Selecting the right Search Engine Marketing Experts
Search engine marketing is a relatively new addition to the marketing strategies available to companies seeking to promote their products or services. However, in just a few years it has become its own industry, spawning a dedicated online community and dozens if not hundreds of companies dedicated to advertising, reputation management and optimisation via search.
Although it was founded barely a decade ago, Google is now the most visited website on the world wide web. With Google users making billions of searches every month for products, services and information in countries all over the world, search engine marketing has become a vital part of a company’s online presence.
However, it can be a confusing field for many business owners used to more traditional forms of marketing and advertising. There are a variety of search engine marketing services on offer and whilst all are of benefit to someone, they may not be of benefit to you. Choosing the right search engine marketing experts to handle your company’s affairs can be a significant investment in the future, so its essential that you understand enough to make the right decision.
Broadly speaking, marketing via search falls into two categories: PPC and SEO.
PPC is the closest thing to a traditional advertising platform on search – advertisers purchase sponsored links on search results pages that appear in response to targeted keywords. This is complicated by the fact that ‘PPC’ stands for ‘Pay Per Click’; advertisers set budgets for their PPC campaigns and bid with one another on certain keywords. If your PPC is badly handled then you’re certain to get a poor Return On Investment (ROI).
A good search engine marketing company will provide a committed and constant management service for your PPC campaigns, aimed at getting the highest ROI for your budget. They’ll make sure that the right keywords are being targeted by your campaigns on the search engines most likely to be used for your business. Rather than a fixed strategy they’ll ensure that they adapt your campaign in response to higher or lower bids from competitors. They’ll also provide feedback and take steps to ensure that your budget isn’t wasted chasing fruitless keywords that fail to result in conversion or generate user interest.
The more complex form of search engine marketing is Search Engine Optimisation, more commonly referred to as SEO. In a nutshell this is how your business can get higher in the search rankings.
Although this is a longer investment and generally provides less concrete results in the short-term, it’s perhaps the most vital part of search engine marketing. Studies have shown that overwhelmingly, users click on the websites listed in the top 20 results returned for their search query. A higher ranking in Google not only capitalises on the search engines ubiquity among internet users but also imparts a certain authority to the sites that rank higher in the list – Google views them as more reputable and so do its users.
Choosing the right provider for SEO is essential.
A good company will offer you a tailored service that identifies where you company can make the most impact – what keywords are likely to generate the most traffic for your website and make your page stand out alongside its competitors. Above all, a decent SEO provider will make you well aware of the realities of SEO: it doesn’t happen overnight and it requires a very proactive approach.
SEO’s effectiveness is that it helps target customers and web users who are likely to have an interest in your company. However, though search is a worldwide service – and some of the biggest companies generate a large amount of their trade through search queries – its important to note that if you run a small computer business, you’ll never beat the organic strength of someone like Microsoft on a search for ‘computer software’. Your SEO should be targeted at where the opportunities are feasible within your budget – and for some companies a more specialised service might be more appropriate.
Localised SEO is a fairly new search engine marketing service but an extremely important one for most small to medium sized businesses. Search engines offer localised results for both general search terms and geographically targeted keywords and ensuring that you’re visible on these results can be vital. In fact for some companies purely localised SEO may be a much more sensible investment – if you only trade to customers in your area, then reaching the World Wide web is less important than reaching those on your doorstep.
Choosing the right search engine marketing company can have huge dividends. If you keep the above information in mind, you can make sure that the one you choose and the services you want are right for your business.
February 03 2010 03:58 pm | SEO and Security