Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a web marketing technique primarily aimed at increasing a website’s visibility in search engines. SEM is an umbrella term which refers to its four primary components namely Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid services, Content Marketing, and Social Media Marketing. This article is intended to brief about these components of SEM.

Search Engine Optimization: SEO is very crucial part of SEM, which takes care of optimizing the website content to make more attractive for search engines. SEO helps to improve the website ranking in the natural or organic or unpaid search results and thereby increase the visibility.

It is a continuous process and should be a part of firm’s long term marketing strategy. The benefit with SEO, if done correctly is that it results in a steady flow of business leads for lifetime.

Paid services: The other way to develop a website’s visibility is by placing sponsored or paid searches to be displayed on the top of search engine results. The advantage with paid services comes from its ability to display the website on the front page of search results, instantly. However, it may not be a sound strategy for long term use, as it can cost more on the marketing budget.

Many search engines are experimenting with novel payment techniques to make the paid services affordable and cost effective for small and medium scale businesses. These techniques include Pay-Per-Click or Cost-Per-Click (PPC/CPC) pricing, Cost-Per-Impression (CPI) pricing etc.

Social Media Marketing (SMM): Considering the impact of social media on business communications and lead generation, promoting a website/business on social media websites has gained much importance. SMM deal with creating search engine optimized content in social media, to maximize visibility of the business to the potential customers.

Content Marketing: This is a relatively newer concept, which is used for lead generation by sharing useful content with prospective customers. The ultimate aim of content marketing is to educate the potential customers about the products/services of a firm and consequently convert them to actual customers. The content shared here can be in various forms such as emails, whitepapers, videos, webinars, etc

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an elaborate process which involves several activities or operations, which are aimed at increasing a website’s visibility on the web. Whatever these SEO operations are, they should essentially fall into one of the four fundamental components of SEO, elaborated below:

Onsite optimization:

As the name itself suggests, it is the onsite component of SEO, primarily dealing with all the activities which are visible on the website.  Onsite optimization includes ensuring that all relevant keywords are available in the website content. It also deals with HTML optimization, incorporating image tags and other related activities.

Off page optimization:

This component is all about generating back links to the website from the content originating from external sources. The back links can be created from a variety of third party websites such as articles, blogs, discussion boards, social media, etc. Search engines scan through these back links to determine the popularity or authority of the website. It is to be remembered that, back linking from legitimate and influential websites, lead to a higher ranking of the website.

Technical SEO:

This SEO component is about everything that happens in the back end. It deals with source codes, HTTP status codes, handling redirects, etc.  In simple terms, technical SEO helps the search engine algorithm to read the websites architecture and content more efficiently. This is a critical component, as all the SEO efforts in onsite and off page optimization are wasted, if the search engine is not able to read them.

Local SEO:

Local SEO is of crucial importance for numerous small and medium businesses whose services are confined to a local community. This component of SEO helps the search engine in picking up the website while generating location specific results. These results are generally shown on the maps with the location of the business pinpointed.

All these four components of SEO perform various front end and back end operations to let the search engine pick up the website in the final search results.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves all the operations aimed at increasing a website’s visibility in the organic searches or unpaid searches of a search engine.  It includes content editing, HTML coding of content for attaining higher search engine relevance, back linking the website to other sites to promote it, etc.

SEO managers should always practice healthy SEO activities and avoid risky tactics while optimizing a website.  Below are few important Do’s and Don’ts that should be observed in any SEO effort

Do’s

Original content and guest posting: Publishing high quality, original content is always a better strategy. Also posting guest articles in any highly monitored, top quality blogs is a beneficial practice, for achieving higher page ranks.

Integrate websites to HTML5: It is recommended to upgrade websites to HTML5 to take advantage of the many new tags available in it. HTML5 was build for improved communication with computers and browsers.

Optimize website for mobile:  In this age of portable technology, having a mobile website is not enough. The focus should be on designing a more integrated and responsive websites for all mobile devices.

Social media visibility: Higher presence in social media space (Facebook, Twitter, etc) can boost the organic search traffic for any website.

Don’ts

More article submissions: Keeping distance from article submission websites is better, as the present search engines with updated search algorithms easily evaluate and filter out this type of content.

