What is search engine marketing?

Search engine marketing is the art of making your company visible to customers searching for your services online.  If you’re not on the web, you won’t be contacted by potential prospects.  One of your competitors will be.  You’ll lose business and they’ll gain a competitive advantage over you.  Our SEM services help to correct this through several powerful internet advertising methods: 

Hot!’s search engine marketing service starts by concentrating on the ways that maximize your revenue.  The first thing we do is ensure your business is listed on all the major online directories, which includes Google, Yahoo! & Yelp.com.  These are free, and the leads you receive from them cost you nothing.  We create custom profiles of your business on these sites and encourage you to have your customers write positive reviews of your business (the more reviews, the more legitimate your company will appear, which increases the chance someone looking at your profile will convert into a lead or a profile instead of what is referred to in the industry as a “bouncer”). 

These online directories are the building blocks of search engine marketing; not only are they free listings, but they also help increase your main company’s website ranking on the search engines by providing quality links.  This is referred to in the industry as SEO, or search engine optimization, the act of increasing your website’s ranking in the search results when people are searching for particular terms such as “consultants” or “internet marketing consultants in New York City”.

The second method is the art of SEO (search engine optimization), or optimizing your website to increase the number of leads and sales you receive off the internet.  Through our expert know-how and proprietary Microsoft technology; we research and handcraft your site so that it receives top placement for the commercial keywords that bring in business.  After our analysis and implementation, you will receive more high quality traffic, which will vastly increase the number of leads and sales you receive off the internet.  To learn more about our professional search engine optimization services, and how SEO can help you reach your sales goals, call (800)266-5294 or email us and we’ll send you a presentation detailing how Hot!’s next-generation search engine marketing and optimization services goes above and beyond other agencies’ to deliver you immediate and long-lasting results through our affordable search engine optimization services.

After search engine optimization, the third phase in search engine marketing, or SEM, is what is referred to in the search marketing industry as pay per click advertising, or PPC advertising.  We place ads of your company on Google, Yahoo! & MSN under the sponsored results that come up on the right whenever someone searches for your services.  For example, if someone searches for “internet advertising in Los Angeles”, ads for internet ad agencies will show up on the right.  You only pay when someone clicks on your ads, which is how the name “pay per click advertising” came about. 

Please note that PPC advertising is a last resource for advertisers.  Although it does provide you immediate placement in the first page of results for your ads, and brings you traffic and leads, it comes at a cost.  Some advertisers spend hundreds of dollars per lead on PPC, which makes it barely cost-effective for internet advertisers with slimmer profit margins (pay per click advertising marginalizes your profits; SEO doesn’t affect your margins at all, which is why we recommend and implement search engine optimization before pay per click advertising, though if you have higher profit margins, PPC can be a great ancillary way to bring in traffic and boost profits and revenues.)

After PPC search engine advertising, there is pay per click content network advertising.  Ads of your business are placed on relevant sites, and you pay when someone clicks on them.  This form of advertising is the least cost-effective because the people that click on your ads are not searching for them; in a sense, internet content network marketing can be likened to radio or television advertising.  People see your ads, and may buy your products, but they were not originally looking for it and so the chances that they will become a customer are greatly reduced.  However, you will still get leads from Google’s content network, and most likely pay a great deal less for each click, but in the end, you’ll pay more because the number of users that convert will be much less than those that come to your site through search engine pay per click advertising.  However, it will enable you to reach a larger audience than just through search engine marketing alone, which is why some companies choose to utilize content network internet advertising if their profit margins allow it. 

Content network advertising also offers you the choice to place image and video ads of your business on the web.  If you currently do not have image or video advertising on the web, we can help you design or convert an image or promotional video for your content network campaigns to help build a better online brand and visibility for your company.

