Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing is a topic that has been generating a tremendous amount of interest, lately, among web site owners and webmasters. Why is search engine marketing such a hot topic? Well, for anyone with a halfway-decent website and a worthwhile produce or service to offer, effective search engine marketing is like money in the bank. With literally millions of other Internet entrepreneurs vying for a top-10 ranking on major search engines, especially Google, MSN, and Yahoo, it really pays to know the proven search engine marketing techniques that translate into getting a high search engine ranking.
Search Engine Marketing Overview
Search engine marketing, also referred to as Search Engine Optimization (or SEO), is not as complicated as it may, at first, sound. Knowing a little basic HTML is a good start, and that information is readily available on the web for free. When you gain a little expertise in search engine marketing, you’ll begin to pick up and understand important terms, such as ‘key word density’, ‘link popularity’, and ‘meta-tags’.
Learning even the basics of search engine marketing will help you improve your web sites search engine ranking, increase your visibility, and generate more web site traffic.
Another search engine marketing avenue you might want to consider is ‘Pay Per Click’ advertising on Google, Yahoo, Overture, and a handful of other search engines. With this type of search engine mareting, you’re paying a set amount, usually anywhere from five cents per click and up, for each potential customer that arrives at your site by clicking on a search engine ad you’re running. This method of search engine marketing can get expensive fast, so it’s advisable to start conservatively and experiment with different ad copy. Tracking results is also the ideal way to make the most out of this technique.
Search Engine Marketing News
If you’re interested in Search Engine Marketing Trends, here’s a relevant press release from the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO):
Search Engine Marketers Spent $5.75 Billion in 2005, According to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO)
Google and Yahoo! Continue to Dominate Internet Advertising in North America
WAKEFIELD, MA– January 9, 2006 – Advertisers in the U.S. and Canada spent $5.75 billion on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) in 2005, a 44 percent increase over 2004 spending, according to a report released today by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), a non-profit professional association working to increase awareness and promote the value of Search Engine Marketing worldwide.
The report, “The State of Search Engine Marketing 2005,” also projects that SEM spending in North America will reach $11 billion in 2010. The annual totals include payments to search engines and search-related media companies, search engine marketing agencies and in-house expenditures in support of such programs. The programs include paid placement, paid inclusion, organic search engine optimization and search engine marketing technology platforms.
The report is based on an industry-wide survey of 553 respondents conducted in November 2005 by Radar Research, LLC and Intellisurvey.
The survey found the bulk of the SEM spending was spent in 2005 on paid placement, accounting for 83 percent or $4.7 billion. While four out of five advertisers report they engage in organic search engine optimization (SEO), organic SEO accounted for approximately 11 percent of overall spending; paid inclusion accounted for just 4 percent of overall spending; and SEM technologies, including leasing, agency solutions and in-house development, accounted for less than 2 percent of overall spending. “The data shows that 2005 was a good year for search, but 2006 should be a great year,” said SEMPO Research Committee Co-chair, Gord Hotchkiss. “The growth shown has largely been driven by maturation in existing segments. Future growth will be fueled by an increased search presence from major advertisers and new monetization strategies from the major engines. The increased competitiveness in the marketplace will really drive the industry forward in the coming year.”
The survey also found:
Google and Yahoo still command the lion’s share of Internet advertising.
Branding, sales, leads and traffic are the top objectives of paid placement programs.
Little SEM funding is newly created; most is shifted from other programs.
Advertisers and agencies are approaching their pricing limits.
SEM agencies need to prove their value-add to advertisers.
