Frequently Asked Questions
Does my business really need to advertise on the web?
Local search is the fastest growing media in history. Your customers are using the web in record numbers to identify and research local businesses. Local search will surpass the Yellow Pages as a source of business lookups in 2007. It's hard to think of a business that can afford to pass on such a big – and still growing – audience.
Can't I do my online advertising myself?
If you're like most businesses, you work with outside experts to design and distribute your advertising. Online advertising is no different and in fact, is more difficult to master than most media. It takes a lot more than a website and a few key words on Google to succeed. Though big and important, Google only accounts for about 1/3rd of local searches. Weblisitc spans at least 20 different search environments. We start by working with you to customize our huge library of key words to your business. We then support these key words with the right ad copy and geo-targeting to generate the highest quality leads. We measure and track every click, call and email we send your way.
Why isn't my ad always at the top of the search results?
A consistent presence at the top of search results can burn through a king-sized budget in a big hurry. Our goal is to supply you with a predictable flow of high quality leads based on a regular, affordable monthly budget. If you want to open the floodgate on leads we can easily increase your budget at times when you want more leads. The bigger your budget is, the better your chances are of being at the top of the heap. But ultimately leads are more important than position. There is now so much traffic in local search that click activity extends well down the page and carefully crafted ad copy highlight your specialties goes a long way in drawing clicks to your listing.
What is a "tracking phone number" and do I have to use it?
This is a unique phone number that Weblistic assigns to your business. When we market your business we use the tracking phone number "pasted" into an exact duplicate of your website (what we call a proxy web site) to track the number of calls we generate for your business. This tracking phone number doesn’t appear on your regular website and it doesn’t interfere with any other online marketing you might choose to do. You may also choose not to use the call tracking phone number, however if you do so, there will be no way to track the number of calls you've received from your campaign.
Sometimes my ad appears with other advertisers in my category?
Search engines often favor what are called aggregated results. This means they are designed to return results with more than one advertiser listed. To take advantage of this bias toward aggregated results, Weblistic sometimes groups advertisers into a local directory called LocalBusinessReview.com. This lets us secure top positions at better rates and that means all of our advertisers receive more high quality leads for less money. We certainly understand that no advertiser likes to appear side by side with his competitors. But we also know how the search world works. And we work with all of our advertisers to develop ad copy that helps consumers determine which specific advertiser listed best meets their needs. To be extra clear, we never, ever share a lead that’s intended for your businesses with another advertiser. But we do, on occasion return multiple listings (in the form of a directory) for certain expensive, high volume key words. We do this knowing that it helps all of our advertisers achieve better results.
Not all of my leads are good ones!
Try as we might no advertising medium is going to deliver only leads that convert to customers. We do everything we can to qualify your leads with the right keywords, the right ad copy and the right geographic targeting. We constantly measure and fine-tune the parameters of your campaign. Yet, advertising is, and will forever be, both an art and a science. The people responding to your ads are just that: people. As a service provider you know well that predicting human behavior is always a dicey proposition. It also the case that good sales practices on your end – answering and returning calls in a timely, courteous and informative manner – can turn seemingly lukewarm leads into sales. We do record all the calls placed through our tracking numbers and we encourage you to review them not only to help us identify issues that can produce higher quality leads, but also to hone your own skills at processing in the leads in way that gives you the best shot at closing new business.
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