Search Engine Marketing: A Guide

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the art of combining search engine optimization (SEO), or on site changes, with organic and paid link building techniques to increase a web site's profile and improve its standing in search engines. Any company, from an international conglomerate to a small chain to a single designer with a home office, needs the help of SEM in the highly competitive online world. But what exactly is involved in search engine marketing?

The first step in search engine marketing is to optimize the web page itself to make it as attractive as possible to search engines. SEO specialists edit and clarify the content, the page titles, and possibly even the site's structure to make the site easy to navigate and to hone the site's keyword targeting.

When the SEO is complete, SEM specialists turn their attention to building new links to the site. Free and organic links are best, but shooting up the ranks in search engines and fine tuning link targeting usually requires paid links as well. Paid links can include "classic" methods of advertising like buying advertisements on web sites and joining advertising networks, as well as relatively new methods like paid blog posts. Expert help is needed to avoid pitfalls in link building. Too many links from or to undesirable sites can drop a site in the rankings, and newcomers to SEO frequently find it challenging to identify which sites are undesirable. Also, people who are new to link building are often tempted by methods like astroturfing, in which a company representative pretends to be an ordinary consumer and posts comments about the company in other people's blogs. Astroturfing looks like an excellent and legitimate way to gain attention, but blog readers easily recognize company ringers and consider their comments to be spam. The fallout from an astroturf campaign can do heavy damage to a company's online reputation. The field of SEM is dotted with many more bad ideas that look like good ideas, so before putting any new idea into use, a web master would do well to call in an expert.

Paid inclusion is another important part of any link building strategy. Although free sites are plentiful, many desirable search engines and directories rank paying sites more highly or require a fee to be entered into the search engine or directory at all. Since only a few ranking points can make the difference between a steady stream of visitors an an anemic trickle, many companies find paid inclusion to be a good investment.

Search engine marketing is a careful balance of search engine optimization, paid and free link building, and paid directory and search engine inclusion. When all the elements work in tandem, they can boost a web site from the bottom of the search engine result pages to the top. The important part is to balance the elements right, link to the right mix of sites, and get the right experts to manage it.