Quoting the article:

Though investors seemed disappointed by Google’s third-quarter numbers, its core AdWords business is going like gangbusters, according to a new study  by WordStream. The software company found Google earning $100 million a day through AdWords in Q3, serving 5.5 billion impressions per day on search pages and 25.6 billion impressions per day on the Google Display Network.

The article is a pretty interesting look into the world of online advertising. Here are a couple of key numbers: The average click-through rate (CTR) is 3.5% for search and 0.18% for display. Average cost per click (CPC) is $0.53 for search and $0.35 for the display network. And finally the conversion rate is 5.63% for search and 4.78% for display ads.

What does this mean? A conversion on the search engine costs you on average 20 times the cost per click. This comes to $9.41 for the search network and $7.31 for the display network. Please bear in mind these are grand averages, the actual costs can vary widely by industry, market, profession or location and yes, even the time of day.  The CPC for a limited area can be 10 times as high as a US wide search.

The only way to find out the exact cost is to use the tools available with a Google AdWords account. Google currently hands out coupon codes for $100 worth of free advertising, if you spend $25 of your own. Please use our contact form and we will send you a code, no strings attached.

• (CTR) click-through rate = percentage of visitor who see the ad and actually click to see what’s behind it.
• (CPC) cost per click = amount of money paid if somebody clicks the ad. Just displaying the ad is free. Advertisers bid for their ads to be placed.
• Conversion rate = percentage of visitors to your website who perform certain key actions typically within a month after they clicked an ad. Those key actions can be things like signing up to a mailing list, actually ordering something from your online store or just leaving a message through a contact form.

• About the nature of the business.
• What we do for our customers.
• Who we are, you are dealing with people after all.
• A gallery of offerings, with pictures across multiple pages, easily managed after the site goes life.
• A Pricelist and a Contact page
• A blog, to keep the customers engaged and report about what’s happening at this business

Here is a screenshot:

For a small local business the most important factor for a website is getting found. According to a recent survey among SEO experts, the most important factor is Google Places. Get your business properly listed there and you have already won half the battle:

• Proper address and categorization in Google Places
• Authority of your website, which is hitting the right keywords in search and if other sites link to you.
• Be listed in business directories.
• Proper address on the webpage
• Quantity, Quality and Authority of citations and reviews

Once these aspects are clear, the goal of a well placed search engine listing is easily conquered with due diligence. Most of it depends on you, our customers, since you are the one that knows your business best.

Route 66 by Caveman Chuck Coker

Urban Geometry by Mugley

Rivets by Diesel Demon

The Lobster Claw Menu by Lee Coursey

Within a few days of moving things around and discussing features of the blog, we came up with this layout. It is using WordPress together with the Trim theme by Elegant Themes. We did some tweaks to modify the color scheme and add a few buttons. We’ve also added a Twitter integration to get the word out when new articles appear.  We picked Westhost as hosting provider, but had to use a different domain registrar since the domain was in existance before we started the project. Some tutoring in the general use of WordPress and some search engine optimization (SEO) advice is part of the package.

Edit: 8/14

Some time has gone by and the blog took off very well, due to Nolan’s writing prowess and the fact that he is well known among his peers. Within 2 weeks the number of followers on twitter went from 20 to now 550. Those twitter followers drop by regularly to read their daily essay. We had to make some changes, like going from black background to white background, since many readers complained about it. It seems to be a common enough problem to consider it when deciding on a color scheme for a blog or a web page. Here’s another screenshot.

From the details page:

Dealmaker suggests payouts offered to the remaining players in a poker tournament by using 3 different methods: ICM or Independent Chip Model, Landrum/Burns or the proportional method. Tip amounts and tournament equity can be displayed as well. The output columns are configurable, payout structures can be saved and restored.

You can find the full documentation here

The application is free.