For most Internet users it's virtually second nature to use a search
engine to look for information, products or services. As expected, when they
search on a particular word or combinations of words, the search engines
come up with a host of results. Each result represents a website that
supposedly has the information, products or services the Internet user
looking for. They can click on the link and ta-da! the website does or does
not give them what they want.
It's important to note that the search engines don't rank websites as a
whole; they rank specific webpages. In any case, the higher that your
webpages appear in the SERPs, the more people who are likely to see your
description and click on your link. However, SEM experts tend to vary in
their view on whether it's better to have the top position in both or either
the free and paid results. While most believe that having the top rank in
the free results attracts the most clicks and traffic; some SEM experts
believe that it's more cost-effective to have the second, third or lower
listing in the paid results. Nevertheless, most agree that you want your
free and/or paid results to be on the first page.
The two main strands of search marketing are search engine optimization
(SEO) and paid search. Search engine optimization is about optimizing your
website (i.e. each page on the site) - known as "on-page optimization" - as
well as undertaking a range of "off-page" activities designed to achieve a
high ranking in the SERPs. Getting a high ranking in the SERPs of a given
search engine is a function of how that search engine's mathematical
algorithm (i.e. for determining rankings) works. Often this takes a degree
of study, trial and error, and hard work.
Alternatively, to achieve a high place in the paid search results, it's
largely a matter of how much you're willing to pay. Depending on the search
engine, you can pay per click - known literally as pay-per-click (PPC)
advertising - or pay based on the number of impressions or views the ad
receives. Having said that, the priority of your placing may also be
impacted by how effective your ad is, based on the number of clicks it
receives or click through rate (CTR). Google, in particular, takes the CTR
into account, as well as the bid price per click, when determining the order
of the paid results.
It can be a good idea to dip your toe into search marketing by starting with
paid advertising - particularly PPC. Not only can you begin promoting your
offer to your target market without delay, but you can also test keywords.
You might decide that particularly high performing keywords should be
incorporated into your webpages for SEO purposes.
So there you have a quick run-down of search engine marketing. It's
definitely worth delving into further if you like the idea of building a
consistent traffic stream to your web business.