Google's algorithm update, Penguin 4.0, is all grown up and ready to impact search results. As a small business owner, you need to understand how this will impact your small business SEO strategy.

If you're alive in the 21st century, you've seen the impact social media can have on businesses. Dollar Shave Club made their name on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Trying to stay on top internet marketing trends can seem like a daunting task. No need to worry, though. We're your eyes in the sky. 

We'll keep an eye out and provide biweekly updates on what's new in the world of marketing! So, without further ado...

If you're doing pay-per-click advertising, you've probably visited the Google AdWords dashboard. It's pretty overwhelming, isn't it? There are so many categories and functions and tabs. Sitting down and slogging through the whole thing at once can take hours, and you just don't have that time to spend.

To help you optimize your PPC campaigns AND make good use of your time, we've put together these six quick and easy tips. Each of them won't take more than 15 minutes to complete. That means you can do a little now, do a little later, and start seeing results from your paid advertising.

Download this FREE PPC Checklist to assess your campaigns!

Was your business born and raised on the East Coast? Or, did you transplant herewhen you realized how much nicer it is? (Just kidding. But not really.)

Whether you're a northeastern native or you just want some darn PPC statistics, we've got some uplifting stories and data just for you. These stats and successes show how beneficial a smart PPC strategy can be for any small business. If you've never worked with PPC or Google AdWords before, you may benefit from hiring a pay per click advertising agency for best results.

Let's start with some success stories, and then we'll share some awesome PPC statistics.

Whether you do it yourself or hire out, you should be doing PPC advertising to assist in driving traffic, leads, and sales to your website. 

The powerhouse of search. In most countries, Google runs a solid monopoly on the search market. As always, that kind of massive influence brings great responsibility.

SEO (search engine optimization) optimizes your website to rank well in the major search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo! SEO is imperative to online success because of the following statistics (courtesy of Search Engine Journal):

• 70-80% of users ignore the paid ads, focusing on the organic results.
• 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results.
• SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate.

SEO is not a one-time endeavor that your business can check off a list and never have to worry about again. Instead, it demands continuous attention to reach its maximum potential and to remain an effective tool for your business. This is where ongoing SEO comes into play.

Ongoing SEO analyzes the results of the services initially provided to make sure they are working. Many firms use tools like Google Analytics, MySEOTool, Moz tools, and more to review their activities and then use them to provide continuous SEO improvement. For example, here at p80, we provide ongoing reporting, recommendations, and modifications to ensure that our client company’s traffic and visibility see continuous improvement.

You may be thinking to yourself, “Hmm… My business already paid for SEO services when we created/upgraded our website. We’re already optimized so we don’t need ongoing SEO services.”

This is where you are wrong. Here is why:

Someone needs to monitor the results of those SEO services your paid for:

Yes, you have been optimized, but how well are those tactics that you have already invested in working? You may have some of your original SEO work performing poorly when you should be spending time on another tactic. Some of your web pages just may not be performing well SEO-wise and need to be modified. Ongoing SEO services can compare strategies and determine which one performs better. Through ongoing SEO you can make the adjustments necessary to ensure that your links stay on the first page of search results.

You competition’s SEO tactics have changed since you implemented your tactics:

If your competition is working on its SEO, you better be too! Your competition could start outranking your business on search result pages, costing your sales. If your competition starts ranking for keywords that you used to rank for then changes need to be made. This is where ongoing SEO comes in to keep you ahead of your competition.

Search Engine algorithms are always changing:

Most savvy Google users know that the company is always trying to improve its services and grow its market share (which is currently at an astonishing 67.3%) These changes include the algorithms for ranking websites. According to Moz, Google changes its search algorithm approximately 500-600 times each year. Most of these changes are insignificant, but some are major changes that affect search results. Accordingly, any successful results of SEO work done in the past can be negatively affected, making ongoing SEO even more important for your business. We stay up to date on all of those changes so you don't have to.

Google recently rolled out Google My Business, a new platform for businesses to reach their customers. According to Google’s blog, “users tell us that finding these loyal customers can be complex and time-consuming.” Consequently, Google’s My Business is supposed to be more simple and streamlined, allowing users to managing their business listings easier.

I agree with Google on most things, but I must admit that I have to disagree (respectfully) with them on one point today related to Google AdWords Quality Score.