Keywords are the general term for the words and phrases that Web users type into the search window of a search engine such as Google or Yahoo. These are important because if your site does not take keywords into consideration as part of the design your site will be much less likely to be found via a search engine.

Based on the keyword phrases relevant to your business that Web users type into search engines regularly, you can attempt to optimize your website to list higher in the results under specific keyword searches.

Our “Essentials” site optimization and submission package ensures that your site uses keywords effectively and attempts to list your site in the main engines. This is the first step towards increasing visibility on the Web via search engines.

First, we work with you to create a master set of up to 200 keyword phrases relevant to your business and objectives. From these we create two sets of primary keyword targets of up to 25 keywords within the guidelines of the major search engines.

The keyword sets and titles are then integrated into the hidden “Headers” of each HTML page in the site. We prepare the keywords and titles in such a way as to meet the general requirements for each search engine’s algorithm.

We then create a submission profile based on your keywords, descriptions and titles and identify the most appropriate sections for submitting your site to the major search engines, as well 100’s of smaller search engines and directories.

The site is submitted once through free search submission channels and none of the submissions are paid, guaranteed listings. With this limitation in mind we provide detailed submission reports to review the outcomes of your submissions.

This Essentials strategy cannot guarantee first page listing under all the keyword phrases targeted, but does ensure:

• Your website is optimized to attract target leads in your market
• Your website is “search engine friendly”, following ethical search optimization practices
• Your site is not listed or submitted so that it gets marked as search engine spam
• You are submitted to the major engines and directories
• You are indexed under the correct section or heading in the major search portals
• You have the opportunity to get listed widely across major search portals and networks

The Essentials strategy is also important as many people now use an engine’s search window as though it were the Address Bar at the top a browser. If they are referred to your website address and use a search window to type the address, you must be listed to show up in the results.

Please Note:
When using these free submission channels there is no guarantee that your site will be subsequently listed. We can only follow their respective guidelines accurately and indicate to you the expected waiting times before listing, where known.

To get guaranteed inclusion in the primary and secondary search portals you will need to create a set of paid inclusion options that cover the widest number of primary and secondary search resources to accompany your website promotion campaign.

Paid inclusion services ensure guaranteed listings in the databases of most of the primary and secondary search engines.

You are listed in the main Web search results and there are no guarantees of a first page listing . For first page listings we recommend an accompanying pay-per-click (PPC) campaign where your listing positions can be accurately recorded and monitored.

The type and price of these listing services varies around the US$30-US$50 region for the first URL submitted. Subsequent URLs are usually charged at a lower rate. We can work with you to create an appropriate set of submissions, prioritized within your budget using our Priority Submit channel. Click on the “Search Engines” link at the top of the page to view a list of guaranteed paid submission options. Note that not all search engines and directories offer paid submission options, for example Google where the only option is the pay-per-click AdWords service.

If you wish to assign a budget to any of these paid submissions you can keep the cost to a minimum by simply submitting your home page and no others. If you wish to submit a large number of individual pages from your site, please ask us to assist in setting them up so that your pages are search engine ready.

Note that the Yahoo Site Match service is new on the scene and consists of a paid inclusion and pay-per-click cost. This covers an extensive network of large search engines and is supported by the extensive effort that Yahoo are making to topple Google from the most used search engine top position.

In addition, most of the paid listings sites offer a secure login area to manage your submissions, including statistics on click through rates.

» please contact us for an accurate quote

Pay-per-click (PPC) Campaigns

PPC Terms Reference

These are the most common terms used when using pay-per-click (PPC) services:
PPC Pay-per-click = general name for this type of service
CPC Cost-per-click = amount paid each time an ad is clicked on
CTR Click through rate calculated from impressions and clicks
Impressions Number of times an ad is displayed in search results

Using PPC Campaigns

Pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaigns are now the easiest and most cost effective way to get first page listings on major sites like Google and Yahoo.

You will have to compete with others in the same industry to get the best top 3 positions, but overall costs are still very competitive compared to offline advertising such as trade magazines. This is particularly so now that Overture and Google AdWords also offer channels for syndication of the ads in hundreds of related content websites and portals.

For a demo of the Google AdWords pay-per-click advertising features, click on the “Quick Tour” link at the following URL. This will give you an overview of how a PPC service works:
http://www.google.com/adwords

You do not pay for your ads to be shown alongside search results. You only pay when someone clicks on the ad and they are forwarded to your website. The costs can range from as low as US$0.10 per click to several dollars per click, depending on the number of other advertisers competing for the top spots and the number of people using each search term.

PPC Campaign Costs

The costs of setting up a PPC campaign are very dependent on the scale of your promotional efforts. The more keyword phrases, campaigns, individual AdGroups and ads you have, the more there is to manage and monitor.

For the most frequently used phrases the costs are in the US$1.00 to US$8.00 per click range, at the high end of PPC prices in the market generally. For other terms there are still many opportunities in the US$0.10 to US$1.00 per click range.

It is recommended to start with as many keywords and phrases as possible, but only at the minimum click through cost of 10 cents per click. Then, during the first few weeks of the campaign refine the bids on each keyword to improve your position within your budget.

Starter Package

AdWords Account Setup
AdWords Account Configuration (100 keyword phrases x3 variations = 300 phrases)
AdWords Campaign and AdGroup creation and ad authoring
Campaign Refinement and Management (Month 1)
= HK$10,000
[US$1,300]
Plus Google ad click costs – ongoing:
Suggested click through budget US$10-25/day. Costs could be kept lower if you do not wish to target top 1-3 positions when ads are displayed.

If you want to run a larger campaign, AdWords professional service fees are detailed in Appendix C.

Third Party Fees

Note that you are responsible for the payment of third party fees to the PPC service to cover your click through costs. These costs are not included in the professional service fees shown here.

If you require us to make any third party payments via our credit card on your behalf, there will be a transaction processing fee of HK$150 per credit card payment transaction made and an admin fee of 5% of the amount paid.

PPC Account Maintenance

PPC Campaign maintenance is available beyond month 1. Based on the size of your overall website promotion project and PPC campaign we can offer ongoing campaign maintenance options to meet your specific needs.