Should I Bid On My Business Name?

I’ve had a lot of folks ask me about bidding on their own name on major search engines.  I am a big believer in doing so.  I do think that this topic is best understood as part of two broader subjects - Search Engine Marketing and Reputation Management.

But let’s try to tackle this question on its own… Should I bid on my own business name?

You already know that consumers are looking for your business online. Many are searching for yourbusiness by name because they are researching your company or looking for your contact info.  After all, the easiest way for consumers to run a free “background check” on your business is by looking for you on one of the three major search engines:  Google, Yahoo! or Bing.  But what shows up for those searches, known as your online reputation, can convince a consumer whether to purchase your product or service, or buy from one of your competitors.

When it comes to search engine marketing, bidding on business category keywords (ex: “Dallas spa”) is a must if you want your business to show up in a paid ad when someone is looking for your kind of products or services. But it’s just as important to bid on your business name keywords (ex: “Sally’s Swanky Spa”).  Here are some reasons why:

The Competition

It’s your business name – so why pay for it? Because your competitors are! According to Performics, leading brands only receive 87% of traffic from their business name keyword searches. The remaining 13% are “poached” by competitors!* That’s because they know that when your customers search for your business, they have an opportunity to snatch the sale straight out of your hands with a well-worded sponsored ad.  Don’t give them the chance.

Dominate the Page

Instead, dominate the search results page when someone searches with your business name keywords.  Efforts you’ve made to manage your reputation will help you dominate the organic listings, but bidding on your business name will ensure you dominate the sponsored ad listings on the search engine results page.

Control the Message

Controlling what appears in natural (or “organic”) listings is difficult and happens slowly. But you can control the message using a paid ad quickly and easily! Highlight seasonal specials, new inventory, a rewards program or unique features and convert an interested consumer into a paying customer. Plus, a paid ad for your business name keywords lets you control the click-through destination to a special landing page featuring a promotion or product.

It’s Inexpensive

More businesses like yours are bidding on the same business category keywords because many businesses may offer the types of products or services you do. That makes category keywords more costly. But although a few sneaky competitors may bid on your name, it’s yours which means the search engines will typically give you the best placement at the best price.

Strategic Defense

Bidding on your own business name keywords lets you seed the page with more positive results to actively “counter-attack” any negative links on the page. A negative review looks more serious when there are lots of them, but when the bulk of the results on the page are positive it looks more isolated and rare.

Big Brands Know Why

Still not convinced? Then consider this: big, well-established brands like Apple, Verizon or Walmart bid on their own keywords. These brands have enough global recognition, local presence and customer loyalty that most customers know to go to them directly. Yet they still run television ads and understand the value of locking out competitors by dominating the search engine results page. So take a page out of their multi-million dollar marketing playbook and be sure to bid on your business name keywords!

Apple bids on their own name.

By the way, your brand name or business name may qualify as being “trademarked” by some search engines.  That will protect you from competitors who might want to bid on your business name keywords! Check the link below to see if our business name is eligible on Google.  http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.

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Search Engine Marketing Revelations from My Foodie Wife

My wife is an entrepreneur and we talk often about online marketing for her business.  (We also often talk about her favorite topic - food - and I am sure there will be many “foodie” posts on this site.)  Anita has become pretty knowledgeable when it come to search engine marketing and I wanted to point out some of the big discoveries she has made when it comes to search and running her business.  As a small business owner, one wears so many hats such as operations, sales, human resources, advertising, finance and more.  I hope these pointers can help you with this one small (but critical) part of your business… search engine marketing.

1. Make sure you get help from an expert.  This was the first realization.  Time is better spent running the business than dealing with keywords, bids and optimization across all the major search engines.

2. Tracking is key.  A good search engine marketing provider will show you more than clicks and impressions.  The number of “conversions” like phone calls and online inquiries are crucial and need to be measured.

3.  Know your Lifetime Customer Value.  Since search engine marketing (and online advertising in general) is trackable, you will be able to determine ROI.  But many businesses have never asked themselves about the real financial value of a customer.  Consider the amount of money your customers spend in your business over time.  Consider your profit margins, cost structures and capacity.  Since word-of-mouth referalls are key, how many people does each customer refer?   Most people severely underestimate the fiancial value of customers and what they should expect to spend to attract them.

4.  Respond quickly and effectively to prospective customers.  When valuable calls come in, are your phones being answered?  Are the inbound calls and emails being handled well?  Are you building a marketing database from the prospects who call your business?  Do calls come in after hours?  (Prospects usually will not leave messages when they get voicemail.)  These leads are valuable and need to be handled with care!

5.  Brand advertising can turbo charge search engine marketing.  When people know your business already from advertising (or your prime business location), they are more likely to click on your link on a search engine when faced with several choices.  Brand advertising can give your search engine marketing an edge and also helps your quality score.

6.  Your Reputation Matters.  When people do click on your search engine link, they many not call you immediately.  Many will research you first on key sites where they investigate businesses.  People “background check” your business on sites like Google Maps, Yahoo Local, Yelp, Citysearch, Angie’s List and more.  The sites they use depend on the type of business they are researching.   (My “foodie” wife researches all her favorite restaurants on Chowhound and Yelp.)  If customers like what they see about you on review sites, they will call.  If they see bad reviews, they call someone else for their needs.  Your happy customers can help you build a good reputation on key review sites if you ask them.  (And in foodie circles, they even take pictures of their meals and upload them to blogs and review sites!)

7.  Remarketing gives you a second, third, fourth chance and more.  There are many ways you can target banner ads online.  My wife uses remarketing which is a very targeted technique used primarily by big companies like major banks, airlines and auto companies.  When someone visits her website they are “tagged”, then shown banners as they surf the web.  This “reminds them” of her business at a later time in case they were not quite ready to buy.  Or maybe they were interrupted and never finished checking out her site.  (Since remarketing is a new concept to many, you can go to reachlocal.com to learn more.  When you leave, you will likely see some of our banner ads because we will start remarketing you as you surf the web!)

This is an example of a ReachLocal remarketing ad

Bottom right: an example of a remarketing ad

As we are sitting here typing this, my wife is recounting even more search engine marketing revelations.   (She is also considering her menu selections for tomorrow night’s dinner at a spot we love.)  The big lesson is this.  Search engine marketing requires a holistic approach.  Running a good search marketing program is important, but is part of a bigger picture.  Understanding the financial value of customers, handling leads effectively, having a good reputation, having an established or well advertised business, using remarketing techniques and more can help you attain a strong ROI.

I think Anita has decided on the ribeye with a special Bearnaise for tomorrow night at Nana.  She thinks I will go for the duck, but I will decide tomorrow night when I get there.  Or maybe I’ll just check out some reviews and see what the foodies recommend…

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