Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

According to a recent study done by Global Insight for the Direct Marketing Association, Internet search advertising returns $21.85 for every dollar spent. Optimizing is different for different search engines. In September of 2009 over seventy percent of searchers used Google in contrast to 16.73% Yahoo, 9.28% Bing, and 2.50% Ask.

Logically one should optimize to reach the majority of searchers with Google. Each page should focus on one or two keywords. Use the keywords in headlines and the first paragraph. The keywords should logically and easily flow through the rest of the copy on the page. If your competitor’s site is getting top ranking, see what keywords they are using by signing up for a free trail of Keyword Spy at http://www.keywordspy.com/.

Search engines look at a site the title tag, description tag, keywords repetition, image tags, text content, and a site map. Each page should have a unique title tag containing no more than 60 characters that describes the content on the page. The description tag is seen in search engines to describe your site. It should be less than 145 characters and can be used to distinguish your site from others, while enticing searchers to click on your site link.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing when it comes to keywords. Back in the olden days you could hide keywords by making them the same color as the background or making them one pixel high so visitors won’t see it, but Google can. Don’t try it now. Google is on to it and tricks like that will get you blackballed. Rather than spamming keywords, put keywords in your image tags. It’s not only good for search results, but good practice for the sake of usability. Just remember to keep it relevant to the image description.

You can generate an XML site map that will help Google and other search engines crawl your web site by going to http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/. The more links you have to your site the more Google feels that you are credible and places your site high in results. It’s another reason to keep content relevant, and updated.

Now you need some external links to your site. Here quality is more important than quantity. You can acquire incoming links by offering press releases and articles for publishing to business media sites. Ask associate companies to link to your site. Put links to your site in your blogs and social media profiles. If you need more help, check out my web site at http://www.denisedriggers.com/.