The next aspect of search marketing is through social network marketing, or what we refer to in the industry as Web 2.0 marketing.  This search engine marketing service is tantamount to “word of mouth” marketing, and it works by creating buzz, where the users themselves voluntarily pass information about your products and services to others.  This is one of the most effective marketing techniques, because it costs very little to implement and can generate high, consistent and self-replicating returns.  In order for this to work, the service or product you offer must have something buzz worthy about it, something worth passing along; otherwise attempts to generate it on the social network will be seen as spam and dismissed as such.  Our service analyzes and recommends various forms of viral Web 2.0 marketing, depending on your industry, as a way to increase organic leads and sales off the internet, whether it be through the creation of hilarious YouTube videos, self-replicating FaceBook applications or simple profiles on MySpace and other social networking sites.

The last aspect of search engine marketing is through landing page optimizations, or the art of analyzing website data to make the changes that will increase the number of visitors to your site into leads.  This is similar to web design, only it modifies pre-existing content or design in order to increase the conversion rate on your page, or the number of visitors that turn into leads or sales.  This process can be as simple as changing a background color (various studies have shown that simply changing an image or a color non your website can influence the conversion rate by .5%, which means that small changes can increase the number of sales you get, larger changes to the content and design can increase that rate much, much higher)

How do our SEM services work?

Our search engine marketing service is quite different from any currently on the market.  You don’t pay for the service or for traffic or for clicks, you only pay for conversions.  If you don’t receive any leads, we don’t get paid, plain and simple.

How much does it cost?

In a sense, our initial search engine marketing services are free or akin to an investment.  You pay an initial non-refundable deposit depending on the services you choose (SEO, SEM, PPC, Web 2.0) and the industry you’re in.  You then pay ten dollars for each conversion you receive off your website.  For example, if you decide to have us create pay per click campaigns for your business, we’ll build them for you for a deposit of $500.00.  After that, the first fifty conversions are free, or until you reach the amount of $500.00.  After that, we invoice you monthly for the number of leads you receive off the web.  For our search engine optimization and web design fees, the deposit can be much higher, between $2,000.00 and $100,000.00 USD, depending on the amount of design, coding and work required. 

Our current rate for conversions is currently $10.00.  However, that rate is negotiable depending on the industry you’re in, the conversion rate required and the profitability.  Some of our customers in the B2B spectrum pay upwards to $1,000.00 per conversion, whereas one of our clients in the B2C only pays twenty-five cents per conversion (though their site generates around ten thousand leads per month).

Are your rates negotiable?

Of course, depending on the industry you’re in we can work something out so you’re not on the bottom end of the deal.  Examples include companies with large sales, but small profit margins.  On the other hand, companies with small sales, but huge profit margins, who operate in an extremely tough, competitive online environment, are expected to pay much more per conversion based on the time and work we have to put into creating those conversions for you.  This is something we negotiate with you because if you only expect to sell one or two airplanes a month, we need to make sure the hundreds of hours we put into optimizing your campaign pays off for us, otherwise we won’t be around to help you sell the next hundred jets, that you’ll be sure to sell through our services.

Are there any contracts?

Yes, we ask that you sign a contract to pay us for any conversions that come about through our work.  You only pay for the leads that come about through our website design and internet advertising management services.  There is no minimum service charge or hidden costs or fees; you pay a flat rate per conversion, no more.  You can get out of the contract at anytime by effacing from your site any additions or changes that we made, or by reverting to the original design.  However, if you utilize our work, which helps you achieve your sales objectives, we ask that you live up to your end of the bargain by signing a contract to pay us for the agreed upon cost per conversion, which can be re-negotiated each year depending on market conditions, profitability, et cetera.

I am a small business or start-up company, and I don’t have enough to cover the deposit for the full-suite of services, is there a chance you can waive the deposit?

If you are a creative, daring & innovative small biz or start-up, short on funds or financing, but believe in yourselves and have what it takes to be successful, feel free to get in touch with us and provide us with details on your business.  If we think you have a great business plan, we’ll invest in you and waive the initial deposits and help you succeed and reach out to new customers.  If you’re in the alternative energy industry, you’ll also be applicable for our green discount, which deducts the current price of gasoline from your conversion cost, so instead of paying $10.00 per lead, you only pay $5-6 and no deposits are required.  If you also have a major investment in another company that’s in the alternative energy industry (excluding ethanol and bio-fuels), you’ll also receive our green discount.

How do you determine what a conversion is?

A conversion is a lead, which means a call or an email placed from the site.