Low quality guest posting: This is almost equal to article submissions. Modern search engines are particularly focused on removing such bad quality posts while generating search results.

Rapidly building links: SEO requires a sustained, patient approach. Top search engines like Google, Bing give more value to patient brands, than websites which evolve using rapid back linking.

Buying back links: The practice of buying links can even damage the present webpage ranking, as search engines penalize website engaging in use of paid back links.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the new buzzword in the field of internet marketing, where every company is trying to maximize their visibility to the online consumers. SEM is not to be ignored, as it is the most cost effective marketing tool for any kind of business. However, there is always a possibility of things going wrong, as a traditional marketer may not understand all the intricacies of SEM. Below are four important Do’s and Don’ts which can help a business to use SEM successfully.

4 Do’s

Know about SEM: The first and foremost requirement is to learn and understand about SEM to the possible extent. Focus should be on understanding different components of SEM, such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid advertising services.

Don’t ignore SEO: SEO is a long term strategy, which will increase the website ranking in organic searches (unpaid results). It takes time, but is always advisable as it brings a lifetime in-flow of potential customers to the website.

Implement PPC: The Pay-Per-Click (PPC) services will provide the initial boost by instantly placing the website in the top sponsored searches.

Hire a third party SEM firm: Always hiring professional SEM firm is better than having a full time SEM professional. This decreases the cost and also ensures better services due to market competition.

4 Don’ts

Waiting game: Many companies are already using SEM and in here the early start imparts a competitive advantage.

Buy SEO software: This is a strict no. It is practically impossible to reach the top rank with simple, cheap software available online. Also, there is more of a risk than benefit from these products.

Believe in guarantees: It is to be remembered that no one, even the search engine companies cannot ensure a top place as several unpredictable variables are involved in this process.

Target all the search engines: It is not a useful ploy, as more than 95% of web traffic is controlled by few search engines like Google, Bing, Ask.com, etc. Targeting all search engines is simply wasting money.

Every entrepreneur or business organization is always looking for ways to get more customers. The big question is how to go about it. Let us look at some marketing strategies to get more customers.

1. 1.       Partnerships:

Going for a partnership distribution is a good idea to get more exposure for your product and services.  Collaborating with a well-known product and service ensures people know your product, which is a first step of popularity.

1. 2.       SEO:

Search engine optimization of your website will increase the exposure of your online business.  More people will visit your website when your website appears on first Search Engine Results Page for the targeted keywords

1. 3.       Content Marketing:

Content marketing is the best marketing strategy for your business. It is neither considered spammy nor direct sales activity. In fact, content marketing is favored by leading search engines as it enhances customer’s Internet surfing experience.

1. 4.       Press:

Writing about your products and services on reputed blogs can help you attract more customers.  Do not use a sales pitch, rather write something that will be useful for readers.  Writing in Press can help in earning credibility and validation of your product and services.

1. 5.       Customer feedback:

 Adopting a customer centric approach for product development can ensure you get more customers. Customers’ positive feedback about your product and services   influences people purchasing decision while shopping on the Internet.

1. 6.       Referral Schemes:

Referral scheme is a great way to get more customers.  Many customers happily offer information about potential customers in their family, close relatives and friends when you give them attractive discounts and gifts.

1. Affiliate marketing:

Starting an affiliate program can help you get more customers. In affiliate marketing, website owners can send traffic to your website through links.  You need to make payment to these website owners when the visitor through their links completes a purchase.

1. 8.       Customer  loyalty programs:

Repeat customers are easy to attract and can help you earn good revenue.  You should offer customer loyalty programs where they can benefit when they make repeat purchases.

1. 9.       Advertising:

Advertising through popular platforms can increase exposure and draw more customers. Print, Television, Radio and Internet advertising can be effectively used to attract more customers.

1. 10.   Networking:

Attending trade shows, social functions, business meetings can help get more customers. Former colleagues, friends can lead to new customers. Use of social media platforms is also a form of networking

The biggest challenge faced by start-ups is attracting customers to their website.  With such fierce competition on the Internet, you need to dedicate yourself to tap different marketing resources that can drive traffic to your website. Let’s take a look at best marketing resources that can draw customers to your website.

