketers who work with locally-focused small businesses. Spanning from SEOs, webmasters, marketing consultants, and social media marketers, Google Engage is program designed for more than just agencies. Google Engage can up-and-coming entrepreneurs to grow and expand their business.

With Google Engage for Agencies, you can learn to use and take advantage of different marketing tools such as Google AdWords, as well as pre-existing Google advertising programs that generates income on the pay-per-click model. Not only does this offer SEOs and Internet marketers a significant advantage in promoting and executing their services, but in return, local businesses can reap the rewards of cost-efficient, locally targeted advertising opportunities.

Benefits of Google Engage

There is no cost to join the Google Engage program, but there are some qualifications that need to be met. The person must have or be in charge of a website for a business that is already functioning and established on the web. The individual must be ready to commit to learning about the different Google resources, and also to start promoting the resources from Google to existing and potential customers.

Become a Better Internet Marketer

The program will guide the individual through a training program that shows them how Google advertising and AdWords works, as well as how to become more successful at Internet marketing. In essence, the basic training phase will help increase and build marketing and advertising skills.

Get Free AdWords Coupons

One of the greatest benefits of Google Engage for Agencies is that Google will give you free AdWords coupons to use for new clients. This enables marketers to show their clients the potential of local Pay Per Click advertising before having to spend a single dollar. Agencies in the program are granted up to 20 AdWords coupons valued at $100 of free ad spend which they can offer to their clients in any manner they like.

Pursue Advanced AdWords Training

Google Engage members can also learn how to most efficiently target their audience, and how to set a solid AdWords campaign that attracts qualified leads for their clients. The program goes into advanced AdWords training concepts, such as properly setting-up ad groups, writing ad copy, and using other tools like click-to-call and mobile ad targeting. Google Engage for Agencies is a wonderful program that offers many advantages as well as reciprocity between advertisers and Google. Advertisers can take advantage of the offers in which Google Engage provides, while Google can expand its customer base and focus on building a reputation at a more local level.

Learn more about this amazing new program and visit the official website for Google Engage for Agencies.