In today’s growing tech-savvy and computer-savvy culture, the first resource most people turn to when they are looking for a product or service, or looking to find information, is the Internet. After all, it does seem to have all the answers. Even people without a computer at home can go to a library or Internet café and use a computer to search for items or information.
You can take advantage of this trend if you own your own website. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) can bring more visitors, and potential customers, to your website. A number of search engines are available to help you do just that. Three of the more familiar and widely known search engines are Yahoo!, Google, and MSN.
The Internet has grown tremendously throughout the last decade alone, and its enormity is hard to comprehend. Your business website will be reachable by millions, perhaps billions, of potential consumers through Internet search mechanisms. No other marketing method is able to reach more people or make more contacts for you.
You will want to have a website designed with visual flair to appeal to and capture the immediate attention of your potential customers. However, do not forget that textual content is just as important for search engine optimization (SEO). The website should provide all the necessary information about your business and products or services. Your website can be equated to a color catalog or product brochure that otherwise would only be available to your customers when it arrives in their mailbox.
Here are some terms you should know when starting your SEM campaign.
Free versus Cost
You will need to decide which method of SEM marketing is going to suit your business or company best. It is also a good idea to use both paid and free SEM.
Organic/Natural (Free)
There are ways to get listed for free on the Internet so that your business name will come up under a search engine query. This method is called an “organic” listing (also known as SEO, or search engine optimization). An SEO search will rank the results according to how many times the keyword, or key phrase, is found within the text of the document when queried by an Internet visitor. There are many tricks and pearls of wisdom in search engine optimization you can learn simply by looking up a term like “SEO tricks” in your favorite search engine. A search engine’s way of determining where a page will rank in its search is constantly evolving, so it is great to keep up with the latest news.
PPC (Pay Per Click)
With this method of Internet marketing, you pay Google, Yahoo!, or MSN a pre-determined amount of money you are willing to pay each time a visitor clicks on a link to your website. If you are on a budget, this can be a minimum amount of money. However, the more you are willing to pay per click, the closer your listing will rank to the top of the search results listing.
PFI (Pay For Inclusion)
Directories are also maintained on the worldwide web. Depending on which directories are applicable to your business, the listings can cover broad topics or they can be more specific. Listings in some of these directories might be free, but more and more directories are beginning to charge a fee for your business to be included.