Social networking platforms:

Social media platforms are increasingly getting popular every day. Many big multinationals have already identified the advantages social media platforms presents to attract new customers.  Social media platforms offer several marketing tools that can be effectively used to communicate and influence potential customers and convert them into real customers.

Search Engine Results Page:

Optimization for Search Engines is essential to get a steady flow of customers to your website. Effective SEO can bring in hundreds of visitors to your website, which can be a kick-start for your business. While performing optimization of website for search engines you should focus on every important parameter such as html tags, unique title and Meta tag for each page.

Article Directories and Blogs:

Articles directories and blogs allow you to place a back link that can get customers to your website. Write some catchy content, which invokes interest in visitors. When a visitor finds any good piece of information, he/she always tries to visit the source of information to gain more knowledge about the subject.

Press Releases:

A Press Release can be a unique document that establishes your USP and differentiates your business from your competitors. Direct mail marketing is one of the fastest ways to reach your targeted customers. Newsletters offer inexpensive method to get customers to your website. All you need is a good mailing list and you are ready to go.

Community Websites and Forums:

A community website or a forum is an online place where people with similar interests come together. Community building content can be most effective to get customers to your website. However, you need to ensure the content is not too promotional.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is gaining more and more importance these days. Almost all businesses are using SEM to maximize their presence on the web. Investment in SEM may lead long term benefits. But what are the advantages that these firms are gaining from SEM? This article is intended to explain the advantages of using SEM.

Increased brand awareness: The ultimate aim of SEM is to increase the visibility of the business. SEM, not only establishes the brand in the minds of returning customers, but also paves the way for the brand’s entry into the minds of new potential customer.

Cost effective: The cost of SEM is far less when compared any of the traditional marketing method; while the return on investment (ROI) is higher. Also, payment techniques like Pay-Per-Click (PPC) even made it easy to measure the ROI, as only advertisements or banner clicked by potential customers were only charged.

Customized marketing: In SEM, the content of the website will be optimized to the keywords of the users of search engines. This means the marketing efforts are focused on exactly on the specific users who might be the potential customers of the business. This way SEM is more efficient method, which promotes targeting the relevant consumer, already interested in the products/services offered by that specific business.

SEM can also be implemented by focusing on a specific locations and languages. These location based SEM services are particularly of great use for small and medium businesses which generally operate in specific locations.

Measurable impact: In contrast to traditional marketing strategies, whose impact is not measurable or hard to evaluate, SEM allows assessment of ROI. Search engines provide statistics on website traffic, which can be analyzed for gaining insights on the impact of SEM process.

Keeping in view of all the above advantages, marketers have to find the right mix of SEM and traditional marketing practices to obtain best results for their business.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all about improving the visibility of a website by optimizing it according to a particular search engine’s algorithm. But, why improving a site’s visibility online is that important? This article is intended to explain the importance of SEO for a website and the business impact of it.

There are more than 130 million registered websites present in the web. People searching for these websites utilize Search engines for this purpose. More than 90% of internet users rely on search engines for performing their searches. Though there are several good search engines available, majority of web traffic (> 80%) is guided through Google.

When a search is performed in Google, it returns with the results page for that particular keyword searched. The results page displays the number of websites which may be relevant to the key word searched. It also displays some paid Ads at the top of the search results. These are called Paid searches.

Below these paid searches, there will be the list of websites which are possibly related to the keyword searched. These unpaid searches are given raking by the search engines algorithm which considers relevancy to the key word, websites quality of content, trustworthiness of the site, etc as the key parameters. These are the natural search results are called unpaid or organic searches. The results will be displayed in multiple pages, depending on the search terms used.

Among these hundreds of pages of organic search results, the users only look at the first page, i.e. the first 10 websites. Even among these 10, the probability of a user clicking on a website is high only for the top 3 websites. It is to be remembered that all these users are potential customers coming with very specific needs in the form of their search terms. Therefore, it is very important for a website to be on the first page of search results of the popular search engines. This is where SEO helps a business. It optimizes the company’s website to the most frequent and relevant search terms or keywords used in search engines, which eventually improve the website ranking in the search engine.

In summary, SEO increases the visibility of business by improving the chances of the potential customers seeing its website. Also, SEO is the most affordable way of promotion compared to any other forms of advertising available.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is an internet marketing method aimed at increasing the visibility of a website in search engine results. SEM achieves its objective by either optimizing the website or placing advertisements in the search engine.

