EMarketer reports that online advertising revenue set a new record for 2006. According to a report from Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the Internet Advertising Bureau spending for online advertising hit $16.9 billion in 2006. That’s an increase of 35% over 2005. The largest growth occured in search marketing and online display advertising. In fact, online display advertising grew at a higher pace than search advertising.

There are a couple conclusions that I feel can be drawn from this report. First of all, it means that advertisers will face stiffer competition for the online market. Search advertising has grown steadily and as a result pay per click rates have climbed significantly in the last couple of years. Smaller companies looking to capitalize on search advertising will have to allocate larger budgets and find better methods of targetting their message. In addition, advertisers looking to squeeze the maximum ROI from their online budget should seriously look at conversion. This is a good time to make those site updates that enhance the user experience.

The fast growth in display advertising suggests that some of the bigger players are diverting traditional media ad spend to online outlets. EMarketer concludes in their article that this growth suggests brand conscious advertisers are now moving online and I tend to agree. If you’re doing a lot of branding and traditional advertising, now is a good time to begin moving some of that ad spend online. The growth in this space means that we’ll see CPM rates rise as more brand building advertisers compete for online ad space. There are still good deals to be found in online advertising but it takes some good research to find them. Unfortunately, a lot of smaller advertisers are just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. Online media doesn’t differ that greatly from traditional media in terms of matching your message to the demographics of the viewers. Do your homework. Ask about demographics, traffic, traffic trends and patterns. These all matter when targetting your message.

Last of all, I’d say if you’re an online publisher that derives revenue from advertising–this is all good news for you! Online advertising continues to grow and become more competitive which means higher rates for publishers. It also means that advertisers are going to be competing for prime space. Make sure you can make a strong case why your paritcular site is such a prime place. Work on collecting demographics. This will help you sell display advertising and increase your bottom line.

Early reports suggest that 2007 will see even higher growth in online advertising. Are you ready? If you’re an advertiser, know who your trying to reach. Do your homework in targetting your message. And if you do nothing else, make sure your site delivers a positive user experience or your conversion may suffer. If you’re a publisher, know who your audience is and know what your traffic patterns are.

We’ve been throwing around the phrase, “Content is King” for a number of years now. Almost anyone that works with web development, web design or online marketing will tell you that the best solution for good search engine ranking is excellent content. This seems to be even more true in the local search market.

Brian Wool posted an excellent article entitled Local Content is King on the Click Z network. In his article, he gives some great examples of web sites that have top ranking for their industry and the content they provide to accomplish it. His examples include online giants such as Realtor.com, Expedia and Amazon. But the point he makes that is important, is that the local search game can be lost or won by great content as well. He gives examples of some local businesses that can benefit by providing more content.

I’ve always encouraged my clients to think of creative ways to add useful content to their web site. This gives their site visitors the information they want and helps improve their search rankings. No matter what your business is–there is content that your visitors will appreciate and its that content that will earn you high search rankings, inbound links, repeat visits and word of mouth referrals. For example, a plumber might include content on when to use chemical drain openers, what payment methods they accept, and how quickly they can respond in an emergency. A retail shop might add content on creative uses for their products or custom designs that might be available. I guarantee that with some simple brainstorming any business can find usable and relevant content to add to their site.

Need help beefing up your web site content? Sometimes its hard as a business owner to decide what your customers might want to know. Some impartial opinons might help. Ask some friends, “If you were looking for a new whatever, what kind of information would you want to know?” If your friends don’t come up with any good ideas, consider a consultation with an online marketing professional. Not only are they removed from your business, they’re familiar with what web visitors want.

Take a look at your site and as you’re thinking about things to tune up, consider the content you have online. Is it enough? Is it what your customers want to know? Does it differentiate you in local search? Content is still king. Have plenty of right kind of it, and you’ll win at search engine marketing.

For many of us, a New Year is a time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished and to set goals for the next year. This is especially important for small businesses as we prepare for the end of year accounting tasks and taxes. This is a good time to look over our business plan and see what we did right, what we did wrong and to formulate a strategy for the next year.