How do you determine if a lead originated from the website, and not from a different advertising source such as the print directories or television advertising?

We install a tracking code onto the site called Analytics, which offers real-time reporting on what people do on your website, where they go, how long they stay for and even which cities they come from.  Utilizing this, and through a PHP email function on the site, we’re able to determine which customers convert into emails.  We track telephone leads by placing a unique toll free number on the site.  These two methods allow us to accurately determine the number of leads.  Naturally, if there is an incidence of a wrong number or email, or the same customer calling the toll free number repeatedly, let us know and we will credit back those charges.

Do I have to pay for Google, Yahoo & MSN?

If you decide to utilize pay per click advertising, we will design and manage your PPC marketing, however, the accounts will be yours and you will be responsible for any of the click charges that result from paid search.  You will also be responsible for a conversion charge, payable to us, for every conversion, whether it’s from SEO, PPC or direct traffic to the site via online directories or Web 2.0 advertising.

What if I get a lot of leads but no sales?

We’ll try to help you find the problem, but failure to convert leads into sales is normally associated with your sales force or due to competition.  We’d advise you to examine the way calls and emails are handled, and take surveys of the leads that did not convert into sales, to see what you could have done better.  Most people will tell you why they didn’t purchase. 

Unfortunately, we can’t provide much help beyond that as we are in the lead conversion business.   Our job is to bring people to your site and get them to call or email you, and we only charge you for that, but we are unable to provide any assistance beyond that except for a few suggestions to fine-tune your sales and operations.  But feel free to call us if you are having problems, as we’d be glad to help in any way we can.

Are you a PPC firm or a pay per click advertising agency?

No, we are a lead conversion firm, also known in the industry as a web analytics agency, which is a state of the art internet advertising service.  Pay Per Click advertising agencies are “old-school” and will usually hide your pay per click accounts from you, and charge you enormous sums of money for the service, and for clicks, rather than results. 

A search engine marketing agency will operate in this clandestine manner because if they showed you how simple the actual PPC account is, and how easy it is to set up, many companies would just do it themselves.  These internet marketing agencies operate in this manner assuming your ignorance will pay off in the end. 

Hot! search marketing works quite differently.  We encourage you to be an active participant in your pay per click advertising because no one knows your business, and your customers, as well as you do.  No one.

However, we still build and manage your pay per click campaigns, much as a traditional PPC agency would do, the only difference is with us, your campaigns are built to be cost-effective and deliver results, and you only pay us for conversions, or leads, rather than clicks.  An added benefit to this service is that because you are paying Google and the other search engines directly for the PPC services, you don’t have to worry about click prices getting jacked up, as some pay per click advertising companies are known to do to increase their profitability. 

Why should I let Hot! manage my pay per click campaigns?

You should outsource your pay per click advertising to us because of the enormous cost benefits we provide through our service – plus, our pay per click services are free because you don’t pay us to design and manage them, you only pay us for the results they provide.  

We also engineered a process called PPC 3.0 that can deliver up to 70% savings on PPC for most clients.  We can’t go into the nifty-thrifty details on how this process works, but it’s a real-time application of managerial economics and revolves around deep, intelligent analysis, which utilizes the latest technology and techniques to decrease your overall pay per click costs.

Some customers ask why they should pay Hot! ten dollars per lead when they can just as well get them on their own through PPC, and the answer is that unless you’re a search engine marketing professional, it’s better to outsource pay per click design and management to a professional SEM agency that can handle it proficiently so you don’t lose out on business and incur heavy, incremental costs.  For example, one of our clients came to us with a meager .5% conversion rate on his PPC campaigns.  That meant that for every 200 clicks, he was generating one lead and paying one thousand dollars for it!  We analyzed his site, implemented some changes, gave his home page a new high-tech look and overhauled his pay per click campaigns.  His conversion rate immediately jumped to 5%.  He now received 9 more leads for the same amount of ad spend on his PPC advertising (overall he received thirty five additional leads that were a result of our search engine optimization services) and his advertising became extremely profitable, instead of costly. 

