According to a recent article in TechCrunch - Bing Searchers are more likely to click on pay-per-click ads than searchers who are using Google or Yahoo. The study shows that people using the Bing search engine are actually almost twice as likely to click on a paid ad than are users of Google search.

Note: Not Paid Search Ads on Search Engine Results Pages

The study didn't evaluate paid search ads that appeared on search engine results pages. The study evaluated visitor behavior after they clicked on an organic search listing on a search engine results page and were delivered to a website. The study then measured whether or not they would click on an ad once they arrived on a third party website.

So in a nutshell, the study measured whether a user of Bing/Google/Yahoo was likely to click on content network ads once they were delivered to a site away from the search engine itself.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

While this study didn't specifically measure paid search ads on search engine results pages, it is reasonable to expect there to be some correlation between clicking on a paid search ad on a third party site and clicking on an ad on a search engine results page. If true, it appears that Bing users are a bit more likely to click when it comes to paid search ads. You can probably expect to get better clickthrough rates for many campaigns with Microsoft AdCenter (using Bing as its search engine) than you would using Google AdWords (using Google as its search engine).

While the volume for Bing searches locally here in Denver is likely to be much smaller than Google searches, I would strongly recommend that Denver small business owners investigate AdCenter. You're probably going to get a lower cost per click on Bing than you are on Google. You're also likely to get a higher clickthrough rate with Microsoft AdCenter for the same keyword phrases that you're using in Google AdWords (all else being equal).

That said, Denver small businesses participating in local search advertising with the major search engines likely aren't dealing with huge volumes of clicks or site visitors. For that reason, I advise that you start with Google AdWords. AdWords will give you the most clicks and therefore solid data that you can use to optimize your advertising campaigns. As I advise most of my Denver clients - learn what you can from Google AdWords - then port the advertising campaigns to other ad platforms like Microsoft AdCenter.

According to a recent article by Greg Sterling of Search Engine Land, It was announced last week that Google will no longer be running Local Listing Ads. Google Local Listing Ads first appeared this fall and ran in beta until this past week. Google will likely re-release Local Listing Ads next year - at which time Denver Small Businesses will need to take note. This could represent an excellent opportunity to promote your Denver Small Business.

As mentioned by Google on their Local Listing Ads page, over 80% of people look to Google for local information. The video on this Local Listing Ad page gives an overview of how Local Listing Ads work. Here are the highlights:

• Advertisers pay a flat monthly rate
• An ad will appear on Google and Google maps for local searches
• Detailed reporting features are provided
• Free Trial (can cancel at any time)
• Represents another way to get another link on a Google search engine results page

Obviously, the details will change somewhat before Local Listing Ads are re-released next year, but this should serve as a good primer.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

If you're attempting to market your small business to Denver metro clients, it is important that your business is registered with the Google Local Business Center. This will give you a presence on Google Maps and in Google local search results for some Denver searches related to your business. This will also offer you the opportunity to advertise using Google Local Listing Ads. I'll be investigating Local Listing Ads firsthand when the service becomes available. As with any advertising tool, you'll want to make sure that you're getting a solid return on your investment before making Local Listing Ads a key part of your online advertising arsenal.

The Colorado economy is sending out a lot of mixed signals right now. Last week, I highlighted how Denver restaurant visits are down, and how Denver restaurant owners could effectively market their businesses online. I also discussed how luxury home sales within the Denver metro are also down from last year - serving as another indicator that the Denver economy has a quite a way to go before a full economic recovery can be declared. I dug up a few more articles from last week that seem to point towards a continued mixed bag for the Denver metro economy.

Denver Economy: Negative News

A recent Denver Business Journal article mentions that the Goss Institute for Economic Research director - Ernie Goss - believes that positive business growth is in store for Colorado - although job growth will remain slow.

Another indicator that the Denver metro economy is still hurting - Denver lost 48,600 jobs over the last year. This article is also from the Denver Business Journal, and represents nearly 4% of the total jobs. With less paychecks to go around, the economy as a whole suffers.

Denver Economy: Positive News

The good news is that there seems to be some improvement on a national level. The Denver Post, reporting Federal figures, tells that on a National scale, the unemployment rate dropped from 10.2% to 10%. This is the first time the unemployment rate has actually gone down since July. Although .2% is obviously only a slight decline, it is an improvement and one that wasn't expected. It could be an indicator that the economy as a whole is improving and Denver may eventually start to bounce back as well.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

Whether these stories make you bullish on the Denver economy - or if you think that Denver is in for even more rough times - as a small business owner, you need to take action to be even more competitive. Recession is the time when doing business as usual goes out the window. Small businesses are finding that marketing techniques that worked effectively in the past are no longer providing results.

Denver small businesses that wish to survive - or even prosper - in a down economy need to investigate online marketing. It is by far the most cost effective use of your marketing dollars.

In a follow-up to an earlier blog post that I did last week about a very big black Friday online, "Cyber Monday" last week was also a huge day for online retailers. According to an article in the Denver Business Journal, Cyber Monday Sales increased over 13% from 2008. These strong online sales are in sharp contrast to the in-store sales which were mediocre at best according to the Wall Street Journal.

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

More and more consumers are getting comfortable with not only looking for goods and services online, but also on making those purchase decisions online. If you own a Denver small business you need to be aware of this continuing trend and make sure that you have a strong onlie presence that caters to metro Denver consumers. In addition to having a website with great content that appeals to your Denver customers, you also need to have an online marketing campaign that specifically targets your Denver metro clients.

This past week, Google Analytics announced the launching of aynchronous tracking. This is a pretty important development, because this has the potential to help pages load just a tiny bit faster for those of us who use Google Analytics. Matt Cutts of Google recently announced that page load time was going to be an even more important factor in ranking websites for search engine results pages - so it is fitting that Google Analytics would get out of the way and let pages load a bit faster.

What is Website Analytics Software?

Analytics software allows a Denver business owner to track website visitor data to their website so that they may modify their website to better serve their customers. Analytics software packages allow for the tracking of items like (to name just a few):

• Total Visitors
• Traffic by Page
• Average Time on Website
• Website Which Referred Visitors to Your Site

Analytics software packages actually go much deeper than what is shown above, and can even show site owners where website visitors might be exiting from your website during the purchase process.

How Analytics Software Collects Data

Some analytics packages - like Google analytics - use javascript code that a Denver small business owner would paste right into their website code. This javascript records user interaction with the website and sends it over to the Google Analytics servers - which are external to your website.

The fact that Google is using asynchronous means to communicate with the Google Analytics servers means that your website won't have to wait for that communication to occur. As a result, your website will load more quickly.

If you're engaging in any sort of online marketing, odds are that you have numerous tracking codes from various vendors (including Microsoft and Yahoo) pasted right into your website code. It has the potential to really bog down site load times - especially if the external servers are experiencing problems. The fact that Google's tracking now takes place asynchronously is a big help.

Note: You can also get analytics software that runs right on your server. No javascript would be required, and this page load time would be impacted even less.

Where Can I Get Analytics Software?

There are many free analytics software packages that you can implement. Most Denver small business owners would be fine using Google Analytics. It should be more than adequate to meet your needs. It is also what I - as a Denver small business owner - use. Note that I haven't used any of the other analytics packages presented here.

• Google Analytics
• AdCenter Analytics (beta)
• Piwik

How Does this Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

I'll dive even more into the importance of using analytics in future blog posts. If you are a Denver business owner participating in online marketing, you absolutely MUST use analytics. Analytics provides great raw feedback on your website performance, and what changes you can make to improve your website.