Search
Engine Marketing (SEM) - What is it?
Search Engine Marketing is essentially an
art of being able to achieve two things for
a web site:
1) Deep indexing of the site.
This is simpler terms means being able to
get as many pages of the site into the search
engine database.
2) Better Ranking of the site.
This essentially is the craft of making the
site/page rank well for specific user queries.
Are there different types of
SEM ?
Yes, essentially SEM is of two types.
In the first, the consultant will have to
change the web site ( called search engine
optimization or SEO for brevity) for doing
proper SEM work. Thereafter the site has to
be continuously interlinked with best of other
online resources. This will ensure good editorial
listings for the site.
Typically this work takes 6 to 8 months to
produce stable & lasting results.
A shorter yet paid way of promoting a site
with search engines is Pay per Click(PPC).
In this SEM campaign, you can bid on your
search phrases & when those phrases are
searched, your advertisement will appear on
the results page. Once some one clicks on
your ad, the bid amount is deducted from your
account.
Does SEM help?
A good SEM campaign is a means to an end.
It can get your site to rank well for your
business search terms. However the sales
& revenues on your site are driven entirely
by the user experience & the business
merits.
SEM gets the traffic. Site has to sell.
What does SEM entail?
To achieve deeper indexing & a better
ranking the SEM starts at the level of web
design. When one is conceiving of creating
a business presence online he has to keep
two factors in mind:
User experience in navigating the site.
Spider experience in navigating the site.
These two users will see different pictures
of the same site. The human user will see
the browser supported, colorful front end.
The spider( software, search engines send
to crawl the web for information) will see
only the text on the site.
So different strategies need to be adopted
for each set of users. As web designers
are engaged for formulating the site for
end users, simultaneously, SEM consultant
should figure in to optimize the site for
spiders.
What are SEM tools?
The elements that SEM consultants play with
to achieve their ends are:
" Text ( most crucial
as spiders are image blind)
" Tags( HTML tags
are important components in the SEM tweaks)
" Internal linking
(The site navigation & links effect
the sites indexing & ranking)
" External linking(
A site is also known by the company it keeps).
Then there are hundreds of do & don'ts
that should be implemented within a site.
However, bear in mind that there are no
set rules for SEM only 'Best Practices'.
This is a very experience specific domain.
So your site is promoted as good or as bad
as your consultant is.
Another characteristic of this domain is
the fact that Search engines keep tweaking
around on their ranking criterion as well
as technological prowess. Hence an SEM consultant
has to be always on his toes with his ears
to the ground. A difficult posture to adopt
in any part of the world. This is because
there is a very short gap between him &
obsolescence. If you are not keyed in, the
industry would have moved on, in as short
time as a quarter.
When to start SEM
Ideally SEM should commence along with the
plan for the web site construction. This
is because the results of SEM will be best,
if the site has been built base up keeping
the SEM principles in perspective.
However most of the businesses come to the
SEM mindset almost as an afterthought. This
is when their sites have languished in the
search engine indexes for a while that they
realize the need to start promoting their
wares online.
So if you have not undertaken SEM at the
start of the web design process, start as
soon as possible, for it is not a short
sprint but a marathon The results start
to show up after a good length of time.
Hence the opportunity cost( in terms of
lost sales) for a delayed SEM campaign can
be huge.
Do all businesses need SEM?
No some sites automatically would rank well.
For example .edu, .gov domain sites are
given a preference by search engines. Hence
most of them would not need SEM Also all
non commercial sites which are authorities
in their respective domains will fall in
this category as well.
SEM is most important for the businesses
who sell good/services online or who have
a offline delivery model, yet source their
inquiries online. Another category are businesses
who intend to establish an online brand
or beat competition.
For sending requirements regarding Search
engine marketing or any other questions
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