At Purple Squirrel Group, we’re looking at better ways to provide value to our clients, new packages and products to help small businesses prosper and how to deliver better service. One great package we’ve developed is our new “Worry Free Web Site” which bundles initial design, domain registration, hosting and monthly maintenance into a one affordable monthly payment. We welcome your feedback and suggestions as we review our year and make our plans for the next.

The New Year is a good time to review your web site as well and see if its meeting your company’s needs. Is it out of date? Is your hosting reliable? How’s traffic? Purple Squirrel Group can give you a free analysis of your site and suggest places for improvement, quote a maintenance contract to keep your site up to date or help you target your online marketing to increase your roi. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

Have a happy and prosperous New Year!

We’ve completed the task of moving our offices to downtown Columbus. Our new office is very nice and we have a great view of downtown Columbus For those of you that need to find us, we’re now located at:

5 E Long St Suite 501
Columbus, OH 43215
Our phone numbers have stayed the same:

Toll-free: 866-PSG-4WEB
Local: (614)228-1329
Fax: (614)228-1334

Come see us for all of your web development and online marketing needs.

Purple Squirrel Group is pleased to be a silver sponsor of this year’s Ohio Linux Fest. We’re strong believers in open source software and are happy for this opportunity to support the open source community. We’ll have a table at the Expo on Saturday September 30, 2006 so come by and see us. Read more.

Often I get a RFP or I have a client come to us and say, “I want you to build a site that’s similiar to [insert whatever web site here]”. I’ve found that what this usually means is, “I want you to build an exact copy of site xyz for me”. I’ve met many eager small business people who have seen a particular web site be successful and have decided that they could do the same thing. What they’re often forgetting is that its more than just the site that makes an online venture successful. Every business has its own unique characteristics, skills, strengths and weaknesses. A good businessperson will develop a business model that utilizes these unique traits to the maximum benefit. This is why copying an existing business model rarely works.

This is one area where the difference between a web creative shop and an online business consultancy becomes apparent. At Purple Squirrel Group, we’ve made it our mission to understand our clients’ businesses and build web sites that support their business goals. When a client approaches me about copying an existing site, I spend some time investigating with them what their unique traits are. And then I help them visualize how their web site and even their online business model can utilize and play upon those unique traits. This creates a stronger business model and in the long run a better web site for the client.

If you’re a developer, next time a client asks for a copy of a popular site, try asking them some leading questions about what makes their idea unqiue or different from that site. You may find a real gem that will lead to a better web product. And clients, if you’re considering a business that is based on building a copy of an existing site, ask yourself this, “If people are already using that site, what is special about my site or company that they’d want to come to my site instead?” This will help you fine tune your business model and help your web consultant build you a site that will make money.

Purple Squirrel Group is delighted to welcome Seeker’s Antiques as our newest client. We’ll be hosting the Seeker’s Antiques web site, maintaining the existing site and handling online marketing of the site. Visit Tim and Mark’s site at www.seekersantiques.com for a beautiful collection of antique ceramics.

It’s confirmed. We will be moving to new offices around the middle of September. We share our current offices with SMK Advertising. It was an ideal arrangement six months ago when the three of us were working other full-time jobs and doing Purple Squirrel Group in the evenings. Now that we’re there during the days though our office space is just too small. That’s an exciting stage to be at for a small business–having outgrown your “starter” office. Yes, we’re moving and growing and it’s an exciting time to be a squirrel.

We’re going to be located on the fifth floor of the 5 East Long Street building. It’s on the corner of Long and High in downtown Columbus, Ohio. The space is being renovated so we won’t be moving until mid-September. Watch this space for the announcement of our move and your invitation to a reception in our new offices to celebrate! Over the next few weeks we’ll try to get some photos of the space as its being renovated and post them here. Here’s a pic of the front of the building from the sidewalk of East Long Street.