Recent News
Services...
In order to be truly successful online, in addition to having a very
good site, a company needs to effectively employ both Search Engine
Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Below are
several Web 2.0 recommendations for SEM & SEO.
Contact us for a free evaluation.
While there are a number of distinctions between SEO and SEM, the most
notable being that with SEO the traffic is non-paid and with SEM there
is a cost, they share a common thread. Both efforts are driven by
keywords, and the more well conceived the list, the more favorable the
end result will be. Although there are a number of tools that firms
such as ours use to guide the keyword selection process, it's also
vital for the client to spend quality time speaking to colleagues and
clients and studying competitors' sites in order to determine the most
appropriate keyword menu to pursue. While there may be some subtle
differences between the keyword list for SEO and SEM, the majority of
keywords will be the same.
Key SEO Tactics
Search engine rankings are a function of sophisticated algorithms.
Minor changes/updates can alter your rankings. While it is true that
the algorithms are a moving target, which no one can fully explain,
the factors that lead a Website to perform well in the natural results
are fairly consistent.
A top level issue is the degree to which a site contains hearty
content that aligns closely to the keywords which are most important
to the site. If for instance the keywords in the Meta tags, etc. are
related to human resources consulting and the content speaks to
employee training programs, then there is a problem. While that may
sound obvious, you would be surprised how often companies change
product lines or direction, and don't fully incorporate the new
direction into both the content and architecture of its Website.
Advanced SEM Methodology
I probably shouldn't have titled this section Advanced, because what I
have to say is really simple. Just like any other component of direct
marketing, it's vital to measure campaign performance; then continue
to test and refine.
What's relevant about this topic is the dramatic improvement in the
tools that are available to figure out what's working and what isn't.
Variables include engine selection (MSN vs. Google, etc.), keywords
(broad vs. narrow, exact/negative match, etc.), as well as factors
like which pages of your site are moving a prospect toward your
objective in contrast to others that may be hindering a conversion.
It used to be that the cost associated with analytics programs was
substantial, therefore only the largest online players could justify
the expense. With free and low cost programs like Google Analytics,
the investment is now limited to the time required to set the tools up
properly (including coding the site) and the post click analysis of
the data. I continue to hear stories of larger organizations
abandoning their high end solutions for this new wave of technology,
as it's much easier to both install and evaluate important data in a
timely manner.
The number of companies who have a genuine understanding of the
activity on their site and more specifically their SEM related
statistics remains minute. The opportunity to gain a competitive edge
through utilizing this data is significant.
Improved Web marketing is not about utilizing any particular
technology or channel, it is about investing time and resources to
pinpoint and execute a profit generating strategy. For certain
organizations this is practiced continuously (both on and off line).
For others, now is a perfect time to get refocus and make the Internet
a vital component of your marketing efforts.
Contact us for a free evaluation.