When one of your prospects wishes to research and create a short list of companies which supply your services, effective use of SEM (Search Engine Marketing) means your business can easily be discovered and investigated on the internet. This is particularly the case for high value prospects who have not yet discovered your brand though referral or other marketing efforts. Achieving a good search engine ranking also exposes your business development opportunities to offshore prospects, and helps associate your business as a thought leader in your industry.

The challenge for many professional services firms is that SEO is a new, complex marketing technique which is often misunderstood and can also be viewed as expensive. The flipside is that ROI from SEM can be very significant if it’s properly understood and patiently executed. In reality SEM is in the short term an expensive exercise, however SEM in the long term SEM can provide extremely high returns.

The principals of the Performance Marketers™ web team have 8 years of experience in testing and understanding SEM tactics which work. We combine research, strategy and tactical implementation to ensure our clients attain a high level of visibility and generate an all important return-on-investment (ROI).

Stage one – Research

During this phase we look at key metrics and associated search engine marketing strategies required to achieve desired goals. We start by exploring the overall site visibility, as benchmarked against competitors. The second phase of stage one assesses site features, content and optimisation. The third phase provides detailed keyword research for both search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) programs. The final component of the research phase is a detailed optimisation report.

Stage two – Delivery

Once a Web site is properly optimized, launch efforts can begin. Starting with URL submission to popular search engines via free listings and pay-for-inclusion (PFI), we ensure the Web site is spidered and indexed. The site is also submitted to popular directories. A link development campaign is initiated to drive traffic and further boost visibility in search engines. If the Web site goal includes lead generation or sales, PPC programs are initiated to compliment SEO and PFI efforts.

Stage three – Maintenance

SEM is a process which takes time and patience. The next step is to create a schedule of monthly efforts. The baseline maintenance program includes SEO, PFI, PPC and ROI tracking and reporting. For SEO and PFI efforts, we continually monitor visibility in organic search results and make site optimisation recommendations to further improve visibility. Continual PPC activities include bid management and ROI analysis. Other optional services include affiliate development as well as shopping engine and blog management. Performance Marketers also carry’s out projects on site development, online public relations support, Webinars and Web surveys.

SEM is emerging as one of the most powerful marketing tools ever. Ask Performance Marketers about SEM and how relevant it could be for your business. Like to learn more? See another article on SEM here

 


PPC Marketing (Pay per click)

PPC is an acronym for ‘pay-per-click’ and is the typical payment model within paid search advertising.

How does PPC advertising work?

Simply, ads are typically served based on a bidding system. The more paid per click for and ad, the higher the ad is positioned in search engine results pages (SERPs). In some cases (e.g., Google AdWords), the more successful your ad is in attracting clicks and other actions, the higher the ad is positioned, regardless of your cost per click.

How much should be invested in PPC?

When an advertiser realizes a positive return on investment (ROI) from PPC advertising, every dollar spent increases profits. The advertiser then, should not seek to limit the budget, as every additional dollar spent generates additional profits. In short, the more spent the more the advertiser can reap the profits from PPC advertising.

Performance Marketers search marketing can run a simple test to determine profitability for an organization is new to PPC advertising. With an initial test and a simple measurement system an exact reference point can be determined. The Performance Marketers work process also assists client in understanding of the cost per lead or sale is across measured channels. To view a video explanation of Google Adwords click here

So what is the connection between SEM and PPC?

Search engine Marketing (SEM) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising used by an advertiser to achieve visibility on search engine results pages SERPs. SEM enables advertisers and site owners to gain visibility within natural search engine listings. PPC advertising secure visibility within paid search and may appear above, to the side of, and/or below the natural/organic search results.

PPC Advantages

• You get instant results. If you advertise your website on pay per click search engines, then you will get traffic now and not several months later.
• PPC ads are perfect for time limited offers.
• You can stop PPC ads at any time.
• PPC ads make it easy to test different keywords and landing pages. PPC ads also work with websites that are not very well designed and wouldn't get good search engine rankings.
• PPC ads allow you to bid on a large amount of keywords, including misspellings and other keyword variations that you cannot put on your web pages.

PPC Disadvantages:

• PPC advertising can become very expensive if you bid on the wrong keywords or if you don't calculate the maximum bid price correctly.
• Click fraud can be a problem. Not all clickers are potential customers.

If you advertise your website with PPC ads then you should use a ROI tracking tool to make sure that you don't waste your investment.

SEM Advantages:

• Traffic through organic search engine results is almost free if the up-front work has been done.
• After optimizing your website you can use your money for different things and the optimized site will still run.
• A larger number of visitors and search result clickers is not a problem.
• Search engine optimization delivers long term results that don't require permanent financial input.

SEM Disadvantages:

• SEM can be relatively time-consuming up-front.
• SEM can require a redesign of your web pages to make your website search engine friendly. However, this usually also results in a better user experience.