SEO website article

Search Engine Marketing
What's the first step?

But what this person or company has to offer is worth a lot more than a second glance.

First, let’s get down to the numbers. In 2007, Americans conduct 500 million searches a day to find products and services. Nine out of every ten people online – and over 40% of all shoppers use search engines to pinpoint information and to locate the best source, compared to the 10% that still rely on TV and print. You’ve paid for the design and hosting of your website, but why would you assume that search engine marketing (SEM) isn’t necessary, or worse– too expensive? Piper Jaffray places the cost per lead in Yellow Pages advertising at $1.20 and a whopping $10.00 per lead from direct mail inserts most often thrown in the recycle bin. Radio? TV? If you’ve got the budget for any of these, you can afford SEM and put the leftover cash back into your business. When you pay for SEM, you get way more value than simple placement of an ad that you also have pay to create. The first step involves a makeover of your website. SEM experts call this step, optimization, and that’s where the term Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes from. The optimization of your website may require a complete redesign. But normally the SEO makeover process involves other less expensive “Re’s.”

• Repair – Remove or modify code and design elements that can hurt search engine ranking.
• Research – Learn how your customers search, and how your competitors reach them.
• Rewriting – Write words or phrases that attract search engine spiders and customers.

SEM is an ongoing process to maximize the visibility of your website.

Nudging a website toward the top of search engine rankings is still the most cost effective way to grow your business. Unlike advertising or direct mail, the price of SEM doesn’t rise in proportion to the increase of eyeballs attracted to your site. So you’re able to sit back and watch your business grow– and enjoy a total return on investment.

Creditable SEM experts will charge a one-time development fee and suggest a fixed budget to make your site more visible, and then continue to raise or maintain your position. Keep in mind, there are many valuable services in the development or SEO stage, including the creation of a site map, submissions to search engine and directories, and possibly a recommendation to use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

PPC can be valuable to companies facing tough competition; who need to penetrate markets where natural results haven't materialized, or to companies already familiar to customers– but in need of an added boost to be found on the web faster or more often. PPC is almost an exact science that allows you to achieve pinpoint search engine results to the penny.

Yet it all gets back to the basics. And the first step, where you meet that 3-in-one SEM expert and have a cup of coffee.

A geek, writer and marketing guru who listens and learns what you need, a person or company that knows how to put the least amount of money to the greatest good. This is how to begin and make the most out of search engine marketing.