SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING

Success in search engines today depends nearly entirely on keyword density in your visible text, i.e., your content, links to and from relevant sites that are themselves well-linked, i.e. links popularity, paid inclusion in key directories, search-based paid placement also known as pay-per-click advertising, search engine press releases and comprehensive tracking to maintain search engine visibility and increase traffic and conversion from your target audience.

What is Search Engine Marketing?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) n. - The process of modifying attributes of a web site to improve its position on one or more search engines, gaining visibility in front of the target audience.

What does that mean?

Simply put, SEM allows your target customer to find your site using search terms, or keywords, that are most relevant to your product or service. There are two key factors in SEM: the size of your target market and the ability to be found "relevant".

Relevancy & Link Popularity

Each of the major search engines has a different method, or algorithm, for ranking sites in its database by the Internet searcher’s keywords. To keep users coming back, search engines want searchers to be able to find quality information and therefore rank web sites by relevancy. In this sense, your web site must have content relevant to what is searched for, and be considered popular by the quality of links into your site. Establishing quality links not only improves your rankings, but drives targeted traffic from similar, though non-competing sites.

A well-executed link campaign is essential to boost your site in the Search Engine Results Pages. Link popularity is a ranking criteria used by the search engines. The basic idea behind link popularity is that high quality web sites tend to have more links pointing to them then low quality sites do. "Popular" sites (those with higher link popularity) are given a boost in search engine rankings. Link popularity is not just determined by the number of links alone. More important factors are the quality of links, the context of links, and the anchor text in the link.

• Quality means that a link from the Open Directory Project (DMOZ) would weigh heavier than a link from Sue & Bob's Wedding Home Page.
• Context means that a link to a site selling Maine lobsters from the Maine Lobster Festival would carry more weight than a link from Gene Elner’s Fish Shack site. Anchor text refers to the actual words that are the links.
• Anchor text containing keywords (like your business name) will carry more weight than one that says “click here.” Some links are worth buying or otherwise negotiating for, especially as a sponsor or for front-page placement.

Why SEM?

FACT: With a reported 4 billion Web pages on the World Wide Web, your site can easily be lost in the clutter.
FACT: 80-90% of Internet users rely on search engines to find web sites.
FACT: Only 7-10% of Internet users look past the first three pages of search results.

Whether your business sells a product online or your site is a brochure for your established business services, can you afford to have potential customers not find your site? Particularly as more of the world has access to the Internet? Recent reports from Nielson’s Net Rating service indicate nearly 300 million people are online across the world, with 150 million in North American homes. And that’s not even counting access through businesses.