SEO & PPC
With the growth of Google over the past decade, search engine optimization and marketing has grown into one of the most used forms of advertising. This industry can be complicated to fully understand. Here are a few things you should know when developing a search campaign:
The difference between SEO and SEM
SEO stands for search engine optimization, which includes design techniques, copywriting, as well as outside linking. The first step to optimizing your site is to include as many quality keywords as possible into your sites text, description, title tags and keyword Meta data. One useful tool to use is the Google keyword tool that is free to use.
Second, the design of your site is very important you will need to use the headline codes to make important keywords stand out. A good example of this is one for a lawyer site. If the law firm handles many practice areas, they should dedicate a page to each. On each page, they should highlight the practice area with a H1 tags. Search engines scan the text and they put higher weight on H1 tags as well as other headline tags. Another way search engines place weight on the quality of the site is through internal links. One of the easiest ways to add internal links is through a site map. A site map is just a page that outlines to site.
Another way to add to the SEO quality score of your site is to have external links pointing to your site. Social networks have become a great tool in adding external likes. If you have a social network account, place your site URL on it. Sites like Facebook allow you to have a URL under your contact information. It would also be a good idea to create a page just for your company in order to drive more customers to your site. The more views your site gets also adds to you generic search score. Many advertisers are using Twitter to get more clients as well.
SEM stands for search engine marketing. Have you ever wondered why there were smaller descriptions and title tags on the right side of Google after you did a search? They are paid advertisements. You can set up a Google AdWords account and start seeing more traffic on your site right away. This is a very useful tool for most small business because Google does not rank clients based on the amount they can pay. They rank their clients using a quality score as well as a bidding system. If your site is relevant to the search query and your have placed a bid that meets the standards set by Google, you will have greater placement than site that do not. They offer two kinds of payment options, Pay Per Click and Pay Per Impression. Pay Per Click (PPC) is the most popular because advertisers do not have to pay for the ad to be shown. They only pay when potential customers click on their advertisement.
