Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search engine marketing (SEM), is a form of Internet Marketing service which works to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) with the use of paid submissions, contextual advertising, or paid inclusion.

For a successful SEM campaign many different tools and strategies have to be used. Two most important requirements of SEM are Solid keyword research & identification of potential customer.

At its core, Search Engine Marketing leverages user purpose by optimizing an organic or paid search listing as per that user’s goal. Unlike blind placements on billboards, mass mailings etc, Search Engine Marketing serves up specific advertising via ad creative or search listing as per user requirements.

The premise of Search Engine Marketing whether organic or paid will provide the most relevant result for the query entered, in the form of a title, description, and URL.

Largest SEM Vendors

  • Google AdWords,
  • Yahoo! Search Marketing
  • Microsoft adCenter

Why Search Engine Marketing?
Search Engine Marketing is the the first true worldwide platform to conduct business either through an advertising or marketing channel. Business continues to grow nationally and internationally with SEM. Industry statistics show that more and more advertisers and consumers are searching to buy and sell their products & services via SEM.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization abbreviated as SEO, is one of the most effective things one can do online. It is an active process of optimizing a web site by improving internal and external aspects in order to gain valuable traffic to the site from search engines via "natural" search results.

Why SEO is required?
If your website cannot be found by major search engines you miss out the opportunities available to the website provided via search results – as people search for specific terms, phrases, content, services, products, or information which you may be dealing in.

These search queries can be of extraordinary value to you. Investing in SEO, either through time or finances can result in an exceptional return on investment.

SEO is all about common sense and simplicity. The purpose of search engine optimization is to make a website as search engine friendly as possible.

It is important to understand how search engines work?
Search engines collect data about websites by sending an electronic spider to visit the site which stores the content of the website in search engine’s database. These spiders are known as ‘bots’. Starting in the top left hand corner, spider reads site content line by line from left to right.

Also, search engine optimization relies heavily on the proper use of keywords and keyphrases that describe the website's content.

SEO is an extremely powerful online marketing technique – use SEO wisely!