Local Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing or SEM, generally makes up large portion of the overall marketing services and strategies for promotion of a service or product through search engines. The expression Internet Marketing is most likely a better overall description, since other non-search engine methods, such as affiliate marketing and email marketing campaigns, are often incorporated into the overall marketing mix.
Acquiring Targeted Traffic is step one to conversion
What result would you like to see from your website traffic? Most likely you want to convert visitors into sales. Figuring out the most efficient way to reach your target audience is the first and often most difficult step in the process. Search engine marketing provides multiple ways to get the targeted traffic you’re looking for, especially if you require immediate results or in a extremely competitive market.
Search Engine Optimization – SEO
Search engine optimization is the process of selecting the best keywords for your product or service, followed up by optimizing your websites content and structure so the page becomes search engine friendly. This will advance the sites rankings in the organic or natural Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), as opposed to paid listings. See Search Engine Optimization for more information.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
Pay Per Click marketing consists of paying a bid price for each “Click Through” to your site from an ad displayed on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) or affiliated sites. These ads are usually displayed on the top or right side of the SERPs. Google AdWords and Yahoo’s Sponsored Search programs are the leading source of these paid ads. There are several other Pay Per Click platforms that have the ability to provide inexpensive traffic for certain markets.
Generally the more expensive the bid, the higher your ad is placed on the search engine results, but this is only a piece of the overall picture. With Google AdWords the “Click Through Rate” (CTR) is a leading factor of the ranking formula. Choosing the right keyword phrases and optimizing the ad title & description text are imperitive to the success of any PPC campaign. Managing your ad placement and monitoring your bid price is vital to your overall Pay Per Click budget. These services are part of your campaign management program.
Contact us today to discuss your SEM – PPC program.
Pay For Inclusion (PFI)
A few directories and search engines have a Pay for Inclusion (PFI) model. With this model you pay to be included in the directories or engines results, but does not guarantee a certain position in the rankings. Your page needs to be optimized for the best results in the search engines (this does not apply to directory listings, as they most often are listed in alphabetical order within a category).
Yahoo! Directory is one of the most popular Pay For Inclusion platforms. There are a few other PFI’s that can meet specific needs. Yahoo! Directory charges an annual review fee for all commercial listings. This does not guarantee inclusion in the Yahoo! Directory, only the promised review of your submission and site. We know the correct way to get your site listed in the directory.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
The Cost Per Acquisition model, also known as Pay for Performance, is another option to Pay Per Click for delivering sales to your website. With CPA, you only pay for the conversion or once a sale takes place. This marketing platform is used in only a few markets.
Email marketing and advertising
Opt-In or Permission Based Email marketing can be an extremely effective method of procuring and maintaining customers. Utilizing direct email and/or email newsletters can generate new customers and convert existing ones for repeat sales.
Other internet marketing programs
There are various other forms of internet marketing which may fit into your overall marketing mix.
Content advertising is a form of marketing through article distribution and press release’s. Articles on a certain topic are distributed across the Internet and sometimes published in print. Each article can be customized to ask a question or describe a problem and then offer a solution. Any time your business does something news worthy, a press release should be distributed through press release internet channels.
Banner advertising was one of the first revenue models early on in Internet advertising. This form of ad marketing started out utilizing a Cost Per Thousand (CPM) impression model, where the advertiser is paid by the publisher a predetermined fee for having their banner posted on a publisher’s site. Even though this type of advertising is still currently used, it has almost universally evolved into a Pay Per Click model.
Contextual advertising is when your site displays ads in relation to your content and you receive a portion of the ad revenue as a result. The most popular platform that uses this work-flow is Google’s AdSense. These ads are the opposite of Google’s AdWords program (described earlier in PPC). When you’re the “advertiser” you pay for AdWords ads and when you’re the “publisher” your site displays AdSense Ads and you receive a small portion of the ad revenue.
Affiliate Marketing can be utilized in more than one way. It can attract traffic to your website through an Affiliate Network or it can be utilized to generate revenue on your website by referring traffic to products for sale on a different website.
Performance Analytics
Analytics are one of the most vital components of a successful Search Engine or Internet Marketing plan. Simply put, analytics monitor the performance of your site and other advertising endeavors. Many things can be learned by tracking your visitor’s path through your website. When using organic listing methods, paid ads or listings can be tracked by the rate of conversion. Analytics also have the ability to track multiple ad campaigns, landing pages and other factors effecting the visitor. This is a vital step in determining your Return on Investment (ROI), the most important metric of all.
