About Search Engines Marketing (SEM): Improving Your Bottom Line

“Search engine marketing has become the Holy Grail of Internet Marketing. Search engine marketing is the most cost-effective direct-marketing method. The average cost per lead from search is 29 cents, far less than email (50 cents), the Yellow Pages ($1.18), banner ads ($2.00) and direct mail ($9.94)."—Safa Rashtchy, Sr. Analyst, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc.

What’s All the Commotion About?

If you’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about search engine marketing (SEM), you’re not alone. Although the act of optimizing websites for the search engines has been around for quite a while, word seems to be getting out that, when done correctly, it actually works! The commotion is about results! Search engine marketing can dramatically increase lead generation, brand recognition, investor interest and sales! It’s profitable—search engine marketing can significantly improve your bottom line!

What is Search Engine Marketing?

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the process of marketing a website via Web search engines; whether by improving rank in organic or natural listings, paid or sponsored listings, or a combination thereof.

Okay, now what does that mean? Simply put, search engine marketing positions your website for maximum visibility on the Internet search engines.

Traditional search engine marketing campaigns generally include these functions:

search engine optimization
search engine and directory submission management
competitive analysis and strategy development
paid inclusion and trusted feed programs
pay-for-placement management (pay-per-click)
link population / reputation building
usability assessment
conversion rate analysis and strategy development
measuring success

Why Bother with SEM?

A successful search engine marketing campaign will improve your search engine rankings, bring targeted ‘qualified’ visitors to your site and convert more of your visitors to customers.

If you’re not tapping into the online market, you are losing customers!

According to the Computer Industry Almanac, the 2004 Worldwide Internet Population is 945 million! Their projection for 2006 is 1.10 billion Internet users.
The CIA’s World Factbook reports 185.90 million current Internet users in the United States alone.
In March of 2004, Nielsen / NetRatings calculated 144.40 million ‘active’ home Internet users in the United States.
The NPD Group reports that over 78% of U.S. Internet users go online to research a product or service before purchasing.

Search engines are the most widely used vehicles for generating website traffic.

According to Georgia Institute of Technology, Internet search engines currently account for over 85% of all new visitors to a website.
The PEW Internet and American Life Project reports that 84% of American adult Internet users use a search engine to find information.

If you want prospective customers to find your website, you need to do more than simply publish it on the Internet and submit it to a few search engines. You need to implement a search engine marketing strategy!

With about 4 billion estimated web pages indexed, search engines have become a force to recon with. Finding your website among the billions listed, is like "inding a needle in a haystack." The chances of your prospective customer’s finding your site on the Internet are not much better than your chances of winning the lottery.

If your website isn’t found within the top 10 to 30 search results (the first three pages of search matches), no one will know it exists.

According to Penn State researchers, 54% of search engine users view just one page of results per search session. Only an additional 19% go to the second page of results per session and fewer than 10% of users continue on to the third page of results per search session.

SEM Works

So, what’s all the commotion about? Search engine marketing works—it will help you improve your bottom line!

Learn more about Strategic Ranking and our search engine marketing solutions!

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