What Are the Pieces of a Successful Search Engine Marketing Campaign?

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the technique of boosting a web site's ranking in search engines and drawing attention to it by combining search engine optimization (SEO) with paid and organic link building. 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?

First, the web page itself needs to be optimized to be as appealing as possible to search engines. The page content, the titles, and even the web site's structure should be streamlined and reworked to target the most advantageous keywords and to improve the site navigation.

When the site is ready, specialists get new incoming links to the site. Some of the links are free, but for fast, well targeted link building, paid links are usually necessary. 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. It is important to get expert help in building links because too many links from "bad neighborhoods" (sites considered spam by search engines) can lower a site's standing, and bad neighborhoods are not always obvious to newcomers to SEO. 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. There are dozens more bad ideas that look like good ideas, so before implementing any idea, a businessperson would be wise to consult with an SEM expert.

Another important element in any link building plan is paid inclusion. 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 requires a delicate balance of free and paid link building, paid search engine and directory inclusion, and search engine optimization. When all the parts of an SEM strategy word together, they can shoot a web page to the top of the search engine results. The important part is to get the right balance, linked to the right sites, with the right experts managing.