If you break down the math, Hot! is an investment that delivers extremely high returns.  It doesn’t become a cost like other search engine marketing agencies in the market that ask for great monthly service charges and provide little to nothing in return.  The money you save by utilizing our free PPC services is like having additional money you can invest into the bank, or back into your business, or even, we prefer, into the alternative energy industry (which will save you even more with Hot! as you would be able to receive our green discount, which discounts the current price of gas from your conversion fee.)  Also, you own these pay per click accounts, choose how much you’re willing to spend on them and all we do is design and manage them for you.  You pay Google, Yahoo! & MSN directly for the clicks, and only pay us for the clicks that turn into leads.

Couldn’t I just build & manage a pay per click account myself and not pay anyone for the leads?

You can, but we don’t recommend it unless you’re an expert with AdWords & Analytics and understand how the search engine’s algorithms work.  If you’d like to try it out yourself, we offer plenty of search engine marketing resources on our site by clicking on the resources tab at the top of the page.  This section includes everything you need to know to build your own pay per click account and to optimize your website.  There’s everything from advanced search engine optimization tools to keyword lists that you can utilize for your pay per click advertising campaigns.  Coming soon we’ll also have a page that automatically generates a pay per click account for you based on the industry you’re in and which you can easily enter into Google using a program such as Microsoft Excel or Google’s AdEditor.

 Do you offer international internet advertising?

We do.  We work with Google and other search engines, such as Baidu in China, to provide our clients with an online platform to distribute their ads into foreign markets.  There are additional fees for translation and consulting. 

American exporters also receive special incentives for exporting to Europe and Asia, which deduct the current value of the dollar in relation to the euro from your conversion fee (so, if the dollar is currently at 1.71 to the euro, you'll receive a $1.71 discount from the conversion fee.

 Do you create online video commercials?

We professionally shoot, edit and distribute online spots that can either be streamed onto your website or distributed to ad servers throughout the web for display on sites related to your services or products.  Film production services cost extra.  Our average cost per production runs around $20,000.00.  However, that charge can either be more or less depending on the length of the shoot, the amount of actors needed, special effects & the location.

 Do you create image advertisements for companies on the web? 

As part of our AdWords content network management services, we can create and distribute online ads of your business or products.  However, additional fees apply for the design and for the hours of work put into image ad creation.  Companies normally provide us with photos, which we then convert.  There is no additional charge for converting image advertisements, only for the graphic design, if you choose to have us create an ad for you.

How do I create a pay per click advertising account?

It’s quite easy (albeit time-consuming), but it does require some understanding of internet advertising.  Google provides excellent tutorials on how to expertly craft an online campaign, and the same methods can be applied to both Yahoo! and MSN.  Basically, as long as you’re focused, relevant and your pay per click advertising corresponds to your actual website, you’ll be fine.  Stay away from the content networks, however, and if you’re really looking to maximize your returns then look into Google’s learning center to learn more about optimizing pay per click advertising accounts or call us to learn more about web analytics, which helps to optimize landing pages to increase the number of sales you receive off the internet.

                    Click here to learn how to build a pay per click account

Is there a difference between Google’s pay per click advertising service and Yahoo! & MSN’s?

Yes, there are quite a few.  Although a campaign you build for Google will work fine on Yahoo! or MSN, the first appreciable difference between the three is their costs.  MSN costs much less than Google & Yahoo!, and each search engine is also known to have somewhat different audiences or demographics.  MSN generally attracts more professionals, whereas Google and Yahoo! attract more of the Gen XY demographic.  In addition, Yahoo! is similar to Google but in our experience, nowhere as prestigious or cost-effective.

How do you track people on my site?

We utilize a program called “Analytics”, which is a small snippet of javascript code that is placed on your website.  It’s able to track most, but not all visitors (which means you might get a few conversions for free), but it’s a pretty handy tool and can you tell you all sorts of information, including the visitor’s computer screen size, which operating system they’re using and most importantly, how long they stay on your site, where they go, and where they exit.

Do you offer SEO web design?

