Romancing the Google Spider – The Number One Thing You Can Do
When an you see somebody advertise the statement “”Get Google AdWords Clicks Free””, you might start salivating like a starving wolf hunting a wounded elk.
And like that wolf, you are likely to grab the product…whatever the Internet peddler is selling…that gives you a faint hope that “”yeah, somewhere out there is a way of getting free clicks.”” Maybe it’s your own greed that makes you pay the $17.77 download, only to discover that the clicks are free only AFTER you’ve jumped through some hoops. Like, for instance, first advertising through Google, building a list, and then selling product to the people on the list . By some roundabout form of logic you’ve gotten “”free clicks””.
The author pulled a sleight of hand, made the sale, and hopes you won’t return it. And, if you’re like me you won’t. You’ll just keep on slogging ahead, hoping that somewhere out there you’ll discover THE SECRET for getting traffic without breaking your piggy bank.
Is it possible to get traffic without paying for it?
Before we start talking about “”free Google clicks””, there are four things you need to understand about advertising with Google AdWords: what it takes to write an effective ad, who the clickers are, and how saleable the product is.
The Google AdWords Morass
You’re still dealing with Google AdWords because it’s the only real thing that brings in “”instant traffic””. You are
Trying to find that targeted keyword or set of keywords.
Trying to find the ideal bid that will put your ad high enough in the queue, but won’t cost a fortune with every click.
Trying to write an effective ad. This needs to be highly compelling, literally “”forcing”” customers to click on the link.
Your goal is to boost your “”click through rate”” from a sad 1 or 2% to as high as 20 – 50%. This will come only after expensive experimentation.
Clickers Are Not Buyers
Just as not everybody who wanders into a shop selling merchandise is going to buy, clickers can be divided into four groups:
“”Happy”” clickers — the idly curious. These people searched on the keyword for reasons of their own. They’re not interested in buying anything.
“”Freeby”” clickers — looking for a free product to fill a need.
Competitors — affiliate marketers who liked your ad and clicked to see what you’re selling. They might “”rip off”” your ad, along with the product.
Potential customers — these have a credit card in their pocket and are willing to use it, if the sales letter they encounter is compelling enough.
So, with a 10 to 50% “”click through rate”” only one out of four are customers. How many of these will buy the product?
Analyze for salability
Before you start marketing by ANY method, you need to determine the “”salability”” of the product:
Look at the sales letter. No, I don’t mean “”read it”” — not yet. How does it impress you? Is it attractive? Are the color combinations, pictures, testimonials, and layout inviting or is it chaotic with clashing colors, ugly pictures, and looks like a ransom note?
Read the Sales Letter. Is it written well? Is it compelling? Does it use the standard techniques of copywriting to “”draw”” the customer in and “”compel”” her to buy the product? Would you buy this product?
How many competitors will you have? You don’t want zero, and you don’t want too many either.
How long has this product been up for sale? A product that has been up for awhile might be “”tried and true”” — because marketers will drop it if it doesn’t sell.
Write an ad and put it up. Let it run for 100 clicks, no more and no less. If it hasn’t sold in 100 clicks, forget it, but if you’ve sold 1 or more products, it has potential.
Now we are ready to get customers
Every time I see an advertisement for “”free traffic”” or “”free clicks”” the word “”scam”” comes to mind. But think about it. Except for the top two or three links on the left of the search page, which are usually paid Google advertisements, all of the rest are free to the webmaster, and this is where you want to be.
Trouble is, every keyword search results in somewhere between 1 and 200 million entries, and rarely does anyone go past page three.
On the other hand, in spite of Google’s never ending quest to enhance the quality of their searchers’ experience, the top three or four links aren’t always relevant to what the searcher is looking for. Google still has a long way to go.
So, to get customers, you’re going to have to get your site listed at least on page 3, preferably page 1 or 2. But if you’re not in the top ten you need not despair, because searchers often go past the top ten trying to find what they want. In other words you’ve still got a shot at getting their clicks.
Romancing The Google Spider
A ton of stuff has been published about Search Engine Optimization, and most of it focuses on three things:
Keyword optimization (without keyword “”stuffing””)
Getting quality back links
Packing the site with “”content””
Yet, even with these three optimized perfectly, your web site’s page and keyword ranking can often be disappointing. Why? Because your site has still not “”romanced”” the Google spider. It may not be constructed in a way that grabs the spider’s attention.
Google has built an assumption into its Algorithm that a hierarchical site provides the best “”search experience””. If the site isn’t built this way, it probably won’t be ranked well.
Getting your foot in the door
To attract the spider you must correctly construct your web site first, THEN provide keyword optimization, content and relevant back links. Do it right the first time and use your Google AdWords account for testing purposes only.
Your customers are on their way.