Search Engine Marketing for Small Businesses There are two basic ways to help your company come out on top (of a keyword search).
By Alex Bach
Most small businesses are always looking for inexpensive and cost-effective ways to market themselves. If your company has a Web site and you're not marketing it through search engines, you are essentially leaving money on the table. Whether you are an online retailer or a traditional brick-and-mortar business, having an online presence and using search engines to reach your target audience can be one of the most successful ways to generate new sales.
When customers go online, search engines are one of the first places they visit to find answers to their questions. No matter what industry segment they are interested in, people use search engines to find information online. The major search engines include Google.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com and Ask.com. Together these four represent more than 90 percent of all search engine traffic.
The two most popular types of search engine marketing programs are pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimization (SEO).
Pay-Per-Click One of the easiest and fastest ways to market your company through search engines is with pay-per-click advertising, also known as sponsored search advertising.
When a searcher uses the keywords you have specified for your campaign, your paid link will be shown with the results. You will pay each time a user clicks on your advertising link.
There are many benefits to this type of program, including:
In many cases, your advertisements are live the same day you contact the search engine. Not many other advertising mediums can boast that real-time service. This means that you can drive targeted leads to your Web site almost immediately.
You can quickly adjust your keywords, maximum bid amounts and monthly budgets.
You can test different ads, by changing wording and measuring success.
You're not tied to any contract. You can turn the account on and off at will.
You can immediately see and measure the return on your investment by tracking conversion of clicks to either a sale or a goal, such as submission of an inquiry form.
You can target local, regional, national or worldwide searchers.
You are only charged for the times that your ad is clicked on, not for how many times it is shown.
The first element of a successful PPC campaign is identifying your keywords. You must monitor your campaign on a regular basis, which requires a minimum amount of resources and knowledge. There is a possibility of exhausting all of your funds in a very short time frame for highly competitive and high traffic keywords. And, if your ads are not well-constructed and targeted, a campaign can send lots of uninterested and unqualified traffic your way. But, a well-run, well-targeted campaign can reap big rewards.
Search Engine Optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process companies use to ensure their Web site appears high in the rankings when key phrases are entered.
Using specific tactics, you can improve your Web site rankings within the search engine's organic results for specific keywords, thereby increasing the number and quality of visitors. Unlike PPC, search engine optimization can often take months before showing results. With optimization, your goal is to get your Web site pages to rank on the first page of the results, and ultimately in the top spot. Again, just as with PPC, identifying your keywords is the first requirement.
There are two basic tactical components to SEO, the first being on-page optimization. This relates to the text that both the visitors and the search engines read on your Web site page(s). This requires good knowledge of what the search engines are looking for. There are many free online sources to refer to, and many competing theories on what makes for the most effective tactics.
The second component of SEO is off-page optimization. This has to do with how other Web sites link to your site. Important questions are: How many links are there, and are they quality links? Are these links from a Web site that has something in common with yours? How natural looking are these links? How do the search engines view the sites that are linking to you? And finally, how can you get more links?
There are multiple benefits to SEO, starting with the fact that there is no charge when searchers click on your link. Search engine visitors tend to click these (organic) links more often than the paid links. And, organic results are sometimes considered more trustworthy than PPC links. Many people find SEO a daunting task and are not comfortable performing optimization themselves; however, there are many companies who specialize in SEO that can help.
No matter how you market your Web site, the ultimate goal will always be to get your visitors to take action-whether it's buying your product, leaving their contact information or calling you on the phone. Search engine marketing is an extremely effective way to get qualified prospects to your Web site. In this day and age, if there's a market for your products and services, you can be assured your audience is looking for you through the search engines.
Alex Bach is VP/Director of Internet Marketing for www.SPIDERtel.com, "spinning innovative web solutions" since 1996. You can reach him at or(913) 663-4666.
