Myth: Online Communities offer the same benefits as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads
Mythbuster facts: If you currently purchase, or are planning to invest in, a search term from a search engine, you might want to think again. Online Communities offer a more credible, cost-effective and comprehensive targeted marketing product that will give you stronger results and consistently high, organic rankings on online search engines like Google and Bing.
What’s an Online Community?
Chances are you already participate in a social Online Community: Fan of a certain TV Show Page on Facebook? Member of a professional social meet-up group through LinkedIn? Then you already know some of the benefits of having a go-to-resource for a certain topic you’re interested in.
Companies are starting to see the benefits of applying this Online Community concept for their own products or industries, and as such an Online Community becomes a news-generated, information-rich portal that positions a company as the leading “go-to” resource for a particular industry group. And, what we’re finding is that most companies are learning that they can use this Online Community concept to drive SEO, generate leads, enhance their social networking initiatives, promote their brand and much, much more.
Pay-Per-Click Ads alone just don’t cut it anymore.
It used to be thought that a PPC Ad on a popular website meant that people who searched for topics related to your Ad word (or “keyword”) would be exposed to your company and click on the ad to get connected with you. If you participate in this program, you’ve probably learned that this simply isn’t the case. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal companies are finding that in addition to being costly and competitive (oftentimes your keyword will be “sold” to the highest bidder), click ads experience a 15-30% fraud rate, and non-targeted placement in web searches are causing them to lose thousands of dollars- up to 10% of their budget – without providing qualified leads. Every click counts as a charge against you and they can be made by disgruntled and past employees as well as competitors who knowingly drive up your marketing costs. Even worse, studies show only 15-25% of people actually click on search ads meaning advertisers are missing out on 85% of the market.
So, how is an Online Community better?
A highly-ranked Online Community will get you seen when someone searches for a topic related to your keyword, but instead of being on the side of the search results with diminished value, you’ll be in them. This is what is known as organic search results, meaning the powerful content on your Community is positioning you as the expert in your industry and pushing your branding to the top of search engine and news search rankings.
We’ve found that most people who have an Online Community with TMCnet rank in the top 10 of search engine rankings organically- around 80% of the time. Plus, they are offered for a predictable fixed fee with full transparency), and once you purchase the keyword, it’s yours to keep. And let’s face it, Online Communities look more appealing, attractive and credible than search click ads; they are surrounded by your branding, populated with relevant content from expert editors and designers, and can be found at the same location on TMCnet at any time, every day. That’s more than you can say for a click ad, which may or may not show up in your results depending on location or time of day.
There’s simply no comparison between a click ad and Online Community. Click ads are a thing of the past, and an Online Community gives you a way to integrate all your marketing initiatives, including SEO and social networking, into one place.
Contact us now to get started building your own Online Community on TMCnet and choose your exclusive keyword before a competing company does!
Anna Ritchie
Product Manager, Online Communities
