Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing through optimization is one of the keys to maximizing your website's ranking or "visibility" within the search results of major search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. A successful SEM → SEO campaign produces increased numbers of Internet users, visitors, or "traffic" that take the actions desired by the web site owner.

SEO Strategies

SEM → SEO strategies should include both natural, "organic" search engine optimization and "produced" optimization. Organic optimization is designed to promote your website to appear at, or near, the top of the organic search listings through natural means generated from within the site itself. Produced optimization occurs from outside the site and usually includes such things as pay-per-click advertising and paid inclusion. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising places your site within the advertising or “sponsored listings” sections on search results pages. Paid inclusion promotes your web site in search engines and directories that require a fee be paid for inclusion within their indexes of pages and sites. Comprehensive SEM → SEO strategies should also include conversion enhancement strategies, which work to ensure your visitors take the actions you desire, as well as web analytics that allow you to measure, and improve upon, the results of your SEM → SEO campaign.

Black Hat SEO from Both Sides

Much of the current search engine marketing through optimization currently practiced amounts solely to assuring compliance to search engines' guidelines for inclusion and removing any technical roadblocks that may hinder the website from reaching the highest possible ranking. Other, less savory methods of search engine optimization, such as keyword spamming are often viewed as "gaming the system" and considered unethical and "Black Hat SEO."

On the other side, search engines that display advertisements or sponsored results in an area visually separated from the organically or algorithmically determined results is generally considered ethical, but some search engines allow website ranking to be influenced by payments and provide no clear indication to the end-user that this is the case. Because these search engines allow the impression of rankings truly reflecting the relevance of the results, this practice is often seen as deceptive and unethical.

Web site owners and search engines alike, in an effort to promote their standings, and ultimately increase their profits, can easily become ensnared in the trap of unethical search engine marketing. Once this happens, the race is on. What probably began as an honest endeavor for genuine success becomes a death match. In the end there are no winners, web sites fall and search engines fail.

You can make money without doing evil

Google was smart enough to analyze this phenomenon, identify its roots, and prevent its growth within their organization by establishing an ethical code of operation in their "Ten things Google has found to be true," with number six being: "You can make money without doing evil."

Successful Search Engine Marketing Through Optimization
SEM → SEO

Search engine marketing (SEM) through optimization can deliver huge numbers of qualified visitors to your website. But a comprehensive SEM → SEO campaign should also aim to persuade your visitors to take specific, desired actions. In addition, it is important that your SEM → SEO campaign completes the process by providing analytics and metrics to enable ongoing improvements and allow for the highest possible online marketing ROI (Return On Investment).

To achieve your desired goals, the following search engine marketing tools and methods are essential:

These tools and methods not only assist in delivering qualified traffic to your website, but also serve to increase the rate at which your traffic converts into customers and aid in achieving your search engine marketing goals.

After all, what good is information if nobody gets it?