Of course, for some of our clients, we build incredible search engine optimized sites from scratch.  For other clients, we’ll either consult with their current web design firm to implement the necessary SEO (search engine optimized content) into their site, or create a supplementary HTML based site (if they utilize a flash-based site).  Clients will need to cover the initial deposit required to create these sites, then, per our policy, the site’s costs will be recovered by them through a waiver of conversion fees until it meets the initial deposit.

What are the fundamentals of search engine optimization?

Creating great, useful ad copy that is friendly to search engines and informative and useful to visitors.  You can do this yourself, but if you’d like to maximize your traffic and establish strong returns, it’s best to have it done professionally.  There are some other aspects of SEO to keep in mind, such as link building, keyword densities (never stuff your pages with the same keyword) and other aspects of search engine friendly web design and copywriting; but most importantly, the main reason to outsource search engine optimization to a professional SEO agency is that if you accidentally utilize the wrong technique, or use a SEO firm that utilizes spam techniques to increase your ranking, your site will be banned from the search engines and you will receive no organic traffic whatsoever.  To learn more about SEO, and the proper ways it’s done, visit our resources tab at the top of the page, which has dozens of useful tools and articles on improving your site’s ranking.

Why should I invest in internet advertising for my company?

According to Bill Gates, “the yellow pages will be gone in five years.”  The web has also been considered by some to be in its infancy, which means there’s still some ways to go.  In five years, the web will dominate searches for businesses (it already does within the Gen X-Y demographic), and where will your business be when that development occurs?  If you jump in five years from now, the environment will be extremely competitive and you’ll have to invest tens of thousands of dollars just to make a dent in the search results, whereas if you jump in now, you’ll secure your position for high quality commercial keywords and retain it at a fraction of the cost. 

Investing in internet advertising today gives your business a firm, first-movers advantage within tomorrow’s online market space. 

I would like to learn more about internet advertising, do you offer any help sessions for business owners/employees or even students?

We offer seasonal programs for four to five aspiring employees, business owners and graduate level students that upon completion certify you as a Hot! search engine marketing professional.  For information on these courses, please email info@hotsearchmarketing.com.  These classes instruct you on advanced tactics in search engine marketing and optimization, and prepare you to become certified via Google, Yahoo! & MSN and to run your own online advertising for your business.  Tuition is $5,000.00 for each program and there is a $100.00 application fee for admittance into the program.  This program is based in Chicago.  It’s also highly selective and competitive so applicants are advised to apply as early as possible.

I want to learn more or get started with your services?

Call or email us now to receive a presentation catered to your business at (800) 266-5294 or sales@hotsearchmarketing.com.

What is your service area?

Our reach is global, but our main customer base is within the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.  Here are some of the cities we provide internet advertising services to:

New York City,

Los Angeles,

Chicago,

Houston,

Phoenix,

Philadelphia,

San Antonio,

San Diego,

Dallas,

San Jose,

Detroit,

Jacksonville,

Indianapolis,

San Francisco,

Columbus,

Austin,

Memphis,

Fort Worth,

Baltimore,

Charlotte,

El Paso,

Milwaukee,

Boston,

Seattle,

Washington DC,

Denver,

Louisville,

Las Vegas,

Nashville,

Oklahoma City,

Portland,

Tucson,

Albuquerque,

Atlanta,

Long Beach,

Fresno,

Sacramento,

Mesa,

Kansas City,

Cleveland,

Virginia Beach,

Omaha,

Miami,

Oakland,

Tulsa,

Honolulu,

Minneapolis,

Colorado Springs,

Arlington,

Wichita,

Raleigh,

St Louis,

Santa Ana,

Anaheim,

Tampa,

Cinncinnati,

Pittsburgh,

Bakersfield,

Aurora,

Toledo,

Riverside,

Stockton,

Corpus Christi,

Newark,

Anchorage,

Buffalo,

St Paul,

Lexington,

Plano,

Fort Wayne,

St. Petersburg,

Glendale,

Jersey City,

Lincoln,

Henderson,

Chandler,

Norfolk,

Greensboro,

Scottsdale,

Baton Rouge,

Birmingham,

Madison,

New Orleans,

Chesapeake,

Orlando,

Garland,

Hialeah,

Laredo,

Belvedere,

Rancho, & Sante Fe