The process of website optimization leads to increase in the website ranking naturally and is commonly known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO results in increasing the chances of website visibility in Organic searches, also called un-paid or natural searches. The other way is by following a process of placing advertisements, which is done using Paid website inclusion methods.

There is confusion over the usage of the term SEM, as many people apply this term referring to paid advertisements methods alone, ignoring the methods (SEO) involving free or organic searches. But in the real sense, SEM is a broad umbrella term which refers both SEO and paid services.

Both the components of SEM, SEO and paid advertisements have their own advantages and disadvantages. SEO improves a website visibility only on the basis of optimizing its content to the accurate key words. Though SEO is cost effective, the chances of increasing a website’s visibility are limited, due to competition from thousands of websites. In the case of paid advertising services, increased visibility is assured, but at higher costs.

Many search engines these days are experimenting with various payment techniques such as Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Cost-Per-Impression (CPI), etc. to make their paid services more cost effective for the advertisers.

SEM also includes two distinct services namely Search analytics and Web analytics.

• Search analytics involves analysis of the combined search engine data, with an aim to identify the key words frequently used while performing searches. These identified keywords are utilized for optimizing website content.
• Web analytics involves collecting and evaluating the internal data of a website to get better insights about user’s interests in searching the website. These insights can be utilized for better customization of the website.

/Ruben

Online marketing is one of the recent marketing strategies which most companies and corporations have been steadily adopting in the recent past. For its effectiveness and efficiency, the web page in which the advert has been posted must rank on the first page of the search engine; be it Google, Yahoo or any other search engine.

This ranking can only be achieved through a well-tailored content which can be visible to both the search engine and human beings. Remember, search engines have the ability to craw the web to gather and interpret the information on the web page.

This can only be achieved through search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. The higher a web page is ranked in any search engine, the higher the possibility that a particular search engine will naturally receive more visitors. For this reason, SEO is one of the sought-after technique in the current era where online marketing is the only way to reach a larger audience. Broadly, there are two main types of SEO; the white hat and the black hat SEO.
All the two types of SEO are all geared towards improving traffic going to a particular web site. The main difference which exist between the two, is the kind of techniques employed to achieve higher ranking in search engines.

• The white hat SEO

This refers to the acceptable practices of achieving higher rankings in search engines. They conform to all the rules and regulation guiding SEO work. It’s approved by most search engines and its results are last for longer period of time.

A white hat SEO involves the following strategies:

Writing quality content; it is one of the main building blocks of website optimization. Remember, the search engine crawls through the website looking for key phrases. The aim of the search engine is to get appropriate content which it believes will satisfy all the needs of the end user. The content must be well-written with sufficient content about any key phrase in question.
This also goes hand in hand with the structural design of the content. All mark ups must be structured semantically as it’s the only way through which search engines can get the gist of the content.
Titles and Meta data; titles give content much weight when they are being searched by the search engine. The titles must be chosen appropriately as they give a brief summary of what the content is all about. As for the case of Meta data, they must also be used appropriately for better results to be achieved.

Keywords;

a thorough research on keyword and key phrases is important. The keyword must be specific and to the point. They must be those that website users might use while searching for a specific content.
Inbound links; even though this is one of the most popularly used technique, choosing the best links is always an added advantage as it will most definitely make the web page to be among the top in any search engine. It’s advisable to generate these links from a reputable websites.

• The black hat SEO

These are ways through which people try to improve the ranking of their websites by violating some of the stipulated guidelines of the search engines. It involves deception. It’s not recommended and such sites can either be penalized or de-indexed.

This technique is characterized by:
Hidden content; content is normally hidden from the end user using CSS, colored text and very small texts. Usually, within the site’s code, there’s a lot of targeted stuffed keywords.
Besides this, it also involve unacceptable Meta description and Meta keyword stuffing. Most search engines can always detect this and consequently de-index the site.
Gateway pages; these pages are usually designed for the search engines and not the web page visitor. In black SEO, these pages are usually stuffed with the targeted keywords to enhance the site’s visibility.
Link farming; in this process, a list of unrelated is availed to the user.
The white hat SEO is the most recommended technique for any individual who would wish to improve his or her site ranking.