Search Engine Marketing

This is the process of marketing a web site via search engines

Whether this be improving rank in organic (natural) listings, purchasing paid listings or a combination of these and other search engine-related activities.

The concept behind Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is quite simple: when a consumer or business person searches the Web, they are in “search” mode. This mode is unique because it indicates that the person is looking for information, usually of a direct or indirect commercial nature. Marketers understand that this “search” mode means that the searcher may very well be somewhere in the buying cycle, researching a product or service to try and satisfy an immediate need or future need. That makes search engine results some of the best sources of targeted traffic, whether that traffic originates from "organic" unpaid search listings or paid advertising listings.

Web Site Marketing Services provided by a professional Search Engine Marketing company can deliver huge numbers of qualified prospects to your website. But that's just the first step. A comprehensive SEM campaign should also aim to persuade prospects to take the specific actions you want them to take. Your SEM campaign should close the loop by providing metrics and analytics to drive ongoing improvements that will net you the highest possible online marketing ROI.

Search engine traffic is unique in the following ways:

1. Search engine traffic is a non-intrusive means of Internet marketing. Search is unique in tapping a searcher at the exact moment they are seeking information, products or a service.
2. Search engine traffic results from a deliberate, user-driven search. This means the visitors from a search results link have not only selected your listing from among others, but chose the search query that resulted in your listing being shown.
3. Search engine traffic results from a fixed inventory of searches. To truly qualify as search engine traffic, the search must be one that the searcher initiated as a search, either by clicking a search link in a directory style portal or by filling out a search query box.

Organic (or Natural) listings.

When a user types a keyword or phrase into a search engine, two kinds of results are returned: those that have been paid for by advertisers, and those that are natural. Natural search engine optimisation (also known as organic search engine optimisation) is a specialised technique that involves analysing your website's underlying code, architecture and content (visible to the search engines) and making enhancements so that your website is returned prominently in the natural search results of spider-based search engines (such as Google, MSN etc). Organic listings combines the best practices of technology, research & analysis, usability, copy/linguistics and online PR. This is because many search engines base their relevancy algorithms on a combination of the content they see on a webpage or site, combined with external elements such as links.

Paid listings.

Pay Per Click advertising (PPC) is a search engine marketing technique that requires you to pay a fee every time someone clicks to your website from an ad you've placed in a search engine's results. The more you agree to pay per click (or bid) for a specific keyword and the more effective your ad, the higher your site will rank in the paid search results.

Web Site Marketing Services provided by eBusiness UK, the Search Engine Marketing Company.